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On Repentance and Almsgiving

1999; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 7; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/earl.1999.0026

1086-3184

Wendy Mayer,

Byzantine Studies and History

Reviewed by: On Repentance and Almsgiving Wendy Mayer John Chrysostom. On Repentance and Almsgiving. Translated by Gus George Christo. The Fathers of the Church 96. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1998. Pp. xviii + 159. $27.95. In this slim volume Gus Christo presents in modern English translation ten little-known homilies of Chrysostom: the nine De paenitentia and De eleemosyna. This last homily is considered thematically consistent with the rest in that in the course of the other nine Chrysostom adduces almsgiving as one means of repentance. Christo’s own interest in these homilies is linked to his doctoral research on Chrysostom’s ecclesiology, which has led him to see the sermons on repentance as supporting John’s “theological ideas about the Church and about the role of repentance as one of its major sacraments.” These timeless and encouraging sermons on repentance and almsgiving deserve to be given a higher profile. What could have been a valuable resource for students, however, is marred by at least one serious and a number of moderate errors in the translation, lack of caution with regard to the authenticity of one of the sermons and an inadequate introduction. [End Page 323] With regard to the translation, a misunderstanding of the Greek text in hom. 4 (paras 10–12) occasions a lengthy and misleading footnote and causes the translator to obscure the homilist’s main point. The “male prostitute” is not Pharaoh, nor does the Greek term have this specific sense in Chrysostom’s works but refers to any sexually promiscuous male. Because of this misunderstanding the stock metaphoric storms and waves are given greater prominence than they deserve and the incurable blow in the last line of para. 10 is interpreted as a plague. Other problems are more minor, if still significant. At the opening to hom. 4 a misunderstanding of the referent of the demonstrative again leads to a peculiarity in the translation and an unnecessary note. The first two paragraphs of hom. 3 likewise contain inadequacies. In at least two other homilies repetitive material in the Greek is skipped over—in one case three lines worth—a practice which, while it does little harm to the content, gives a false impression of Chrysostom’s oratorical style. Several of the notes are confusing. In one Chrysostom is said to be referring to the market place, when in fact he is still fixated on the theater. In another “the festival” is identified as the Eucharist when Chrysostom is almost certainly referring to Lent. With regard to authenticity, although the problems associated with certain of the homilies on repentance are alluded to in the introduction, they are glossed over on thematic grounds. While thematic studies can be helpful when used in strict conjunction with codicological, stylistic and other scientific criteria, insistence on the approach is incautious in this instance since hom. 7 has long been identified as belonging to Severian of Gabala. As a Syrian of the same generation as Chrysostom Severian’s theological and homiletical approaches bear inevitable similarities. Confusion would have been avoided had the homily not been included or had it been set apart at the end of the volume for comparison. The brief introduction fails to live up to the standard set in earlier volumes of the series. No mention is made of the text used for De eleemosyna nor is information supplied concerning previous translations in English. The dates applied to the homilies on repentance are unprecedented and give a false impression of chronological as well as thematic coherence. At least one of the details in the brief biography is inaccurate. While these objections are not minor, neither is the volume to be discarded. Christo’s introductory comments on repentance and ecclesiology are helpful, he produces a fine translation of De eleemosyna and the translations of hom. 1–2, 7 and 9 are relatively free from problems and unexceptionable. Wendy Mayer Australian Catholic University Copyright © 1999 The Johns Hopkins University Press