Easy Virtue: The Intersection of John Chrysostom's Pneumatology and Anthropology

Abstract

This dissertation examines John Chrysostom’s claim, based on his reading of Matthew 11:28-30, that virtue is easy. In making such a claim, Chrysostom put himself at odds with the broader Greco-Roman philosophical tradition before him. Our aim is to understand whether Chrysostom is consistent in holding this position, and if so, by what rationale does Chrysostom defend such a novel claim, especially when his own preaching is full of exhortations to virtue.As our project is primarily concerned with ascertaining John Chrysostom’s position on the matter, our work will be heavily exegetical in nature. We will examine a broad selection of treatises and homilies, ranging from his earliest to those just prior to his death. In an effort to demonstrate that his position on virtue’s ease goes beyond hyperbole, we will also look to situation his comments upon virtue within the broader framework of the homilies themselves to show the consistent network of ideas that surround this concept. Moreover, we will look to situate his ideas within the broader Greco-Roman tradition, paying attention to those places where Chrysostom seems consistent with, has modified, or entirely deviated from his philosophical predecessors. We will also engage with Raymond Laird’s argument that, for Chrysostom, the locus of human virtue and vice is the γνώμη, or mindset. While we agree with Laird’s broader conclusion about the faculty that is responsible for human action, we would modify it by expanding the language by which Chrysostom is understood to signify the mindset. In the end, it is our position that Chrysostom is indeed consistent with his notion that virtue is easy. What animates this position on virtue is Chrysostom’s pneumatology. For Chrysostom, it is the Spirit who heals the mindset and indwells the Christian who makes the practice of virtue easy, sustaining the Christian as she exerts the effort required to be virtuous.