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Golden Mouth: The Story of John Chrysostom-Ascetic, Preacher Bishop. By J. N. D. Kelly. (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. 1995. Pp. x, 310. $47.50.)
After writing an excellent biography of Jerome,J. N. D. Kelly, the distinguished Oxford scholar of early Christian history and doctrine, has turned to the East and performed a similar service for John Chrysostom.With the possible exception of Chrysostom Baur, whose masterful study of John was written in German and translated poorly into English, no other author has delved so deeply into the life and work of this complex, influential, and tragic figure of the fourth century and produced such a far-ranging but precise, solidly researched, and eminently readable account.
The three words attached to John's name in the title sum up the three main periods of his life. After childhood and early education John lived for six years outside his native Antioch in Syria, first as a monk, and then as a hermit in...