Three Homilies concerning the Power of Demons - St. John Chrysostom (c. 349 - c. 407)

00:00:00 00 Introduction

00:03:55 01 Against those who say that demons govern human affairs, and who are displeased at the chastisement of God, and are offended at the prosperity of the wicked and the hardships of the just

00:43:40 02 Against those who object because the devil has not been put out of the world: and to prove that his wickedness does no harm to us—if we take heed: and concerning repentance

01:03:50 03 That evil comes of sloth, and virtue from diligence, and that neither wicked men, nor the devil himself, are able to do the wary man any harm. The proof of this from many passages, and amongst others from those which relate to Adam and to Job

Three Homilies concerning the Power of Demons
St. John Chrysostom (c. 349 - c. 407)
Translated by Thomas Peele Brandram ( - 1896)

These homilies deal with errors against which Chrysostom throughout his life most strenuously contended. In an age of great depravity there seem to have been many who tried to excuse the weak resistance which they made to evil, both in themselves, and in others, by maintaining that the world was abandoned to the dominion of devils, or to the irresistible course of fate. To counteract the disastrous effects of such philosophy, which surrendered man to the current of his passions, it was necessary to insist very boldly and resolutely on the essential freedom of the will, on moral responsibility, and the duty of vigorous exertion in resisting temptation. And Chrysostom did this to an extent which some thought carried him perilously near the errors of the Pelagian heresy. No one however has described in more forcible language the powerful hold of sin upon human nature, and the insufficiency of man to shake it off without the assistance of divine grace.


St. John Chrysostom, (born 347 CE, Antioch, Syria—died September 14, 407, Comana, Helenopontus; Western feast day September 13; Eastern feast day November 13), early Church Father, biblical interpreter, and archbishop of Constantinople. The zeal and clarity of his preaching, which appealed especially to the common people, earned him the Greek surname meaning “golden-mouthed.” His tenure as archbishop was stormy, and he died in exile. His relics were brought back to Constantinople about 438, and he was later declared a doctor (teacher) of the church.

In 398 John was called to Constantinople to be its archbishop, much against his will. There he gained a large following among the people, but his teachings on the misuse of riches angered the wealthy and influential. An unscrupulous alliance against him was made by Eudoxia, the wife of the Eastern Roman emperor Arcadius, and the archbishop of the rival see of Alexandria, the powerful Theophilus. In 403 Theophilus convened a synod of disaffected or subservient Syrian and Egyptian bishops at The Oak, across the Bosporus. This gathering indicted John on a large number of charges, many of which were purely frivolous or vexatious. John refused to appear before the synod, whereupon it condemned him and professed to depose him from his see. The emperor Arcadius therefore banished him from the city, recalled him at once, and finally banished him again the following year. He was kept in confinement at Cucusus in Armenia.

John appealed his banishment to the bishop of Rome, Pope Innocent I; the latter, with the help of the Western emperor Honorius, attempted to intervene, but his efforts were brought to nothing by John’s enemies. In exile, however, John found it possible to keep up a lively correspondence with his supporters and was still able to exert a measure of influence in his cause. He was to be removed to an even more remote place at the eastern end of the Black Sea, but he did not survive the exhausting journey. The official rehabilitation of John Chrysostom came about 31 years later, when his relics were brought from Comana to Constantinople and were solemnly received by the archbishop Proclus and the emperor Theodosius II, son of Arcadius and Eudoxia.

John Chrysostom was not outstanding as a theologian nor as a theological writer; it has been said that a detailed history of Christian theology could be written without mentioning his name. He was a superb orator though. In his sermons he seldom used allegory but spoke plainly and combined penetration into the meaning of Scripture with a genius for its personal application. Each of his sermons had its moral or social lesson. His works consist of a large number of scriptural homilies and other sermons, together with some treatises and letters.


▶️SUBSCRIBE:    / stack45ny  

▶️SUPPORT CHANNEL: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr...


▶️Odysee: https://odysee.com/@RichMoore
▶️My WordPress blog: https://sermonsandsongsdotorg.com/
▶️Telegram: https://t.me/ChristianSermonsAndAudio...
▶️RUMBLE https://rumble.com/c/c-278901