Welcome back to another episode of five minutes in church history. On this episode we're

going to be traveling back in time to the early church and we're going to spend some

time with John Chrysostom. Now it's also pronounced Chrysostom and he was born in 347 and he died in

407. He was born in the city of Antioch and we know the importance of that city.

It was there at Antioch that the Christ followers were first

called Christians and this was his home. He initially studied rhetoric and literature and it looked like he was

headed for a career as a rhetoric

as a great speaker. But instead he became enthralled by theology and he

began to study divinity in theology and he began on a path to the ministry. He was ordained as a deacon and then he was

ordained as a presbyter or as a preacher. Even for a short time lived essentially

the life of a hermit and for a few years he simply

fully committed himself to studying and memorizing as much scripture as he

possibly could. As we see in his life and his ministry ahead he comes to draw upon that

foundation of simply being immersed in the text for the rest of his life.

Well he served for about 10 years as a presbyter there in Antioch and he

began to get a great reputation as a speaker. In fact, the name, Chrisistum, means

golden-mouthed and it wasn't the name his parents gave him

they didn't look down at this little infant and say oh let's call you John the

golden mouth it was a title that was given to him because of his abilities to speak. And it wasn't just

that he was sophisticated or could impress you with his rhetoric, it was that he was very

clear, he was very clear. He was very compelling. He knew the word of God and he knew how to bring the word of God before his congregation to speak it with power and to speak it with clarity.

Well all of this attracted the attention of those in Constantinople, and they invited him to come

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