Throughout its first three centuries of existence, the Christian community, while new to the Roman world's pluralistic religious scene, portrayed itself as an historic religion. The early church community claimed the Jewish Bible as their own and looked to it to defend their claims to historicity. While Jews looked to Moses and the Sinai covenant as the focus of their historical relationship with God, the early church fathers and apologists identified themselves as inheritors of the promise given to Abraham and saw their mission to the Gentiles as the fulfillment of God's declaration that Abraham would be "a father of many nations" (Gen 17:5).It is in light of this background that Demetrios Tonias undertakes the first, comprehensive examination of John Chrysostom's view of the patriarch Abraham.By analyzing the full range of references to Abraham in Chrysostom's work, Tonias reveals the ways in which Chrysostom used Abraham as a model of philosophical and Christian virtue, familial devotion, philanthropy, and obedient faith.
Demetrios E. Tonias is currently the pastor of Taxiarchae Greek Orthodox Church in Watertown, Massachusetts. He completed his PhD in 2011 at Boston College under the supervision of Ruth Langer. Prior to his doctoral studies he earned an MDiv and ThM from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology. Fr. Tonias is the co-author of two interlinear translations of the Matins and Vespers services, both published by Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Press.
"In this first comprehensive study of how the figure of Abraham functioned thematically for John Chrysostom, Demetrios E. Tonias paints a vivid portrait of the 'golden-mouthed' orator and the rhetorical world in which he lived. Chrysostom praises Abraham as a superlative model of virtue whom he encourages Christians to emulate as one of their own. Threatened by rival Jewish claims, Chrysostom also argues that Jews had forsaken their Abrahamic inheritance by failing to accept Christianity as the fulfillment of the promise God made to the patriarch to be the father of many nations. While insightfully and sympathetically presenting Chrysostom's pastoral brilliance, this volume simultaneously provides an invaluable window into the origins of Christian supersessionism in both the East and the West." Philip A. Cunningham, Saint Joseph's University "This fine work of scholarship adds to the growing body of work on St. John Chrysostom's exegesis of the Old Testament, and in particular his presentation of the patriarchs and prophets. It is of especial interest in today's world where the patriarch Abraham is coming to be seen as a religious figure common to all the great 'Abrahamic faiths': Judaism, Christianity, and Islam." Andrew Louth Durham University "Demetrios E. Tonias' study affirms the latest approach to Chrysostom, as a preacher whose secular oratorical and philosophical training shape his promotion of Christian virtue. It draws attention to the neglect of the role of Old Testament figures in Chrysostom's theology, foregrounds Abraham in his thought, and rounds out the attention paid to Paul as exemplar in the magisterial work of Margaret Mitchell, Andreas Heiser, and David Rylaarsdam. Tonias' restoration of a disputed homily to Chrysostom's rich body of work is equally significant. An important addition to scholarship on both Chrysostom and the reception of the Old Testament." Wendy Mayer Australian Catholic University "Written in a lucid language, this profound and precise study discusses major themes in the history of ancient Christian exegesis and homiletic tradition, as well as John Chrysostom's place in them. It is a must-read for students and scholars of early Christianity, Late Antiquity, ancient rhetoric, and patristic studies." Hagit Amirav VU University Amsterdam
