Nauka Jana Chryzostoma o Piśmie Świętym. Analiza pierwszej homilii (wstępnej) z cyklu „Homilii na Ewangelię według Św. Mateusza”

Abstract

Homilies for Gospel According to Matthew delivered in Antioch in 390 or 391 are John Chrysostom’s best known series of homilies. The set of 90 homilies is opened by the Introductory Homily, in which its author tried to give his audience the basic information about the Holy Scriptures and explain the fundamental – in his opinion – rules of interpretation of the holy books. In the homily he spoke about the role of the Holy Scriptures in the salutary dialog between God and man, stressing the necessity to study the contents of the holy writings. He emphasized the rules of God’s pedagogy, who in the Bible “came down” to people and “adjusted Himself” to their mentality. He explained the need and purpose of existence of four Gospels; he also tried to prove that there is agreement and harmony between particular Gospels, and the discrepancies that can be seen in the Evangelist’ stories do not mean that the Gospels are incompatible. In Chrysostom’s teaching about the Holy Scriptures his profound conviction that the Scriptures were written under the influence of “God’s power” has a significant place; this “God’s power” is also contained in the Scriptures, and their content is exactly what God wanted to transmit to man.