Chrysostom’s Devil: Demons, the Will, and Virtue in Patristic Soteriology (New Explorations in Theology)
Digital Verbum Edition
Overview
For many Christians today, the notion that demons should play a role in our faith—or that they even exist—may seem dubious.
But that was certainly not the case for John Chrysostom, the “golden-tongued” early church preacher and theologian who became the bishop of Constantinople near the end of the fourth century. Indeed, references to demons and the devil permeate his rhetoric. But to what end?
In this volume in IVP Academic’s New Explorations in Theology series, Samantha Miller examines Chrysostom’s theology and world, both of which were imbued with discussions about demons. For Chrysostom, she contends, such references were employed in order to encourage Christians to be virtuous, to prepare them for the struggle of the Christian life, and ultimately to enable them to exercise their will as they worked out their salvation.
Understanding the role of demons in Chrysostom’s soteriology gives us insight into what it means to be human and what it means to follow Christ in a world fraught with temptation and danger. In that regard, Chrysostom’s golden words continue to demonstrate relevance to Christians in today’s world.
- Examines John Chrysostom’s theology and world
- Explores what it means to be human and what it means to follow Christ
- Proposes that demons should play a role in our faith
- Introduction
- Demonology from Origen to Chrysostom
- Chrysostom’s Demonology
- Greco-Roman Accounts of Proairesis and Virtue
- Chrysostom’s Anthropology
- Chrysostom’s Soteriology
- Conclusion
Top Highlights
“The devil cannot harm a human being; a human being can only harm himself by choosing to follow the devil, that is, by choosing to do evil, to sin.” (Page 8)
“What becomes clear in reading Chrysostom’s discussions about demons is that he does not discuss them in order to speculate where they come from or what their composition is; Chrysostom discusses demons for the purpose of encouraging his congregation to be virtuous. Chrysostom insists that demons are not as dangerous as people assume and that there is no need for magic to repel them; humans are in themselves stronger than the devil. Demons, in fact, are powerless to cause any sort of true harm because humans have proairesis, an innate ability to choose their actions.” (Pages 4–5)
“Daimones could and often did cause physical harm: illness, poverty, pregnancy complications, even death.” (Page 2)
I am often surprised when I preach how often listeners want to talk about demons. The liberal in me wants to demythologize. Samantha Miller, drawing on St. John Chrysostom, shows me a better way. Demons can’t make you do anything. In fact, God uses our struggle against evil to hasten salvation. What a timely word she brings, addressing even the prosperity gospel and Americans' present penchant for demonizing one another.
—Jason Byassee, Butler Professor of Homiletics and Biblical Hermeneutics at the Vancouver School of Theology
Samantha Miller provides a scholarly yet approachable study of a topic few Western scholars are willing to tackle. The topic of demons doesn’t get a lot of press in the West, perhaps because we have enough other distractions that lure our attention away from God. The study is well grounded in the precursors of Greco-Roman and Jewish thought, as well as early Christian literature before Chrysostom. It also includes a discussion about free will which, like Chrysostom himself, borders on the synergistic. But Miller pushes back, pointing out that such discussions about synergism and soteriology largely came after Chrysostom’s time. While this is a debatable point, her assertion that Chrysostom held that ‘neither God nor the devil compels,’ is nonetheless quite compelling on its own. Chrysostom noted that just as humans have limits, so do demons. They are not as strong as they pretend to be—but neither are they to be trifled with, which is why Chrysostom insisted that Christians must be trained in virtue in order to do battle. This book will provide a window into that spiritual battle as well as provide an added dimension to scholarship on Chrysostom and early Christian spirituality and soteriology.
—Joel C. Elowsky, professor of historical theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri
In an age when we have lost the ability to discern the principalities and powers, Miller’s Chrysostom’s Devil is a welcome intervention. She offers a historically substantive demonology and its place in the theology of the early church, particularly that of Chrysostom. As important as the historical analysis is, this work offers much more. It is a profound investigation into moral theology. The discussion of proairesis is brilliant. Given its ongoing importance for theological and philosophical ethics, her work should be required reading for anyone interested in a theological rendering of human action and practical reasoning. Miller not only shows us why we should have ‘no sympathy for the devil,’ she shows us how we can avoid it.
—D. Stephen Long, Cary M. Maguire University Professor of Ethics, Southern Methodist University
Samantha L. Miller (PhD, Marquette University) is assistant professor of the history of Christianity at Anderson University. She teaches courses on early church history, the history of exegesis, and spiritual formation.