Hagit Amirav - Paul and the Pauline Epistles as Hermeneutical Keys in John Chrysostom: Presentation of an Ongoing ERC Project

Chrysostom’s love of Paul is not a new observation in modern research, yet this observation needs to be further elaborated and explained against the background of Chrysostom’s particular embracement of the principles of the Antiochene School of exegesis. The purpose of this lecture is to establish Chrysostom’s emphasis on Paul and the Pauline epistles as unique hermeneutical keys to the Old Testament, developed by Chrysostom and his Antiochene peers in compensation for a conscious restricted use of allegory and other types of “spiritual” exegesis, and in enhancement of strong moral and pedagogical agendas, typical to this school. Taking Ephesians as a test case, we will focus not only on the application and embedding of Paul’s exegesis in Chrysostom’s expositions of this specific epistle, but also on Chrysostom’s treatment of Paul as a historical exemplum, worthy of imitation and celebration.