Other theological accents
Througha divine gesture of synkatabasis — considerateness (not "condescension," there being nothing patronizing about the gesture) for human limitations (Go0€veia, astheneia) — the Scriptures adopt human forms of expression, limited though these too are, yet worthy of the commentator's respect and investigation. The psalms, with their figurative language and anthropomorphisms, constantly required this pastor to invoke the principle to prevent misunderstanding and infringement of divine transcendence.
Psalm 6, for example, opens, "Lord, in your anger do not censure me," and he is quick to interpose:
When you hear of anger and rage in God's case, do not get the idea of anything typical of human beings; the words, you see, arise from considerateness. The divine nature, after all, is free of all these passions. On the contrary, he speaks this way to make an impression on the minds of more materialistic people. For in our case, too, when we converse with foreigners, we use their language; if we speak with children, we babble away with them, and even if we are extremely gifted, we show considerateness for their undeveloped state... God likewise, wanting to make an impression on materialistic people, made use of such words. For in so speaking, you see, his concern was not for his own glory but for the benefit of his listeners.
We can recognize in this the model of commentary Photius spoke of Chrysostom adopting.
OTHER THEOLOGICAL ACCENTS This notion of divine considerateness reflects much of Chrysostom's theology. As F. H. Chase said over a century ago,
*S This unfortunate rendering, which is simply a lazy calque for the Greek and Latin, is frequently to be found, as in Flanagan's monograph; J.-M.
Leroux likewise renders it "Herablassung" in his article "Johannes Chrysostomus," TRE 17, 121. For a fuller study see F. Fabbi, "La
'condiscendenza' divina nell' ispirazione biblica secondo S. Giovanni Crisostomo," Bib 14 (1933) 330-47, and my "St John Chrysostom and the Incarnation of the Word," Compass Theology Review 14 (1980) 34-38; "On looking again at synkatabasis," Prudentia 13 (1981) 3-11.
'* Cf comment on Psalm 113.5: "As I have said before and shall never cease repeating constantly, with the limitations of the listeners in view
God adjusts the language."
+ Commentary on the Psalms "the great principle expressed by the word synkatabasis is of deep and wide application. As in the historical Incarnation the Eternal
Word became flesh, so in the Bible the glory of God veils itelf in the fleshly garment of human thought and human language."" Not only does Chrysostom insist in some cases on giving the psalms a Christological interpretation ("This psalm, you see, was composed with Christ in mind," he says in opening commentary on Psalm
45).1°° He frequently makes the parallel between scriptural statement and the historical Incarnation, which he speaks of as the oixovouic (oikonomia), rehearsing in obviously familiar detail the mysteries of the human life of Jesus.'" This goes along with that profound eastern respect for divine transcendence, compelling him invariably to remind his congregation not to be misled by anthropomorphic statements in the Bible: "those expressions were metaphorical," he says of voice and armour applied to God in Psalm
46.6, "rather figurative and considerate of our limitations (God, after all, being in need of none of these things)." Gustave Bardy would seem to have a more jejune notion than Chrysostom of what constitutes theology in denying him the status of "a theologian in the strict sense of the word" on the grounds that he had no interest in current theological controversies.'* It is interesting, in light of his absorption in the Incarnation, to / note one theological lacuna. Mary, the mother of Jesus, does not loom large even in those litanies of his life ("not choosing a queen for his mother" is a passing reference amongst the deprivations suffered by Jesus that are listed in commentary on Psalm 45). This reticence earns the rebuke of editor De Montfaucon,'" when on "Chrysostom. A Study in the History of Biblical Interpretation, Cambridge,
1% Rondeau finds Chrysostom's Christological ("prosopologique") interpretation superficial — "une utilisation incidente et superficielle de l'exégese prosopologique" —and one would have to agree inconnection with a psalm like 47 (see note 46 there).
\" For examples see note 13 on Psalm 45, note 37 on Psalm 50, and my "St John Chrysostom and the Incarnation of the Word in Scripture."
8 "Jean Chrysostome," DTC 8,672. Bardy, like so many other commentators on him, seems ignorant of the Psalms Commentary; he is flying in the face of his jousting with Arians, Anomians, Manichees, Marcion, Paul of Samosata (not to mention Jewish theology) in comment on psalms like
Psalm 50.2, "God will come openly," Chrysostom remarks that "even the pregnant virgin did not know the ineffable truth of the divine plan." Also, unlike many churchmen, Chrysostom is sparing in his references to Church; apart from the odd mention, like the comment on Mount Sion in Psalm 9.11, "Now, in a spiritual sense Sion refers to the Church," he does not develop the topic, and one would look in vain in this Commentary for features or theology of the contemporary Church."° Unlike his contemporary Augustine in the West, the Fall is nota preoccupation for him."' He admits its occurrence (pace his ancient detractors), but with true eastern optimism on the subject maintains (in comment on Psalm 116.7-9) that "God made use of it for our benefit." On Psalm 49.12 he waxes eloquent in listing the privileges of the human being, with not a hint at this chapter in sacred history, despite the frequency of "evil" and "wickedness" in his mouth as a moralising preacher (unfortunately, commentary on Psalm 51 is not extant). The theology of marriage, however, that occurs incidentally in this commentary is at best concessive; the phrase "virgins will be conducted to the king" in Psalm 45.14 results in an encomium of virginity and a depressing picture of the distractions of the married woman, and a moralistic insert on Psalm 44.25 concludes, "The reason marriage was allowed, after all, was in case you should exceed proper limits" - though at both places he is quoting Paul's less elevated statements on the subject." His carefully developed theology of the relationship between grace and human effort, consistent with his balance of human and divine in the Scriptures, we shall deal with below in connection with his moral thinking.
"! Cf note 2 to Psalm 129, note 5 to Psalm 149. His ecclesiology, Bardy claims, "n'offre rien d'original" ("Jean Chrysostome," 679).
™See note 8 on Psalm 136, note 11 on Psalm 142. Cf J. N. D. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines, 5th ed., San Francisco, 1976, 349: "The Greek Fathers, with their insistence that man's free will remains intact and is the root of actual sinning, have a much more optimistic outlook than the West" (quoting Chrysostom from the Gn homilies).
'"2Antoine Wenger finds such (merely conventional?) accents in Chrysostom's treatise on virginity by contrast with a more balanced view in his homilies on marriage ("Jean Chrysostome," Dictionnaire de spiritualité
8, Paris, 1974, 346-47).
"3 Cf notes 9 & 19 to Psalm 128, note 7 to Psalm 133.