John Chrysostom’s Discourse on Property Ownership: An Analysis from the Perspective of Roman Law

Chen Yingxue

Centre for Classical and Medieval Studies, Department of History, Peking University, China Beijing";} , China
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-2284


Abstract

Unlike the dominant but simplified view of previous scholarship that Chrysostom stands in opposition to Roman property law, his attitude towards Roman law concerning property ownership is quite complicated. Insisting on the belief that things are created for common use and God is the ultimate owner of the world, Chrysostom denies various modes of property acquisition approved by Roman law (inheritance, thesauri inventio, and specificatio ) to be righteous, but when clarifying the limited and inferior human right over things in comparison with that of God, he never hesitates to use the Roman legal terms χρῆσις and δεσποτεία. Moreover, based on the conviction that the worldly economic order derives from divine providence, he confines his enumeration of the things shared in common mainly to the Res communes and Res publicae or Res universitatis under Roman law and persuades his audience to help those in need with the wealth temporarily under their stewardship. As a rhetorical strategy, Chrysostom’s use and manipulation of Roman legal language and thought aimed to promote almsgiving

Keywords:

John Chrysostom, Property ownership, Roman law

Codex Theodosianus, v. 1-2, ed. Th .Mommsen, Berlin 1905, tr. C. Pharr, The Theodosian Code and Novels and the Sirmondian Constitutions, v. 1-2, Princeton 1952.

Corpus Iuris Civilis: Iustiniani Institutiones, ed. P. Krüger – Th. Mommsen, Berlin 1928, tr. P. Birks – G. Mcleod, Digesta, ed. P. Krüger – Th. Mommsen, Berlin 1928; tr. A. Watson, The Digest of Justinian, v. 1-4, Philadelphia 1998; Codex Iustinianus, ed. P. Krüger, Berlin 1929; tr. B.W. Frier, The Codex of Justinian, v. 1-3, Cambridge 2016; Novellae, ed. R. Schöll – G. Kroll, Berlin 1928.

Gaius, Institutiones, ed. E. Seckel – B. Kuebler, Teubneri 1935, tr. W. Gordon – O. Robinson, The Institutes of Gaius, London 2001.

Gregorius Nazianzenus, Testamentum, ed. J.B. Pitra, Iuris ecclesiastici Graecorum historia et monumenta, v. 2, Rome 1868, p. 155-159.

Joannes Chrysostomus, De sacerdotio, ed. A.M. Malingrey, SCh 272, Paris 1980.

Joannes Chrysostomus, De virginitate, ed. B. Grillet – H. Musurillo, SCh 125, Paris 1966.

Joannes Chrysostomus, Homiliae de Lazaro 2, PG 48, 981-990, tr. C. Roth, St John Chrysostom on Wealth and Poverty, New York 1981, p. 39-55.

Joannes Chrysostomus, Homiliae ad populum Antiochenum 2, PG 49, 33-47.

Joannes Chrysostomus, De decem millium talentorum debitore, PG 51, 17-30.

Joannes Chrysostomus, Homiliae in Genesim 16, PG 53, 126-134, tr. R.C. Hill, St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Genesis 1-17, Washington 1999, p. 207-221.

Joannes Chrysostomus, Homiliae in Genesim 16, PG 53, 125-134; 30, PG 53, 273-282.

Joannes Chrysostomus, Sermo de Anna 5, PG 54, 669-676.

Joannes Chrysostomus, Homiliae in illud: Ne timueritis cum dives factus fuerit homo 2, PG 55, 511-518.

Joannes Chrysostomus, Expositiones in Psalmum 48, PG 55, 216-240.

Joannes Chrysostomus, Homiliae in Matthaeum 59, PG 58, 574-584; 66, PG 58, 626-632; 72, PG 58, 668-674.

Joannes Chrysostomus, Homiliae in Joannem 15, PG 59, 97-102; 33, PG 59, 188-192.

Joannes Chrysostomus, Homiliae in epistulam I ad Corinthios 10, PG 61, 82-86.

Joannes Chrysostomus, Homiliae in epistulam ad Ephesios 20, PG 62, 135-149.

Joannes Chrysostomus, Homiliae in epistulam I ad Timotheum 11, PG 62, 553-558; 12, PG 62, 558-564.

Joannes Chrysostomus, Homiliae in epistulam ad Philemonen 2, PG 62, 709-714.

Theophilus Antecessor, Paraphrasis institutionum, ed. J. Lokin – R. Meijering – B. Stolte – N. van der Wal, Theophili Antecessoris Paraphrasis Institutionum, Groningen 2010.

Socrates, Historia ecclesiastica, ed. G.C. Hansen, Sokrates Kirchengeschichte, Berlin 1995. (Crossref)

Sozemenus, Historia ecclesiastica, ed. G.C. Hansen, Sozomenus Kirchengeschichte, Berlin 1995. (Crossref)

A Patristic Greek Lexicon, ed. G. Lampe, Oxford 1961.

Avila C., Ownership: Early Christian Teaching, Eugene 1983.

Behrends O., Die allen Lebewesen gemeinsamen Sachen (res communes omnium) nach den Glossatoren und dem klassischen römischen Recht, in: Festschrift für Hermann Lange, ed. D. Medicus, Stuttgart 1992, p. 3-33.

Berger A., Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law, New Jersey 1980.

Bonfante P., Istituzioni di Diritto Romano, Milano 1921.

Bozinis C., The Natural Law in John Chrysostom, in: Revisioning John Chrysostom: New Approaches, New Perspectives, v. 1, ed. Ch.L. de Wet – W. Mayer, Leiden 2019, p. 498-520.

Buckland W., The Roman Law of Slavery: The Condition of the Slave in Private Law from Augustus to Justinian, Cambridge 1908.

Buckland W., A Text-Book of Roman Law from Augustus to Justinian, Cambridge 1975.

Brisbane S., Identity: the indigent and the wealthy in the homilies of John Chrysostom, “Vigiliae Christianae” 63 (2009) p. 468-479. (Crossref)

Brisbane S., Deviance and Destitution: Social Poverty in the Homilies of John Chrysostom, in: Studia Patristica XLVII: Cappadocian Writers, the Second Half of the Fourth Century, ed. J. Baun – A. Cameron – M. Edwards – M. Vinzent, Leuven 2010, p. 261-266.

Clark E., John Chrysostom as an Interpreter of Pauline Social Ethics, in: Studia Chrysostomica, ed. A. Ritter, Tübingen 2012, p. 68-93.

De Wet C., Preaching bondage: John Chrysostom and the Discourse of Slavery in Early Christianity, California 2015. (Crossref)

Costanzo E., Harbor for the Poor, A Missiological Analysis of Almsgiving in the View and Practice of John Chrysostom, Eugene 2013.

Farner K., Christentum und Eigentum, bis Thomas von Aquin, Bern 1947.

Giglio F., The Concept of ownership in Roman Law, “Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte: Romanistische Abteilung” 135 (2018) p. 76-107. (Crossref)

Gonzalez J., Faith and Wealth, A History of Early Christian Ideas on the Origin, Significance and Use of Money, San Francisco 1990.

Harper K., Slavery in the Late Roman World, AD 275-425, Cambridge 2011. (Crossref)

Hengel M., Property and Riches in the Early Church, Minneapolis 2007.

Herman S., The Uses and Abuses of Roman Law Texts, “The American Journal of Comparative Law” 29 (1981) p. 671-690. (Crossref)

Humfress C., Patristic Sources, in: The Cambridge Companion to Roman Law, ed. D. Johnston, New York 2015, p. 97-118. (Crossref)

Jakab É., Inheritance, in: The Oxford Handbook of Roman Law and Society, ed. P.J. Plessis – C. Ando – K. Tuori, Oxford 2016, p. 498-509. (Crossref)

Kaser M., Das Römische Privatrecht, Erster Abschnitt, Das Altrömische, Das Vorklassiche und Klassiche Recht, München 1971.

Kaser M., Über ‘relatives Eigentum’ im altrömischen Recht, “Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte: Romanistische Abteilung” 102 (1985) p. 1-39. (Crossref)

Kelly J., Golden Mouth, the Story of John Chrysostom: Ascetics, Preacher, Bishop, Ithaca 1995.

Kuefler M., The Marriage Revolution in Late Antiquity: The Theodosian Code and Later Roman Marriage Law, “Journal of Family History” 32 (2007) p. 343-370. (Crossref)

Jones A., St. John Chrysostom’s Parentage and Education, “The Harvard Theological Review” 46 (1953) p. 171-173. (Crossref)

Lambrini P., Alle origini dei beni comuni, “Iura” 65 (2017) p. 394-416.

Mayer W., John Chrysostom on Poverty, in: Preaching Poverty in Late Antiquity, Perceptions and Realities, ed. P Allen – B Neil – W Mayer, Leipzig 2009, p. 69-118.

Mitchell M., Silver chamber pots and other goods which are not good: John Chrysostom’s discourse against wealth and possessions, in: Having Property and Possession in Religious and Social Life, ed. W. Schweiker – C. Mathewes, Grand Rapids 2004, p. 88-121.

Modrzejewski J., Grégoire le Thaumaturge et le droit romain. À propos d’une édition récente, “Revue historique de droit français et étranger” 49 (1971) p. 313-324.

Riggsby A., Roman Legal Education, in: A Companion to Ancient Education, ed. W.M. Bloomer, Oxford 2015, p. 449. (Crossref)

Osuchowski W., Des études sur les modes d’acquisition de la propriété en droit romain: Recherche sur l’auteur de la thèorie éclectique en matière de la specification, in: Studi in onore di Vincenzo Argangio-Ruiz nel XLV anno del suo insegnamento , v. 3, Napoli 1953, p. 37-50.

Pierson C., Just Property, A History in the Latin West, v. 1: Wealth, Virtue, and the law, Oxford 2013. (Crossref)

Schermaier M., Res Communes Omnium: The history of an Idea from Greek Philosophy to Grotian Jurisprudence, “Grotiana” 30 (2009) p. 20-48. (Crossref)

Schilling O., Reichtum und Eigentum in der altkirchlichen Literature, Berlin 1908.

Sifoniou A., Les Fondements Juridiques de L’aumone et de la charite chez Jean Chrysostome, “Revue de droit canonique” 14 (1964) p. 241-269.

Stoop B., Non Solet Locatio Dominium Mutare: Some Remarks on Specificatio in Classical Roman Law, “Tijdschrift voor Rechtsgeschiedenis” 3 (1998) p. 3-24. (Crossref)

Taubenschlag R., The Law of Greco-Roman Egypt in the light of the Papyri, 332 B.C.-640 A.D., Warszawa 1955.

Thomas J., Textbook of Roman Law, Amsterdam 1976.

Troianos S., To Ergo ton trion ierarxon ston nomiko vio tou Byzantiou, “Platon” 53 (2003) p. 41-61.

Verosta S., Iohannes Chrysostomus: Staats Philosoph und Geschichts Theologe, Wien 1960.

Van der Merwe C., Nova Species, “Roman Legal Tradition” 2 (2004) p. 96-114.

Van der Wal N., Die Schreibweise der dem lateinischen entlehnten Fachworte in der frühbyzantinischen Juristensprache, “Scriptorium” 37 (1983) p. 29-53. (Crossref)

Wolf-Dieter H., Christentum und Eigentum: Zum Problem eines altkirchlichen Sozialismus, “Zeitschrift für Evangelische Ethik” 16 (1972) p. 34-49. (Crossref)

Download

Published
2022-09-15


Yingxue, C. (2022). John Chrysostom’s Discourse on Property Ownership: An Analysis from the Perspective of Roman Law. Vox Patrum, 83, 221–246. https://doi.org/10.31743/vp.13741

Chen Yingxue  chenyingxue@pku.edu.cn
Centre for Classical and Medieval Studies, Department of History, Peking University, China Beijing";} https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-2284



License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Papers published in Vox Patrum are covered by the Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) licence. Authors and users can use published works licensed under the CC-BY-ND since 2018. For earlier publications, copyrights are available under fair use rights in accordance with the Act of February 4, 1994 on copyrights and related rights.