Conversations on the Acts of the Apostles

“Conversations on the Acts of the Apostles” (55 conversations) delivered by St. John Chrysostom in Constantinople in 400. In the first conversation, the saint complains that the book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles is little read in the Church and remains practically unknown to ordinary believers, which is why he undertakes to talk in detail about its author and explain its contents. He consistently comments on the story of the Apostle Luke about the labors of the holy Apostles, sometimes counting the days of their missionary travels. Along the way, he touches on various issues of the spiritual life of believers, discusses the nature and purpose of miracles, contrasting them with magic and at the same time pointing out that it is better to suffer for Christ and overcome one’s sins than to cast out demons. The saint speaks of the need to study the inspired Bible. The mouths of the prophets and evangelists were the mouths of God Himself. No interpretation can exhaust all the richness of meaning laid down by God in the Holy Scriptures: “It is impossible, never impossible, to exhaust the meaning of the Scriptures. This is a certain source that has no limit” (Conversation 19). The conversations touch on the soteriological aspect. The culmination of the glorification and deification of human nature is its ascension into heaven and sitting on the royal throne at the right hand of God the Father. St. John also speaks about the participation of the Holy Spirit in the salvation of people - thanks to the “coming of the Spirit,” a spiritual transformation takes place in people, making them above everything bodily (Conversation 4). St. John speaks about the need for prayer (Conversations 26,36), cultivating virtues (Conversations 6,7,8,10,15,20,31,39,45,48,52), and the fight against passions (Conversations 28,29,32). He condemns the custom of taking oaths (Conversations 10,11,13), speaks out against the Manichaeans (Conversation 2) and theatrical performances (Conversations 11,24,42), discusses the meaning of fasting (Conversation 27), repentance (Conversation 24), almsgiving (11,21,22,25,48), suffering for Christ (Conversation 13), Divine Providence (Conversation 16), the sacrament of Baptism (Conversation 1:18,23,40), priesthood (3,5,14), etc. *The title of the work in Greek is ῾Υπόμνημα εἰς τὰς πράξεις τῶν ἀποστόλων. *The title of the work in Latin is In Acta apostolorum homiliae 1-55. Conversation 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 The Acts of the Apostles is a book of the New Testament that tells about the events that took place after the Gospels. It is traditionally believed that its author is the Apostle Luke, the author of the third Gospel. The author's narrative fabric is not interrupted; Acts begins with a description of the Ascension, with which the Gospel of Luke ends. Acts is the only book of the New Testament that has the character of a historical chronicle. Among other New Testament books, it also stands out for its unusually wide geography of action - from Jerusalem to Rome and a large number of characters, many of whom are certainly historical and are mentioned in other historical sources. In Acts, 32 localities, 54 cities, and 95 characters are named. The main theme of the book is the creation of the Christian church and its development in the first thirty years of the existence of Christianity after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The book is semantically divided into two parts - chapters 1 to 12 tell about the creation of the Church and the apostolic preaching in Palestine, chapters 13 to 28 deal mainly with the missionary travels of the Apostle Paul in Asia Minor, Greece and the eastern Mediterranean. The first part talks about the Ascension, Pentecost, the creation of the Church and its expansion, the first persecutions. Particular attention is paid to the first Christian martyr - Deacon Stephen and the conversion of Saul (Paul). The second half of the Acts of the Apostles is devoted to the missionary activities of the Apostle Paul. The 15th chapter describes in detail the Apostolic Council in Jerusalem, at which the ideas of the believing Jews about the need for circumcision of the Gentiles and their observance of the Law of Moses were finally rejected (15:1-5). The book ends with the arrival of the Apostle Paul in Rome. These conversations were delivered by the saint in Constantinople in 400 or 401. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: