On the Priesthood

John Chrysostom (347-407)

Written in the form of a dialogue between Chrysostom and his friend Basil, this treatise recounts how Chrysostom evaded ordination while Basil accepted it, and uses that episode to explore the immense gravity of the pastoral office. Chrysostom argues that the care of souls surpasses every other calling in weight and danger, demanding greater moral courage, doctrinal steadiness, and rhetorical skill than most men possess. Composed around 390 AD and translated into Latin by the early fifth century, it became the foundational Christian text on ministry, shaping Gregory the Great's Pastoral Rule, the medieval theology of orders, and the Reformers' recovery of preaching as the central act of pastoral care.

3.5 hrs total · 6 chapters