The Congregation
Chapter 7 turns finally to the implications of the previous chapters’ findings. Focusing on the issues of the social composition of the congregation and their level of commitment to (Chrysostom’s) Christianity, it is argued that sermon-texts are in their nature resistant to being used as sources for this kind of social history. Following Derek Krueger’s study of Byzantine liturgy, it is argued that sermons instead present how Chrysostom viewed his congregation, and how he wanted them to view themselves. How he addressed his congregation cannot be separated from his scripturally informed ecclesiology: for Chrysostom, his congregation are an instantiation of the Universal Church, the exalted body of Christ called to live a penitential life. His sermons can ultimately tell us only about his own construction of his congregation, though it is one which would in turn have gone some way to shaping the congregation’s own self-conception.