ABSTRACT
The year 378 was an important turning point in the career of John Chrysostom. Having rigidly devoted himself to monasticism for six years, he returned to his native Antioch and resumed a career in the church.1 Later that same year, or early in the next, he composed the Discourse on the Blessed Babylas, a Christian apology centered upon the story of a third-century bishop and martyr of Antioch.2 An examination of this work within the context of Chrysostom’s early career reveals that he had well-developed ideas regarding the relationship between temporal and spiritual authority even at this early stage of his development.
