Providence and Narrative in the Theology of John Chrysostom by Robert G. T. Edwards (review)

Reviewed by: Providence and Narrative in the Theology of John Chrysostom by Robert G. T. Edwards Dylan M. Burns Robert G. T. Edwards Providence and Narrative in the Theology of John Chrysostom Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022 Pp. xvii + 217. 110. This study is a revision of a PhD dissertation completed at the University of Notre Dame and supervised by Blake Leyerle. It is the first monograph-length treatment of the theme of providence (πρόνοια) in the thought of John Chrysostom (ca. 350–407 c. e. ). Edwards focuses his analysis on the Consolation to Stagirius (CPG 4310), Homilies on the Statues (CPG 4330), and On the Providence of God (CPG 4401). While these works have different audiences, belong to different genres, and were written at different points spanning most of Chrysostom's career, they "share a common mode of consolation: they rely on proofs of divine providence as revealed in biblical history" (11). Scholars have recognized providence as an important theme for Chrysostom, but in-depth studies of it are lacking; significantly, these three key treatises are not yet translated into English. Edwards's thesis is that "for Chrysostom biblical historia is fundamentally about God's providence. And this is why biblical narrative is so helpful for consoling the suffering: because it shows that God arranges everything out of his providence and love for humankind" (7). Moreover, he avers, Chrysostom's theology of providence is not about theological or exegetical exercises, much less theory, but is necessarily bound up with—arguably, chiefly determined by—his pastoral work (8, 31). Chapter One positions these lines of argument within (or rather, beyond) scholarship on Chrysostom as a representative of Antiochene exegesis (eschewing clichés about Antiochene "literalism" and "typology, " 17, 38–39), as well as work on providence by historians of philosophy (22–23). The rest of the book is devoted to analysis of Chrysostom's biblical exegesis. The opening chapters are devoted to what we might think of as Chrysostom's "literary theory. " Chapter Two argues that "narrativity is not only central to his definition of historia but also bears the brunt of much of Chrysostom's exegetical work. . . The very subject of scriptural history is human and divine activity, virtue and providence" (31–32). Biblical historiai (narratives) are concerned with righteous persons, and with the trustworthiness of God's promises and care (43–46). While Chrysostom uses the language of causation, he does not offer a theologically sophisticated or consistent picture of how virtue specifically End Page 295 relates to providence (57). Chapter Three shows that, "in his attempt to understand God's providence, Chrysostom attends closely to narrative plots or structures. . . By consistently clustering narratives together, Chrysostom finds God's common ways of providentially intervening" (60). Edwards likens these narrative "clusters" to the "deep structures" of formalist or structuralist theory, where a story is characterized by the function (s) of its event (s) rather than plot or characters (66–68). Chrysostom characterizes each cluster by the ethos of God's activity that an exegete may see in it (73–77). For instance, Chrysostom clusters together the tales of Abraham's sojourn to Egypt, the sacrifice of Isaac, the Joseph cycle, Job's sufferings, the three boys in the furnace, and Lazarus and the rich man, since they share a deep structure of God's providential ethos: a righteous individual is struck by unexpected suffering before a sudden reversal of fortune, culminating in a restoration (65, 68–72). A different ethos is clear in the cluster of stories about Noah and the flood, Abraham and Sodom and Gomorrah, or Jonah and Nineveh: humans behave badly; God threatens them; they are pardoned—or not (74–77). Subsequent chapters flesh out the shape and body of these narrative clusters about providence. Chapter Four illustrates how Chrysostom understands scriptural narrative as "a series of proofs or demonstrations of divine providence" that are cohesive and continuous, in contrast with other early Christian conceptions of history as segmented by a series of covenants (95–102). Chapter Five draws out the context of consolation: Chrysostom sets out to treat his audience therapeutically by facilitating change to a better frame of mind about one's afflictions. He does. . .