The first homily of John Chrysostom's 55 homilies on the Acts of the Apostles as the key to his characterisation of this biblical book
Abstrakt
The article deals with John Chrysostom's interpretation of the Acts of the Apostles in his 55 homilies on this book. It bases its conclusions on a detailed reading of the 1st homily which is supposed to be an introduction to the book and it refers to some parts of other homilies of this series too.
It indicates that the interpreter understood the book as a history inspired by the Holy Spirit and that he saw the Acts to be analogous to the Gospels as words and deeds of the Holy Spirit. Further, it asserts and exemplifies three key themes of John's interpretation of the Acts: firstly, the book provides a demonstration of resurrection; secondly, it proves the activity of the Holy Spirit in history of the early Church; thirdly, it suggests that the history is controlled by the divine providence.