Preaching Adam in John Chrysostom and Augustine of Hippo

Is Adam merely a bad moral example, or has his first sin a lasting impact on the human condition? The current paper revisits the traditional juxtaposition between John Chrysostom and Augustine of Hippo as holding respectively a preference for humankind’s autonomy and heteronomy. The way both perceived Adam as example serves as a concrete case study. First, we investigate how both preachers understand the notion of ‘exemplarity’, and how they develop their own pedagogy based on examples in their sermons. Next, we observe how both applied these pastoral didactics concerning the first man as a role model. The historical person of Adam, and the eschatological consequences of his fall, play a prominent role in their homiletic oeuvre. John Chrysostom understands Adam’s primordial sin as a bad example – an instructive example of behavior to be avoided, a therapeutic example that instils in us gratitude for God’s mercy. Augustine, by contrast, is quite hesitant to consider Adam merely an example, since he prefers to stress the ontological solidarity the whole of humanity shares with Adam.status: publishe