On Repentance & Defeating Despair

St. John Chrysostom wrote two letters to his friend Theodore, who along with St. John and his friend Basil, committed to a life of celibacy and spiritual living; however, Theodore was unable to keep his commitments and later fell into lustful passions and strayed quite afar off from godliness. These letters are St. John’s heartfelt words written in anguish to his lost friend pleading for his return. The purpose of this book is to make St. John’s letters to Theodore accessible to modern audiences. Several editorial supplements and revisions were implemented to help achieve that end, including substituting archaic terms with modern language equivalents, and providing summary captions to make it easier to understand and follow along.

This book marks the first of several books we intend to publish as part of “The Early Church Today Series,” which aims to manifest the richness of the early Church and its relevance to today.