They Have Done an Insult to Nature Itself - St. John Chrysostom on Romans 1:26-27

A reading of St. John Chrysostom’s fourth homily on the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans. This is St. John the Golden-mouthed “speaking the truth in love” (Eph 4:15) and echoing the divine Apostle who revealed to him the meaning of his letters (see icon of St. Paul speaking into St. John’s ear).  

St. John addresses verses 26 and 27: “For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.”  

St. John preaches:  “...having dishonored that which was natural, they ran after that which was contrary to nature. But that which is contrary to nature has in it an irksomeness and displeasingness, so that they could not fairly allege even pleasure. For genuine pleasure is that which is according to nature.”  

“Here in the place of the world he sets the pleasure according to nature, which they would have enjoyed with more sense of security and greater glad-heartedness, and so have been far removed from shameful deeds. But they would not; whence they are quite out of the pale of pardon, and have done an insult to nature itself.”  

“But if you say, and whence came this intensity of lust? It was from the desertion of God: and whence is the desertion of God? From the lawlessness of them that left Him; men with men working that which is unseemly. Do not, he means, because you have heard that they burned, suppose that the evil was only in desire. For the greater part of it came of their luxuriousness, which also kindled into flame their lust. And this is why he did not say being swept along or being overtaken, an expression he uses elsewhere; but what? Working. They made a business of the sin, and not only a business, but even one zealously followed up.”

For more quotes from this reading in text, please check the description for the YouTube upload.

Read the full text here: https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/210... 

The title of this video is a quote from St. John in this homily.   

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