Available From UC Press

Preaching Bondage introduces and investigates the novel concept of doulology, the discourse of slavery, in the homilies of John Chrysostom, the late fourth-century priest and bishop. Chris L. de Wet examines the dynamics of enslavement in Chrysostom’s theology, virtue ethics, and biblical interpretation and shows that human bondage as a metaphorical and theological construct had a profound effect on the lives of institutional slaves. The highly corporeal and gendered discourse associated with slavery was necessarily central in Chrysostom’s discussions of the household, property, education, discipline, and sexuality. De Wet explores the impact of doulology in these contexts and disseminates the results in a new and highly anticipated language, bringing to light the more pervasive fissures between ancient Roman slaveholding and early Christianity. The corpus of Chrysostom’s public addresses provides much of the literary evidence for slavery in the fourth century, and De Wet’s convincing analysis is a groundbreaking contribution to studies of the social world in late antiquity.

Chris L. de Wet is Associate Professor of New Testament and Early Christian Studies at the University of South Africa.

“Adding unprecedented depth to analysis of the ancient rhetoric of slavery, Chris de Wet develops a coherent and convincing argument about the biopolitics of ancient slavery through the thought of one major Christian thinker. Preaching Bondage will prove to be a generative work of scholarship, and not only for those concerned with the fourth century. Flat out, there are no comparable works.”—Jennifer Glancy, Professor of Religious Studies at Le Moyne College and author of Slavery in Early Christianity and Corporal Knowledge: Early Christian Bodies

“Preaching Bondage is the first accessible, book-length study of John Chrysostom’s thoughts on slavery. While slavery in the ancient world has been a topic of scholarly interest for some time, its late antique version has been less addressed. De Wet’s study is very welcome and will fill a real need. The work positively bristles with fascinating connections and intriguing insights.”—Blake Leyerle, Associate Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame