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Ivan Vysens'kyj's Conception of St. John Chrysostomand his Idea of Reform for the Ruthenian Lands*HARVEY GOLDBLATTThe idea of reform 1is a dominant motif in the thought and writings of IvanVysens'kyj, 2the Orthodox monk from the Ruthenian lands who passed* I wish to express my gratitude to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council ofCanada for a grant which supported the research for this article. I am also indebted to ProfessorDavid A. Frick for his insightful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.1My discussion of the "idea of reform" and its impact on the basic parameters of IvanVysens'kyj's thought is grounded in large measure on the definitions and approach provided inGerhart B. Ladner's enormously erudite work, The Idea of Reform. Its Impact on ChristianThought and Action in the Age of the Fathers (Cambridge, Mass., 1959). In his book Ladnerelucidates three basic aspects in the history of the reform idea (as distinct from other ideas ofrenewal) which appear to be of central importance for early Christian and medieval thought."These three facets of the idea of reform are: the return to Paradise, the recovery of man's lostimage-likeness to God, and the representationon earth of the heavenly Basileia" (p. 63). Forthe purpose of the present study, noteworthy in Ladner's presentation are: (1) the conception ofthe church fathers regardingthe mystical recovery of the lost resemblance to God and the beliefthat the restoration of purity is essential for man's reformationor reassimilationto the image ofGod; (2) the importance given to the theme of monasticism as a vehicle for the Christian ideaof reform; (3) the special significance attached to the rule over the passions and the concept ofαπάθεια for the ideology of kingship (βασιλεία); and (4) the view that "there was one greatexception to the eastern Christian development of Basileia ideology here described: the thoughtand life of St. John Chrysostom" (pp. 125-26). Ladner concludes his illuminating commentson Chrysostom's pastoral and homiletic efforts, as follows: "Nothing could be less 'Eusebian'than [Chrysostom's] conception of the Kingdom of God on earth and it is not surprising thatJohn Chrysostom perished as a martyr for Christian ethical principles in resistanceto an unholyalliance of corrupt Church dignitaries with the irresponsible heirs of the Constantinian-Theodiosian Empire. Chrysostom's heroic effort to reform the urban society of the nascentByzantine Empire can hardly be called successful" (p. 129).2On the life and writings of Ivan Vysens'kyj, see N. F. Sumcov, "Ioann Vyfenskij(Juznorusskij polemist naiala XVII St.)," Kievskaja starına 11 (1885):649-77; I. P. fytec'kyj(Żiteckij), "Literatumaja dejatel'nost' Ioanna Visenskogo," Kievskaja starına 29(1890): 494-532; I. Franko, Ivan Vysens'kyj ijeho tvory (Lviv, 1895) (cited after Ivan Franko,Zibrannja tvoriv иp'jatdesjaty tomax, vol. 30 [Kiev, 1981], pp. 7-211); A. Kryms'kyj (Krymskij),"Ioann Vysenskij, ego źizn' i soćinenija," Kievskaja starına 50 (1895): 211-47 (citedafter A. Ju. Kryms'kyj, Tvory ν p'jaty tomax, vol. 2 [Kiev, 1972], pp. 380-455); J. Tretiak,Piotr Skarga w dziejach i literaturze Unii brzeskiej (Cracow, 1912), esp. pp. 233-87; M. S.Voznjak, Istorija ukrajinskoji literatury, vol. 2, Viky XVI-XVIII (Lviv, 1921), pp. 125-70;M. Hrusevs'kyj, Istorija ukrajins'koji literatury, vol. 5 (Kiev, 1927), pp. 284-352; I. P. Eremin,Ivan ViSenskij. Soćinenija (Moscow and Leningrad, 1955), pp. 223-335; I. P. Eremin(Jer'omin), Ivan VySens'kyi. Tvory (Kiev, 1959), pp. 3-39; P. K. Jaremenko, Ivan Vysens'kyj(Kiev, 1982); V. O. Sevcuk, Ivan VySens'kyj. Tvory (Kiev, 1986), pp. 3-18; I. Z. Myc'ko,"Car arxivnyx svid&n'. Materiały do biohrafij slavetnyx publicystiv," Zovten', 1987, no. 3, pp.90-96; A. I. Pasuk, Ivan VySens'kyj—myslytel' і borec' (Lviv, 1990). For a bibliography of