Pauline Allen translates into modern English John Chrysostom’s Greek homilies on 1 and 2 Timothy. As with her other translations of Chrysostom’s homilies in the WGRW series, Allen provides an introduction that includes a brief overview of the homilist’s life and career, the themes of the homilies, and their probable context. These homilies on the letters to Timothy reveal Chrysostom’s thoughts on the spiritual, moral, social, and religious challenges he believed his own audience faced. While the homilist denounced Jewish law, women, and heretics, he praised a solitary monastic existence over life in an urban setting. Additionally, Chrysostom advocates that the virtue of mercy exhibited in almsgiving is the key to salvation. Allen’s notes and translation make this source for church history and theology accessible to students and scholars alike.

Pauline Allen is Professor Emerita of Australian Catholic University. She is the Alexander von Humboldt Fellow, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, and Fellow of the British Academy. Her contributions to the SBL Press series Writings from the Greco-Roman World include John Chrysostom, Homilies on Philippians (2013) and John Chrysostom, Homilies on Titus and Philemon (2024).