The role of St John Chrysostom in crystallizing biblical scholarship in the first four Christian centuries. Text, canon and commentary

The aim of patristic research was different for the Church in the first four centuries from the aim stated by scholars today. Today, the primary aim is to find the purest text, identical, if possible, with the text that emerged from the pen of the sacred authors. In fact, Christian behavior, which is clearly defined in relation to heretics and pagans, is inherited from the forefathers and is based on teaching. Respect for one's forebears is inherited, as is the care to preserve the words of the fathers and exegetes of the past. For the patristic period, the major objective of the study of the Holy Scriptures was the application of its teaching to the life of the faithful, who had to be enlightened in their discussions with heretics about the orthodoxy of the Church's teaching and its praxis, which truly leads to salvation.