Excerpt from The Life of King John Sobieski: John the Third of Poland; A Christian Knight the Savior of Christendom The seventeenth century was one of the great centuries of the world along all lines of human activities. In art, in science and in religious thought there was more advancement than there had been for centuries before. The Reformation had obtained such dimensions that the Roman Catholic Hierarchy had become acutely aware that it must, henceforth, fight for its existence. The Thirty Years' War is a proof of this statement. Gustavus Adolphus, the Snow King, of Sweden, had made the Catholic Powers tremble by bis wonderful victories and had he not met his death so early, on the field of battle, in all probability the reformed religion would have advanced to the front immediately and have become the dominant faith of the Continent; but while the Catholic and Protestant chiefs were fighting terrific battles for supremacy, there suddenly appeared a mutual enemy which threatened to destroy Christendom itself, for it had been the dream of each successor of the great Mohammed that the Mohammedan religion should become the world's universal faith. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Saint John Chrysostom, His Life and Times is a biography by William Stephens. Chrysostom was a vital Early Church Father who served as archbishop of Constantinople. He is known for his preaching and public speaking.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1872.

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CIIAPTER III. COMMENCEMENT OF ASCETIC LIFE ? STUDY UNDER DIODORUS?FORMATION OF AN ASCETIC BROTHERHOOD THE LETTERS TO THEODORE. A.D. 370. Tiie enthusiasm of minds newly awakened to a full perception of Christian holiness, and a deep sense of Christian obligations, was in early times seldom contented with anything short of complete separation from the world. The oriental temperament especially has been at all times inclined to passionate extremes. It oscillates between the most abandoned licentiousness and intense asceticism. The second is the corrective of the first; where the disease is desperate the remedies must be violent. Chrysostom, as will be perceived throughout his life, was never carried to fanatical extremes; a certain sobermindedness, and calm, practical good sense eminently distinguished hi1ri, though mingled with burning zeal. But in his youth especially he was not exempt from the spirit of the age and country in which he lived. He irresistibly gravitated towards that kind of life which his friend Basil had already adopted?a life of retirement, contemplation, and pious study?' the philosophy ' of Christianity, as it was called at that time.1 It does not appear that Basil had actually joined any monastic community, but merely that he was leading a life of seclusion, and practising some of the usual monastic austerities. Chrysostom, indeed, distinctly asserts that, previous to his own baptism, their intercourse hadCn. m.] PROJECT FOR RETIRING INTO SECLUSION. 27 1 Vide quotations in Suicer Theeuur. sub vcrbo not been entirely broken off; only that it was impossible for him, who had his business in the law courts and found his recreation in the theatre, to be so acceptable to one who never entered public places, and who was wholly devoted to meditation, stu...

Biography of John Hunyadi who, as voivode of Transylvania, and later royal governor and captain-general of Hungary, became the principal defender of Christian Europe from 1441 until his death in 1456. He led crusading efforts to halt the Ottoman advance into Europe, including a remarkable victory over the Turks at the battle of Nis in 1443.