John Scythopolita (ca. 536–550), also known as "the Scholasticus", bishop of Scythopolis in

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

, where

Beit She'an Beit She'an ( he, בֵּית שְׁאָן '), also Beth-shean, formerly Beisan ( ar, بيسان ), is a town in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. The town lies at the Beit She'an Valley about 120 m (394 feet) below se ...

is today, was a Byzantine theologian and lawyer adhering to neo-Chalcedonian theology. He is famous for several works (lost) against

Monophysite Monophysitism ( or ) or monophysism () is a Christological term derived from the Greek (, "alone, solitary") and (, a word that has many meanings but in this context means "nature"). It is defined as "a doctrine that in the person of the incarn ...

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

: his major one is a treatise written ca. 530, defending the theory of " dioenergism", against his contemporary Severus of Antioch. Another work attacked the heretic Eutyches, one of the founders of Monophysitism. We have some data about him by

Photius Photios I ( el, Φώτιος, ''Phōtios''; c. 810/820 – 6 February 893), also spelled PhotiusFr. Justin Taylor, essay "Canon Law in the Age of the Fathers" (published in Jordan Hite, T.O.R., & Daniel J. Ward, O.S.B., "Readings, Cases, Materia ...

, learned bishop of

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' cont ...

. Hans Urs von Balthasar suggested than John was the author of much of

Maximus the Confessor Maximus the Confessor ( el, Μάξιμος ὁ Ὁμολογητής), also spelt Maximos, otherwise known as Maximus the Theologian and Maximus of Constantinople ( – 13 August 662), was a Christian monk, theologian, and scholar. In his earl ...

's scholia. A recent theory by Byzantinist Carlo Maria Mazzucchi suggests that John of Scythopolis' was aware that the ''

Corpus Dionysiacum Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (or Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite) was a Greek author, Christian theologian and Neoplatonic philosopher of the late 5th to early 6th century, who wrote a set of works known as the ''Corpus Areopagiticum'' or ...

'' was a forgery and that his awareness is revealed by his extensive marginal commentary—despite the fact that John's commentary apparently defends the originality of the ''Corpus''.

Notes

{{authority control Byzantine theologians 6th-century Byzantine people 6th-century Christian theologians 6th-century Byzantine writers People from Beit She'an