John of Tella (or John Bar Qursos) (483–538) was a monk and bishop in the Near East. John was a major proponent of moderate

Miaphysitism Miaphysitism is the Christological doctrine that holds Jesus, the "Incarnate Word, is fully divine and fully human, in one 'nature' (''physis'')." It is a position held by the Oriental Orthodox Churches and differs from the Chalcedonian positio ...

. Although his native language was

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

he studied Greek in order to serve in the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

administration. John was a native of

Callinicus Callinicus or Kallinikos ( el, Καλλίνικος) is a surname or male given name; the feminine form is Kalliniki, Callinice or Callinica ( el, Καλλινίκη). It is of Greek origin, meaning "beautiful victor". People named Callinicus Seleu ...

. He was influenced to become a monk by reading the Acts of Thecla. He later studied at the monastery founded by

Gregory Nazianzen Gregory of Nazianzus ( el, Γρηγόριος ὁ Ναζιανζηνός, ''Grēgorios ho Nazianzēnos''; ''Liturgy of the Hours'' Volume I, Proper of Saints, 2 January. – 25 January 390,), also known as Gregory the Theologian or Gregory N ...

. John served as bishop of Tella which is near the modern city of

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

. John became bishop in 519. He has also come down to us as an opponent of inept, rich men gaining priestly office through bribes. In 521 John resigned his office as a bishop so he could better pursue the ascetic life. Still his most lasting contribution was ordaining many priests and bishops in opposition to the

Chalcedonians Chalcedonian Christianity is the branch of Christianity that accepts and upholds theological and ecclesiological resolutions of the Council of Chalcedon, the Fourth Ecumenical Council, held in 451. Chalcedonian Christianity accepts the Christolo ...

moving the break between them and the Monophysites to a full blown schism.

Sources

See the life of John of Tella in Brooks, Vitae virorum apud Monophysitas celeberrimorum (1907) https://books.google.com/books?id=AR8YAAAAYAAJ Brown, Peter. ''The Rise of Western Christendom'', (Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2003) p. 311 {{authority control 6th-century Byzantine monks 6th-century Syrian bishops 483 births 538 deaths