Joannes (160) (called of Asia and of
Ephesus), Monophysite bp. of Ephesus, born
c. 516, and living in 585, a Syriac writer whose
chief work was his History of the Church, in
the extant portion of which he describes himself
once as "John, who is called superintendent
of the heathen and Breaker of Idols" (ii. 4), and twice as "John who is over the heathen, who was bp. of Ephesus" (ii. 41; iii. 15). Elsewhere he styles himself, "John bp. of Ephesus" (iv. 45), or simply, "John of Ephesus" (v. 1); and, lastly, "John of Asia, that is, John of Ephesus" (v. 7). Hence John of Ephesus is clearly the historian so often mentioned by Syriac writers as John bp. of Asia, "Asia" meaning the district of which Ephesus was the capital.
Dr. Land (Johann von Ephesus der erste
syrische Kirchenhistoriker) discusses his identification
with one or other of his numerous
namesakes who wrote during the same
period; and has pronounced in the negative.
What we know of the personal history of
John of Ephesus is gathered from the meagre
extracts from pt. ii. of his great work, preserved
in the Chronicon of Dionysius; and
from the extant pt. iii., which is to some
extent an autobiography. Dionysius (ap. Assemani, Bibl. Or. 83–90) tells us that John's birthplace was Amid in N. Mesopotamia. He stood high in the confidence of the emperor Justinian, by whom he was commissioned in 542 as "Teacher of the heathen" in the four provinces of Asia, Caria, Phrygia, and Lydia. His success was such that in four years 70,000 persons adopted Christianity. In the third part of his history (ii. 44) John mentions that Deuterius was 35 years his fellow-labourer, and his successor in Caria. Together they had built 99 churches and 12 monasteries. John tells (iii. 36–37) how the work began among the mountains round Tralles. His chief monastery, Darira, rose upon the site of a famous temple which he had demolished.
In 546 he was entrusted with an inquiry
into the secret practice of pagan rites by professing
Christians. Members of all ranks were
inculpated: Phocas, prefect of the capital, being informed against, poisoned himself. John was appointed to instruct the accused in Christian doctrine; and an imperial edict prescribed conversion within three months! Theophanes tells us that heathens and heretics were to be excluded from public office.
From pt. iii. of John's history we learn that
in the 2nd year of Tiberius ( 579), upon
the rumour of a heathen plot to destroy the
Christians of Baalbec, the emperor ordered
an officer named Theophilus to suppress
paganism in the East. Torture, crucifixion, the sword, wild beasts, were among the means employed. Numbers were accused; the prisons teemed with victims of every rank; and a permanent inquisition was established for their trial.
As bp. of Ephesus or "Asia," John appears
to have supervised all the Monophysite congregations
of Asia Minor. His 30 years of
influence at the court of Justinian and his
high personal qualities gave him very considerable
authority among his own party. He
tells us (v. 1) that in the reign of Justin II. he "was dwelling in the royal city and controlling all the revenues of all the congregations of the Faithful there and in every place." In a chapter written 581 he mentions his old intimacy with Tiberius at the court of Justin: "He and I were often together, and stood with the other courtiers before the serene Justin " (iii. 22).