John of Scythopolis and the Dionysian Corpus

Abstract

John, the sixth-century orthodox bishop of Scythopolis in Palestine, was the first of many authors to comment upon the highly influential Pseudo–Dionysian writings (such as The Mystical Theology). Here translated and interpreted, John's Prologue and Scholia (marginalia) have only recently been separable from later comments. They present his complex theological and philosophical observations on the Dionysian texts. The book begins with the general outlines of the appearance and reception of the Dionysian corpus in the sixth century, followed by an overview of the career and works of John of Scythopolis. Written around AD 540, John's own comments in the Prologue provide the outline for introducing the concerns dominating his Scholia: biblical, classical, and patristic sources; liturgical terminology and context; orthodox and heretical doctrines of the Trinity, Christology, creation, and eschatology; Dionysian authenticity; Neo–Platonism and John's unacknowledged quotations from Plotinus. Most of the Scholia and the entire Prologue are translated and annotated in order to present the first of many layers of Dionysian interpretation.

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