Theodosius (died 457) was one of the leading Christian monks of Palestine opposed to the Council of Chalcedon (451). He was installed as bishop of Jerusalem in opposition Juvenal in 451 or 452, but was forced into exile by the emperor Marcian in 453. [2]
Information about his life comes mainly from the works of John Rufus. These include a biography of Peter the Iberian and a narration of Theodosius' exile and death, the Narratio de obitu Theodosii Hierosolymitani. The latter is a short text known only from the Syriac version in two manuscripts. Rufus describes Theodosius as a confessor and martyr. A complementary anti-Chalcedonian Syriac account is found in Pseudo-Zacharias Rhetor. A Chalcedonian version of events is given in Cyril of Scythopolis' biography of Euthymius the Great. [2]
When Juvenal returned to Jerusalem from Chalcedon in 451, many monks and clergy tried to persuade him to recant his acceptance of the council's canons. When he refused, they elected Theodosius as bishop in opposition and Juvenal fled. In the violence that ensued, many supporters of the Council of Chalcedon died, including Bishop Severianus of Scythopolis. Theodosius consecrated many anti-Chalcedonian bishops, including Peter the Iberian in the diocese of Maiuma. [2] When Juvenal returned with imperial troops in August 453, there were briefly two active bishops in the city. Theodosius, however, accepted a sentence of exile and did not fight. [2] The bishops he consecrated, except for Peter, were deposed.
Theodosius first went to Egypt or perhaps Sinai. He then went to Antioch, perhaps to secure the support of Symeon Stylites, but was arrested at the city gates. On the orders of Marcian, he was brought to Constantinople. When he refused Marcian's entreaties to accept Chalcedon, he was imprisoned in the monastery of Saint Dios. When the abbot of that house was unable to win him over, he moved him to a narrow unheated cell for the winter. Theodosius fell seriously ill. When Leo I succeeded Marcian, he turned Theodosius over to the custody of the anti-Chalcedonian monks of Sykai. The deposed bishop died only a few days later. His body was taken to Cyprus to prevent the Chalcedonians from stealing it to claim he had changed his mind. It was buried in an anti-Chalcedonian monastery. The Narratio records that Theodosius' companion, Abban Romanus, was recalled to Palestine after his death.
In the Coptic Orthodox Church, Theodosius was remembered as a champion of orthodoxy against Chalcedonism. Two works are attributed to him, but both are late Coptic forgeries. The first, In Honor of Victor, is a biography of the martyr Victor Stratelates. It is a poorly written text describing the virtues of Victor and the miracles he performed at Jerusalem. It is preserved in a codex from the White Monastery. The second, The Miracles of Saint George, is a homily on the miracles of Saint George, mostly surrounding the construction of his shrine in Jaffa. [2]
The Council of Chalcedon was the fourth ecumenical council of the Christian Church. It was convoked by the Roman emperor Marcian. The council convened in the city of Chalcedon, Bithynia from 8 October to 1 November 451. The council was attended by over 520 bishops or their representatives, making it the largest and best-documented of the first seven ecumenical councils. The principal purpose of the council was to re-assert the teachings of the ecumenical Council of Ephesus against the teachings of Eutyches and Nestorius. Such doctrines viewed Christ's divine and human natures as separate (Nestorianism) or viewed Christ as solely divine (monophysitism).
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Eutyches or Eutyches of Constantinople was a presbyter and archimandrite at Constantinople. He first came to notice in 431 at the First Council of Ephesus, for his vehement opposition to the teachings of Nestorius. At the 448 Synod of Constantinople and the 451 Council of Chalcedon, Eutyches was condemned for having adopted an equally extreme, although opposite view. He himself, however, would reject this interpretation of his thought.
Dioscorus I, also known as Dioscorus the Great, was the pope of Alexandria and patriarch of the See of St. Mark who was deposed by the Council of Chalcedon in 451. He was recognized as patriarch by the Coptic Church until his death. He died in Gangra, Paphlagonia, in September 454. He is venerated as a saint by the Coptic and other Oriental Orthodox Churches.
Severus the Great of Antioch, also known as Severus of Gaza or the Crown of Syrians, was the Patriarch of Antioch, and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church, from 512 until his death in 538. He is venerated as a saint in the Oriental Orthodox Church, and his feast day is 8 February.
Peter the Iberian was a Georgian royal prince, theologian and philosopher who was a prominent figure in early Christianity and one of the founders of Christian Neoplatonism. Some have claimed that he is the author known conventionally as Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite.
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Saint Juvenal was Bishop of Jerusalem from 422. On the See of Jerusalem being recognised as a Metropolitinate by the Council of Chalcedon, he became the first Metropolitan of Jerusalem, an office he occupied until his death in 458. His jurisdictional reach over all three provinces of Roman Palestine would subsequently gain him the recogition as the first Patriarch of Jerusalem.
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John Rufus, John of Beth Rufina, or John of Maiuma, was an anti-Chalcedonian priest of Antioch, a disciple of Peter the Iberian and an ecclesiastical historian who possibly served as the bishop of Maiuma. He wrote the Plerophoriae, the Life of Peter the Iberian, and the Commemoration of the Death of Theodosius.
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Peter of Jerusalem was the Patriarch of Jerusalem from 524 to 544. He held to the Chalcedonian belief.
The Council of Jerusalem of 536 was a meeting of Chalcedonian representatives of the church of the Three Palestines to condemn certain persons accused of the Monophysite heresy. It was convoked at the initiative the Roman emperor Justinian I following the forced resignation of the Patriarch Anthimus I of Constantinople in February or March, an event in which Pope Agapetus I had played the main role.
Isaiah the Solitary, also known as Isaiah of Gaza, Isaias the Solitary, Abba Isaiah, or possibly also Isaiah of Scetis, was a Christian ascetic and monastic writer known from the Sayings of the Desert Fathers and various Palestinian Miaphysite sources. He is canonized as a saint by the Coptic Orthodox Church, with his feast day on the 11th day of the month Abib (Epip) in the Coptic calendar.
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Zeno the Prophet was an Egyptian monk and a Desert Father. He was disciple of the hermit Silvanus of Gaza, became the spiritual guide of the famous Georgian Peter the Iberian and is venerated as saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church on 19 June.
