John of Jerusalem, who has been a monk since his early years, had in about 387 succeeded the noted theologian Cyril of Jerusalem as bishop.

He had been attacked in 393 by the Latin biblical scholar Jerome and by the influential Bishop Epiphanius of Constantia (now Salamis, Cyprus) for adhering to the views of Origen of Alexandria.

After Epiphanius incited the Palestinian monks to anti-Origenism, John had retaliated by denying them access to the holy places in Jerusalem and refusing to baptize converts or bury their dead.

Palestine has meanwhile passed under eastern control upon partition of the Roman Empire in 395.

Jerome had published a virulent manifesto denouncing John in the fall of 396.

The consequent scandal has reverberated throughout the Greek and Western churches.

Reconciled with Jerome at Easter in 397 through the mediation of Theophilus, patriarch of Alexandria, John remains neutral in the continuing Origenist polemic between Jerome and his former theological colleague Tyrannius Rufinus.

Jerome, writing elsewhere, expresses his belief that Mosaic law is a divine trick to destroy the Jews.

He also warns, “Jews are congenital liars who lure Christians to heresy. They should therefore be punished until they confess.”