The Nicene Age · AD 313–400

John the Persian

fl. AD 325 (death unrecorded) · Bishop ‘of Persia and Great India’ · Subscriber at Nicaea · Persia and ‘Great India’

The Nicene Age

Who John the Persian was

He signed the creed at Nicaea in 325 under a title no one else carries: bishop of all Persia and Great India. Whatever ‘Great India’ meant to the notaries who wrote it down — the subcontinent, south Arabia, or the Gulf coast — the subscription is the single documentary thread linking the Persian church and the Indian mission inside the horizon. Homonym caution: he is not any of the seven other Johns in the archive.

Verified single attestation

Named once in the sources within the horizon; no other ancient witness names him.

Also listed in bishops beyond the great sees.

Common questions

When was John active?

John the Persian is dated fl. AD 325 (death unrecorded) in the archive, which places John in the Nicene Age (AD 313–400).

Which early sources mention John?

John the Persian is named in 1 primary-source passage catalogued here, drawn from Subscriptions of the Council of Nicaea. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.

Where was John from?

The archive associates John the Persian with Persia and ‘Great India’.

Who were John’s contemporaries?

The archive links John the Persian to 2 other figures, including Papa bar Aggai and Theophilus the Indian. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.

Primary-source mentions (1)

Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.

The subscription lists of the Council of Nicaea

c. AD 325
John of Persia and Great India.
Subscriptions of the Council of Nicaea · Nicene subscription lists · source text

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