On the Divine Names

Dionysius the Areopagite

On the Divine Names

Dionysius the Areopagite

Περὶ θείων ὀνομάτων

On the Divine Names (De divinis nominibus) is the chief theological treatise of the Christian Neoplatonist writing under the name Dionysius the Areopagite, probably in the late fifth or early sixth century. Addressed to Timothy, it unfolds the names predicated of God — Good, Light, Beauty, Love, Being, Life, Wisdom, Power, Justice, and the rest — through thirteen chapters, grounding each name in Scripture and in the tradition of Hierotheus. Its account of divine procession, participation, and the beautiful-and-good became foundational for Byzantine and medieval Latin theology, and it is among the authorities Aquinas cites most. Schola presents the Greek text with the Latin translation of Balthasar Corderius and the English translation of John Parker (1897).


CAPUT I. Quis libri finis, et quae e divinis nominibus prodita tandem esse, et ex rebus sensibilibus non posse cognosci

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Τοῦτο γοῦν εἰδότες οἱ θεολόγοι, καὶ ὡς ἀνώνυμον αὐτὴν ὑμνοῦσι, καὶ ἐκ παντὸς ὀνόματος. Ἀνώνυμον μὲν ὡς ὅταν φασὶ, τὴν θεαρχίαν αὐτὴν ἐν μιᾷ τῶν μυστικῶν τῆς συμβολικῆς θεοφανείας ὁράσεων ἐπιπλῆξαι τῷ φήσαντι· Τί τὸ ὄνομά σου; καὶ ὥσπερ ἀπὸ πάσης αὐτὸν θεωνυμικῆς γνώσεως ἀπάγουσαν, φάναι τό· Καὶ ἵνατι ἐρωτᾷς τὸ ὄνομά μου; καὶ τοῦτ᾿ ἔστι θαυμαστόν. Ἢ οὐχὶ τοῦτο ὄντως ἐστὶ τὸ θαυμαστὸν ὄνομα, τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα, τὸ ἀνώνυμον, τὸ παντὸς ὑπεριδρυμένον ὀνόματος ὀνομαζομένου, εἴτε ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ, εἴτε ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι; Πολυώνυμον δὲ, ὡς ὅταν αὖθις αὐτὴν εἰσάγωσι φάσκουσαν· Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν· ἡ ζωὴ, τὸ φῶς, ὁ Θεὸς, ἡ ἀλήθεια, καὶ ὅταν αὐτοὶ τῶν πάντων αἴτιον οἱ θεόσοφοι πολυωνύμως ἐκ πάντων τῶν αἰτιατῶν ὑμνῶσιν, ὡς ἀγαθὸν, ὡς καλὸν, ὡς σοφὸν, ὡς ἀγαπητὸν, ὡς Θεὸν θεῶν, ὡς Κύριον κυρίων, ὡς Ἅγιον ἁγίων, ὡς αἰώνιον, ὡς ὄντα, καὶ ὡς αἰώνων αἴτιον· ὡς ζωῆς χορηγὸν, ὡς σοφίαν, ὡς νοῦν, ὡς λόγον, ὡς γνώστην, ὡς ὑπερέχοντα πάντας τοὺς θησαυροὺς ἁπάσης γνώσεως, ὡς δύναμιν, ὡς δυναστην, ὡς Βασιλέα τῶν βασιλευόντων, ὡς παλαιὸν ἡμερῶν, ὡς καὶ ἀγήρω καὶ ἀναλλοίωτον, ὡς σωτηρίαν, ὡς δικαιοσύνην, ὡς ἁγιασμὸν, ὡς ἀπολύτρωσιν, ὡς ἐν μεγέθει πάντων ὑπερέχοντα, καὶ ὡς ἐν αὔρᾳ λεπτή. Καὶ γε καὶ ἐν νοῦις δὲ αὐτὸν εἶναί φασι, καὶ ἐν ψυχαῖς καὶ ἐν σώμασι, καὶ ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐν γῇ, καὶ ἅμα ἐν ταὐτῷ τὸν αὐτὸν, ἐγκόσμιον, περικόσμιον, ὑπερκόσμιον, ὑπερουράνιον, ὑπερούσιον, ἥλιον, ἀστέρα, πῦρ, ὕδωρ, πνεῦμα, δρόσον, νεφέλην, αὐτόλιθον, καὶ πέτραν, πάντα τὰ ὄντα, καὶ οὐδὲν τῶν ὄντων.

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§ VIII

CAPUT II. unio et distinctio.

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CAPUT III. Quae sit vis orationis, et de beato Hierotheo, de religione et conscriptione theologica.

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CAPUT IV. De bono, luce, pulchro, amore, exstasi, zelo; et quod malum neque ens sit, neque ex entibus, neque in entibus.

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§ XX

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§ XXX

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§ XXXV

CAPUT V. De ente, in quo etiam de exemplaribus.

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CAPUT VI. De vita.

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CAPUT VII. De sapientia, mente, ratione, veritate, fide.

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CAPUT VIII. De potentia, justitia, salute, redemptione; ubi etiam de inaequalitate.

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CAPUT IX. De magno, parvo, eodem, alio, simili, dissimili, statu, motu, aequalitate.

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CAPUT X. De omnitenente, antiquo dierum; in quo etiam de aevo seu aeternitate et tempore.

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CAPUT XI. De pace, quidque sibi velit ipsum per se esse, quae sit per se vita, quae vis ipsa per se, et quae illa coordinat atque conciliat, et quinam sint ejus effectus.

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CAPUT XII. De Sancto sanctorum, Rege regum, Domino dominantium, Deo deorum.

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CAPUT XIII. De perfecto et uno.

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