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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CAPUT II. unio et distinctio.

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Ἀλλὰ μέχρι τούτου πᾶσα τῆς καθ' ἡμᾶς νοερᾶς ἐνεργείας ἡ δύναμίς, ὅτι πᾶσα θεία πατριὰ καὶ υἱότης ἐκ τῆς πάντων ἐξῃρημένης πατριαρχίας καὶ υἱαρχίας δεδώρηται καὶ ἡμῖν καὶ ταῖς ὑπερουρανίαις δυνάμεσιν, ἐξ ἧς καὶ θεοὶ, καὶ θεῶν υἱοὶ, καὶ θεῶν πατέρες οἱ θεοειδεῖς γίγνονται καὶ ὀνομάζονται νόες, πνευματικῶς δηλαδὴ τῆς τοιασδε πατρότητος καὶ υἱότητος ἐκτελουμένης, τοῦτ' ἔστιν ἀσωμάτως, ἀΰλως, νοητῶς, τοῦ θεαρχικοῦ Πνεύματος, ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν νοητὴν ἀϋλίαν καὶ θέωσιν ὑπεριδρυμένου, καὶ τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ, πάσης πατριᾶς καὶ υἱότητος θείας, ὑπεροχικῶς ἐξῃρημένων. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔστιν ἀκριβὴς ἐμφέρεια τοῖς αἰτιατοῖς καὶ τοῖς αἰτίοις· ἀλλ' ἔχει μὲν τὰ αἰτιατὰ τὰς τῶν αἰτίων ἐνδεχομένας εἰκόνας, αὐτὰ δὲ τὰ αἴτια τῶν αἰτιατῶν ἐξῆρται καὶ ὑπερίδρυται, κατὰ τὸν τῆς οἰκείας ἀρχῆς λόγον· καὶ ἵνα τοῖς καθ' ἡμᾶς χρήσωμαι παραδείγμασιν, ἡδοναὶ καὶ λῦπαι λέγονται ποιητικαὶ τοῦ ἥδεσθαι καὶ λυπεῖσθαι· αὐταὶ δὲ οὔτε ἥδονται, οὔτε λυποῦνται· καὶ τὸ πῦρ θερμαῖνον καὶ καῖον οὐ λέγεται καίεσθαι καὶ θερμαίνεσθαι. Καὶ ἐὰν εἴ τις φαίη τὴν αὐτοζωὴν, ἢ φωτίζεσθαι τὸ αὐτόφως, οὐχ ὀρθῶς ἐρεῖ κατὰ τὸν ἐμὸν λόγον, εἰ μή που καθ' ἕτερον ταῦτα εἴποι τρόπον, ὅτι περιττῶς καὶ οὐσιωδῶς προένεστι τὰ τῶν αἰτιατῶν τοῖς αἰτίοις.

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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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§ XXVII

§ XXVIII

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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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