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 καὶ τὸ πάσης θεολογίας ἐκφανέστατον, ἡ καθ' ἡμᾶς Ἰησοῦ θεοπλαστία, καὶ ἄῤῥητός ἐστι λόγῳ παντὶ, καὶ ἄγνωστος νῷ παντί, καὶ αὐτῷ τῷ πρωτίστῳ τῶν πρεσβυτάτων ἀγγέλων. Καὶ τὸ μὲν ἀνδρικῶς αὐτὸν οὐσιωθῆναι, μυστικῶς παρειλήφαμεν· ἀγνοοῦμεν δὲ ὅπως ἐκ παρθενικῶν αἱμάτων ἑτέρῳ παρὰ τὴν φύσιν θεσμῷ διεπλάττετο, καὶ ὅπως ἀβρόχοις ποσί, σωματικὸν ὄγκον ἔχουσι καὶ ὕλης βάρος, ἐπεπόρευτο τὴν ὑγρὰν καὶ ἄστατον οὐσίαν· καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ὅσα τῆς ὑπερφυοῦς ἐστιν Ἰησοῦ φυσιολογίας. Ταῦτα δὲ ἡμῖν τε ἐν ἄλλοις ἱκανῶς εἴρηται, καὶ τῷ κλεινῷ καθηγεμόνι κατὰ τὰς θεολογικὰς αὐτοῦ στοιχειώσεις ὕμνηται λίαν ὑπερφυῶς, ἅπερ ἐκεῖνος, εἴτε πρὸς τῶν ἱερῶν θεολόγων παρειληφὼς, εἴτε καὶ ἐκ τῆς ἐπιστημονικῆς τῶν λογίων ἐρεύνης συνεώρακεν, ἐκ πολλῆς τῆς περὶ αὐτὰ γυμνασίας τε καὶ τριβῆς, εἴτε καὶ ἔκ τινος ἐμυήθη θειοτέρας ἐπιπνοίας, οὐ μόνον μαθὼν, ἀλλὰ καὶ παθὼν τὰ θεῖα· κἀκ τῆς πρὸς αὐτὰ συμπαθείας, εἰ οὕτω χρὴ φάναι, πρὸς τὴν ἀδίδακτον αὐτῶν καὶ μυστικὴν ἀποτελεσθεὶς ἕνωσιν καὶ πίστιν. Καὶ ἵνα τὰ πολλὰ καὶ μακάρια θεάματα τῆς κρατίστης ἐκείνου διανοίας ἐν ἐλαχίστοις παραθώμεθα, τάδε περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ φησιν ἐν ταῖς συνηγμέναις αὐτῷ θεολογικαῖς στοιχειώσεσι.

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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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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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