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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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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Εἶεν δὴ οὖν, ἐπ᾽ αὐτὴν ἤδη τῷ λόγῳ τὴν ἀγαθωνυμίαν χωρῶμεν, ἣν ἐξηρημένως οἱ θεολόγοι τῇ ὑπερθέῳ θεότητι, καὶ ἀπὸ πάντων ἀφορίζουσιν αὐτήν, ὡς οἶμαι, τὴν θεαρχικὴν ὕπαρξιν, ἀγαθότητα λέγοντες· καὶ ὅτι τῷ εἶναι τὸ ἀγαθὸν, ὡς οὐσιῶδες ἀγαθὸν, εἰς πάντα τὰ ὄντα διατείνει τὴν ἀγαθότητα.

Καὶ γὰρ ὥσπερ ὁ καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς ἥλιος, οὐ λογιζόμενος ἢ προαιρούμενος, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτῷ τῷ εἶναι φωτίζει πάντα τὰ μετέχειν τοῦ φωτὸς αὐτοῦ κατὰ τὸν οἰκεῖον δυνάμενα λόγον· οὕτω δὴ καὶ τἀγαθὸν (ὑπὲρ ἥλιον, ὡς ὑπὲρ ἀμυδρὰν εἰκόνα τὸ ἐξηρημένως ἀρχέτυπον αὐτῇ τῇ ὑπάρξει) πᾶσι τοῖς οὖσιν ἀναλόγως ἐφίησι τὰς τῆς ὅλης ἀγαθότητος ἀκτῖνας. Διὰ ταύτας ὑπέστησαν αἱ νοηταὶ καὶ νοεραὶ πᾶσαι καὶ οὐσίαι, καὶ δυνάμεις καὶ ἐνέργειαι, διὰ ταύτας εἰσὶ καὶ ζωὴν ἔχουσι τὴν ἀνέκλειπτον καὶ ἀμείωτον, ἀπάσης φθορᾶς, καὶ θανάτου, καὶ ὕλης καὶ γενέσεως καθαρεύουσαι, καὶ τῆς ἀστάτου καὶ ῥευστῆς, καὶ ἄλλοτε ἄλλως φερομένης ἀλλοιώσεως ἀνηρτημέναι· καὶ ὡς ἀσώματοι καὶ ἄϋλοι νοοῦνται, καὶ ὡς νόες ὑπερκοσμίως νοοῦσι, καὶ τοὺς τῶν ὄντων οἰκείως ἐλλάμπονται λόγους, καὶ αὖθις εἰς τὰ συγγενῆ, τὰ οἰκεῖα διαπορθμεύουσι. Καὶ τὴν μονὴν ἐκ τῆς ἀγαθότητος ἔχουσι· καὶ ἵδρυσις αὐταῖς ἐκεῖθεν ἐστὶ, καὶ συνοχὴ, καὶ φρουρὰ, καὶ ἑστία τῶν ἀγαθῶν, καὶ αὐτῆς ἐφιέμεναι, καὶ τὸ εἶναι καὶ τὸ εὖ εἶναι ἔχουσι, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὴν ὡς ἐφικτὸν ἀποτυπούμεναι καὶ ἀγαθοειδεῖς εἰσι καὶ ταῖς μετ' αὐτὰς κοινωνοῦσιν ὡς ὁ θεῖος θεσμὸς ὑφηγεῖται, τῶν εἰς αὐτὰς ἐκ τἀγαθοῦ διαφοιτησάντων δώρων.

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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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