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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Ψυχῆς δὲ κίνησις ἐστὶ, κυκλικὴ μὲν ἡ εἰς ἑαυτὴν εἴσοδος ἀπὸ τῶν ἔξω, καὶ τῶν νοερῶν αὐτῆς δυνάμεων ἡ ἑνοειδὴς συνέλιξις, ὥσπερ ἔν τινι κύκλῳ τὸ ἀπλανὲς αὐτῇ δωρουμένη, καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν πολλῶν τῶν ἔξωθεν αὐτὴν ἐπιστρέφουσα καὶ συνάγουσα, πρῶτον εἰς ἑαυτὴν, εἶτα ὡς ἑνοειδῆ γενομένην, ἑνοῦσα ταῖς ἑνιαίως ἡνωμέναις δυνάμεσι, καὶ οὕτως ἐπὶ τὸ καλὸν καὶ ἀγαθὸν χειραγωγοῦσα, τὸ ὑπὲρ πάντα τὰ ὄντα, καὶ ἓν καὶ ταὐτὸν, καὶ ἄναρχον καὶ ἀτελεύτητον. Ἑλικοειδῶς δὲ ἡ ψυχὴ κινεῖται καθ' ὅσον οἰκείως ἑαυτῇ τὰς θείας ἐλλάμπεται γνώσεις, οὐ νοερῶς καὶ ἑνιαίως, ἀλλὰ λογικῶς καὶ διεξοδικῶς, καὶ οἷον συμμίκτοις καὶ μεταβατικαῖς ἐνεργείαις. Τὴν κατ' εὐθεῖαν δὲ, ὅταν οὐχ εἰς ἑαυτὴν εἰσιοῦσα καὶ ἐνικῇ νοερότητι κινουμένη, (τοῦτο γὰρ, ὡς ἔφην, ἐστι τὸ κατὰ κύκλον·) ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὰ περὶ ἑαυτὴν προϊοῦσα, καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἔξωθεν, ὥσπερ ἀπό τινων συμβόλων πεποικιλμένων καὶ πεπληθυμένων, ἐπὶ τὰς ἁπλᾶς καὶ ἡνωμένας ἀνάγεται θεωρίας.

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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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