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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Τούτων οὖν, καὶ τῶν αἰσθητῶν ἐν τῷδε τῷ παντὶ τριῶν κινήσεων, καὶ πολλῷ πρότερον τῶν ἑκάστου μονῶν καὶ στάσεων, καὶ ἱδρύσεων αἴτιόν ἐστι, καὶ συνοχικὸν, καὶ πέρας τὸ καλὸν καὶ ἀγαθὸν, τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν στάσιν καὶ κίνησιν· διὸ πᾶσα στάσις καὶ κίνησις, καὶ ἐξ οὗ, καὶ ἐν ᾧ, καὶ εἰς ὃ, καὶ οὗ ἕνεκα. Καὶ γὰρ ἐξ αὐτοῦ, καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐσία, καὶ ζωὴ πᾶσα, καὶ νοῦ καὶ ψυχῆς, καὶ πάσης φύσεως αἱ σμικρότητες, αἱ ἰσότητες, αἱ μεγαλειότητες, τὰ μέτρα πάντα, καὶ αἱ τῶν ὄντων ἀναλογίαι, καὶ ἁρμονίαι, καὶ κράσεις, αἱ ὁλότητες, τὰ μέρη, πᾶν ἕν, καὶ πλῆθος, αἱ συνδέσεις τῶν μερῶν, αἱ παντὸς πλήθους ἑνώσεις, αἱ τελειότητες τῶν ὁλοτήτων, τὸ ποιὸν, τὸ ποσὸν, τὸ πηλίκον, τὸ ἄπειρον, αἱ συγκρίσεις, αἱ διακρίσεις, πᾶσα ἀπειρία, πᾶν πέρας· οἱ ὅροι πάντες, αἱ τάξεις, αἱ ὑπεροχαί, τὰ στοιχεῖα, τὰ εἴδη, πᾶσα οὐσία, πᾶσα δύναμις, πᾶσα ἐνέργεια, πᾶσα ἕξις, πᾶσα αἴσθησις, πᾶς λόγος, πᾶσα νόησις, πᾶσα ἐπαφή, πᾶσα ἐπιστήμη, πᾶσα ἕνωσις· καὶ ἁπλῶς, πᾶν ὃν ἐκ τοῦ καλοῦ καὶ ἀγαθοῦ, καὶ ἐν τῷ καλῷ καὶ ἀγαθῷ ἐστι, καὶ εἰς τὸ καλὸν καὶ ἀγαθὸν ἐπιστρέφεται·

καὶ πάντα ὅσα ἐστὶ καὶ γίγνεται, διὰ τὸ καλὸν καὶ ἀγαθὸν ἐστι καὶ γίγνεται, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸ πάντα ὁρᾷ, καὶ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ κινεῖται καὶ συνέχεται, καὶ αὐτοῦ ἕνεκα, καὶ δι' αὐτὸ, καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ πᾶσα ἀρχὴ παραδειγματικὴ, τελικὴ, ποιητικὴ, εἰδικὴ, στοιχειώδης, καὶ ἁπλῶς πᾶσα ἀρχὴ, πᾶσα συνοχὴ, πᾶν πέρας· ἢ ἵνα συλλαβὼν εἴπω, πάντα τὰ ὄντα ἐκ τοῦ καλοῦ καὶ ἀγαθοῦ· καὶ πάντα τὰ οὐκ ὄντα, ὑπερουσίως ἐν τῷ καλῷ καὶ ἀγαθῷ· καὶ ἔστι πάντων ἀρχὴ, καὶ πέρας ὑπεράρχιον, καὶ ὑπερτελές. Ὅτι ἐξ αὐτοῦ, καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ, καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν τὰ πάντα, ὡς φησιν ὁ ἱερὸς λόγος·

Πάλιν οὖν ἔστι τὸ καλὸν καὶ ἀγαθὸν, ἐφετὸν, καὶ ἐραστὸν, καὶ ἀγαπητὸν· καὶ δι' αὐτὸ, καὶ αὐτοῦ ἕνεκα, καὶ τὰ ἥττω τῶν κρειττόνων ἐπιστρεπτικῶς ἐρῶσι, καὶ κοινωνικῶς τὰ ὁμόστοιχα τῶν ὁμοταγῶν, καὶ τὰ κρείττω τῶν ἡττόνων προνοητικῶς, καὶ αὐτὰ ἑαυτῶν ἕκαστα συνεκτικῶς, καὶ πάντα τοῦ καλοῦ καὶ ἀγαθοῦ ἐφιεμένα, ποιεῖ καὶ βούλεται πάντα ὅσα ποιεῖ καὶ βούλεται. Παρρησιάσεται δὲ καὶ τοῦτο εἰπεῖν ὁ ἀληθὴς λόγος, ὅτι καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ πάντων αἴτιος δι' ἀγαθότητος ὑπερβολὴν πάντων ἐρᾷ, πάντα ποιεῖ, πάντα τελειοῖ, πάντα συνέχει, πάντα ἐπιστρέφει, καὶ ἔστι καὶ ὁ θεῖος ἔρως ἀγαθὸς ἀγαθοῦ διὰ τὸ ἀγαθόν. Αὐτὸς γὰρ ὁ ἀγαθοεργὸς τῶν ὄντων ἔρως, ἐν τἀγαθῷ καθ' ὑπερβολὴν προϋπάρχων, οὐκ εἴασεν αὐτὸν ἄγονον ἐν ἑαυτῷ μένειν, ἐκίνησε δὲ αὐτὸν εἰς τὸ πρακτικεύεσθαι κατὰ τὴν ἁπάντων γεννητικὴν ὑπερβολήν.

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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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