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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Ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἐκστατικὸς ὁ θεῖος ἔρως, οὐκ ἐῶν ἑαυτῶν εἶναι τοὺς ἐραστὰς, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἐρωμένων. Καὶ δηλοῦσι, τὰ μὲν ὑπέρτερα τῆς προνοίας γιγνόμενα τῶν καταδεεστέρων· καὶ τὰ ὁμόστοιχα τῆς ἀλλήλων συνοχῆς· καὶ τὰ ὑφειμένα τῆς πρὸς τὰ πρῶτα θεωτέρας ἐπιστροφῆς. Διὸ καὶ Παῦλος ὁ μέγας, ἐν κατοχῇ τοῦ θείου γεγονὼς ἔρωτος, καὶ τῆς ἐκστατικῆς αὐτοῦ δυνάμεως μετειληφὼς, ἔνθεῳ στόματι· Ζῶ ἐγὼ, φησὶν, οὐκ ἔτι, ζῇ δὲ ἐν ἐμοὶ Χριστός· ὡς ἀληθὴς ἐραστὴς καὶ ἐξεστηκὼς, ὡς αὐτός φησι, τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ οὐ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ζῶν, ἀλλὰ τὴν τοῦ ἐραστοῦ ζωήν, ὡς σφόδρα ἀγαπητήν. Τολμητέον δὲ καὶ τοῦτο ὑπὲρ ἀληθείας εἰπεῖν, ὅτι καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ πάντων αἴτιος τῷ καλῷ καὶ ἀγαθῷ τῶν πάντων ἔρωτι δι’ ὑπερβολὴν τῆς ἐρατικῆς ἀγαθότητος, ἔξω ἑαυτοῦ γίγνεται, ταῖς εἰς τὰ ὄντα πάντα προνοίαις, καὶ οἷον ἀγαθότητι καὶ ἀγαπήσει καὶ ἔρωτι θέλγεται· καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ὑπὲρ πάντα καὶ πάντων ἐξῃρημένου πρὸς τὸ ἐν πᾶσι κατάγεται κατ’ ἐκστατικὴν ὑπερούσιον δύναμιν ἀνεκφοίτητον ἑαυτοῦ. Διὸ καὶ ζηλωτὴν αὐτὸν οἱ τὰ θεῖα δεινοὶ προσαγορεύουσιν, ὡς πάλιν τὸν εἰς τὰ ὄντα ἀγαθῶν ἔρωτα, καὶ ὡς πρὸς ζῆλον ἐγερτικὸν τῆς ἐφέσεως αὐτοῦ τῆς ἐρωτικῆς, καὶ ὡς ζηλωτὴν αὐτὸν ἀποδεικνύντα, καὶ τὰ ἐφιέμενα, ζηλωτὰ, καὶ ὡς τῶν προνοουμένων ὄντων, αὐτῷ ζηλωτῶν. Καὶ ὅλως τοῦ καλοῦ καὶ ἀγαθοῦ ἐστι τὸ ἐραστὸν, καὶ ὁ ἔρως, καὶ ἐν τῷ καλῷ καὶ ἀγαθῷ προὔδρυται, καὶ διὰ τὸ καλὸν καὶ ἀγαθὸν ἔστι καὶ γίνεται.

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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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