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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Τί δὲ ἄλλως οἱ θεολόγοι βουλόμενοι, ποτὲ μὲν ἔρωτα καὶ ἀγάπην αὐτὸν φασι, ποτὲ δὲ ἐραστὸν καὶ ἀγαπητόν; Τοῦ μὲν γὰρ αἴτιος, καὶ ὥσπερ προβολεὺς, καὶ ἀπογεννήτωρ· τὸ δὲ αὐτός ἐστι. Καὶ τῷ μὲν κινεῖται, τῷ δὲ κινεῖ· ἢ ὅτι αὐτὸς ἑαυτοῦ καὶ ἑαυτῷ ἐστι προαγωγικὸς καὶ κινητικός. Ταύτῃ δὲ ἀγαπητὸν μὲν καὶ ἐραστὸν αὐτὸν καλοῦσιν, ὡς καλὸν καὶ ἀγαθόν· ἔρωτα δὲ αὖθις καὶ ἀγάπην, ὡς κινητικὴν ἅμα καὶ ὡς ἀναγωγὸν δύναμιν ὄντα ἐφ' ἑαυτὸν, τὸ μόνον αὐτὸ δι' ἑαυτὸ καλὸν καὶ ἀγαθὸν, καὶ ὥσπερ ἔκφασιν ὄντα ἑαυτοῦ δι' ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ τῆς ἐξηρημένης ἑνώσεως ἀγαθὴν πρόοδον, καὶ ἐρωτικὴν κίνησιν, ἁπλῆν, αὐτοκίνητον, αὐτενέργητον, προὔσαν ἐν τἀγαθῷ, καὶ ἐκ τἀγαθοῦ ταῖς οὖσιν ἐκθλυζομένην, καὶ αὖθις εἰς τἀγαθὸν ἐπιστρεφομένην. Ἐν ᾗ καὶ τὸ ἀτελεύτητον ἑαυτοῦ καὶ ἄναρχον ὁ θεῖος ἔρως ἐνδείκνυται διαφερόντως, ὥσπερ τις ἀΐδιος κύκλος, διὰ τἀγαθὸν, ἐκ τἀγαθοῦ, καὶ ἐν τἀγαθῷ, καὶ εἰς τἀγαθὸν, ἐν ἀπλανεῖ συνελίξει περιπορευόμενος, καὶ ἐν ταὐτῷ, καὶ κατὰ τὸ αὐτὸ, καὶ προϊὼν ἀεὶ, καὶ μένων, καὶ ἀποκαθιστάμενος. Ταῦτα καὶ ὁ κλεινὸς ἡμῶν ἱεροτελεστὴς ἐνθέως ὑφηγήσατο κατὰ τοὺς ἐρωτικοὺς ὕμνους· ὧν οὐκ ἄτοπον ἐπιμνησθῆναι, καὶ οἷον ἱερὰν τινα κεφαλὴν ἐπιθεῖναι τῷ περὶ ἔρωτος ἡμῶν λόγῳ.

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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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