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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Συνελόντι δὲ φάναι, τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἐκ τῆς μιᾶς καὶ τῆς ὅλης αἰτίας· τὸ δὲ κακὸν ἐκ πολλῶν καὶ μερικῶν ἐλλείψεων. Οἶδεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸ κακὸν ᾗ ἀγαθὸν, καὶ παρ’ αὐτῷ αἱ αἰτίαι τῶν κακῶν, δυνάμεις εἰσὶν ἀγαθοποιοί. Εἰ δὲ τὸ κακὸν αἴτιον, καὶ δημιουργεῖ, καὶ δύναται, καὶ ἔστι, καὶ δρᾷ, πόθεν αὐτῷ ταῦτα; ἢ ἐκ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ; ἢ τῷ ἀγαθῷ ἐκ τοῦ κακοῦ; ἢ ἀμφοῖν ἐξ ἄλλης αἰτίας; Πᾶν τὸ κατὰ φύσιν ἐξ αἰτίας ὡρισμένης γεννᾶται· εἰ δὲ τὸ κακὸν ἀναίτιον καὶ ἀόριστον, οὐ κατὰ φύσιν· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐν τῇ φύσει τὸ παρὰ φύσιν, οὐδὲ ἀτεχνίας ἐν τῇ τέχνῃ λόγος. Ἆρα ἡ ψυχὴ τῶν κακῶν αἰτία, καθάπερ τὸ πῦρ τοῦ θερμαίνειν, καὶ πᾶν τὰ οἷς ἂν γειτνιάσῃ, κακίας ἀναπίμπλησιν; ἡ ἀγαθὴ μὲν ἡ τῆς ψυχῆς φύσις, ταῖς δὲ ἐνεργείαις, ποτὲ μὲν οὕτως ἔχει, ποτὲ δὲ οὕτως; Εἰ μὲν φύσει καὶ τὸ εἶναι αὐτῆς κακόν, καὶ πόθεν αὐτῇ τὸ εἶναι; ἢ ἐκ τῆς δημιουργικῆς τῶν ὅλων ὄντων ἀγαθῆς αἰτίας; Ἀλλ' εἰ ἐκ ταύτης, πῶς κατ' οὐσίαν κακόν; ἀγαθὰ γὰρ πάντα ταύτης ἔκγονα. Εἰ δὲ ταῖς ἐνεργείαις, οὐδὲ τοῦτο ἀμετάβλητον· εἰ δὲ μὴ, πόθεν αἱ ἀρεταὶ, μὴ καὶ ἀγαθοειδοῦς αὐτῆς γινομένης; Λείπεται ἄρα, τὸ κακὸν ἀσθένεια καὶ ἔλλειψις τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ εἶναι. ΧΧΙ.

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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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