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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Τῷ κακῷ τὸ εἶναι θετέον κατὰ συμβεβηκός, καὶ δι' ἄλλο, καὶ οὐκ ἐξ ἀρχῆς οἰκείας· ὥστε τὸ γιγνόμενον, ὀρθὸν μὲν εἶναι δοκεῖν, ὅτι τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ἕνεκα γίνεται, τῷ ὄντι δὲ οὐκ ὀρθὸν εἶναι, διότι τὸ μὴ ἀγαθὸν ἀγαθὸν οἰόμεθα. Δέδεικται ἄλλο τὸ ἐφετὸν, καὶ ἄλλο τὸ γιγνόμενον. Οὐκοῦν τὸ κακὸν παρὰ τὴν ὁδὸν, καὶ παρὰ τὸν σκοπὸν, καὶ παρὰ τὴν φύσιν, καὶ παρὰ τὴν αἰτίαν, καὶ παρὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν, καὶ παρὰ τὸ τέλος, καὶ παρὰ τὸν ὅρον, καὶ παρὰ τὴν βούλησιν, καὶ παρὰ τὴν ὑπόστασιν. Στέρησις ἄρα ἐστὶ τὸ κακὸν, καὶ ἔλλειψις, καὶ ἀσθένεια, καὶ ἀσυμμετρία, καὶ ἁμαρτία, καὶ ἄσκοπον, καὶ ἀκαλλὲς, καὶ ἄζωον, καὶ ἄνουν, καὶ ἄλογον, καὶ ἀτελὲς, καὶ ἀνίδρυτον, καὶ ἀναίτιον, καὶ ἀόριστον, καὶ ἄγονον, καὶ ἀργὸν καὶ ἀδρανὲς, καὶ ἄτακτον, καὶ ἀνόμοιον, καὶ ἄπειρον, καὶ σκοτεινὸν, καὶ ἀνούσιον, καὶ αὐτὸ μηδαμῶς μηδαμῇ μηδὲν ὄν. Πῶς ὅλως δύναταί τι τὸ κακὸν τῇ πρὸς τὸ ἀγαθὸν μίξει; τὸ γὰρ πάντῃ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ἄμοιρον οὔτε ἐστί τι, οὔτε δύναται. Καὶ γὰρ εἰ τὸ ἀγαθὸν καὶ ὂν ἐστι, καὶ βουλητὸν, καὶ ἐνδύναμον, καὶ δραστήριον, πῶς δυνήσεταί τι τὸ ἐναντίον τἀγαθῷ, τὸ οὐσίας καὶ βουλήσεως, καὶ δυνάμεως, καὶ ἐνεργείας ἐστερημένον; Οὐ πάντα πᾶσι καὶ πάντη τὰ αὐτὰ κατὰ τὸ αὐτὸ κακά. Δαίμονι κακὸν, τὸ παρὰ τὸν ἀγαθοειδῆ νοῦν εἶναι· ψυχῇ, τὸ παρὰ λόγον· σώματι, τὸ παρὰ φύσιν.

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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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