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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Ἐν γνώσει δὲ ἁμαρτάνοντας καλεῖ τὰ λόγια τοὺς περὶ τὴν ἄληπτον τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ γνῶσιν ἢ τὴν ποίησιν ἐξασθενοῦντας, καὶ τοὺς εἰδότας τὸ θέλημα, καὶ μὴ ποιοῦντας· τοὺς ἀκηκότας μὲν, ἀσθενοῦντας δὲ περὶ τὴν πίστιν, ἢ τὴν ἐνέργειαν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ· καὶ ἀδούλητόν τισι τὸ συνιέναι τοῦ ἀγαθῦναι, κατὰ τὴν παρατροπὴν, ἢ τὴν ἀσθένειαν τῆς βουλήσεως. Καὶ ὅλως τὸ κακὸν, ὡς πολλάκις εἰρήκαμεν, ἀσθένεια, καὶ ἀδυναμία, καὶ ἔλλειψίς ἐστιν ἢ τῆς γνώσεως, ἢ τῆς ἀλήστου γνώσεως, ἢ τῆς πίστεως, ἢ τῆς ἐφέσεως, ἢ τῆς ἐνεργείας τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ. Καίτοι φαίη τις· Οὐ τιμωρητὸν ἡ ἀσθένεια, τοὐναντίον δὲ συγγνωστόν· εἰ μὲν οὐκ ἐξῆν τὸ δύνασθαι, καλῶς ἂν εἶχεν ὁ λόγος· εἰ δὲ ἐκ τἀγαθοῦ τὸ δύνασθαι, τοῦ διδόντος, κατὰ τὰ Λόγια, τὰ προσήκοντα πᾶσιν ἀπλῶς, οὐκ ἐπαινετὸν ἡ τῆς ἐκ τἀγαθοῦ τῶν οἰκείων ἀγαθῶν ἕξεως ἁμαρτία, καὶ παρατροπὴ, καὶ ἀφυγὴ, καὶ ἀπόπτωσις. Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ἡμῖν ἐν τοῖς Περὶ δικαίου καὶ θείου δικαστηρίου κατὰ δύναμιν ἱκανῶς εἰρήσθω, καθ' ἣν ἱερὰν πραγματείαν ἡ τῶν Λογίων ἀλήθεια, τοὺς σοφιστικοὺς καὶ ἀδικίαν καὶ ψεῦδος κατὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ λαλούντας ἀπεῤῥάπισεν ὡς παράφρονας λόγους. Νῦν δὲ, ὡς καθ' ἡμᾶς ἀρκούντως ὑμνητέον τἀγαθὸν, ὡς ὄντως ἀγαπητὸν, ὡς ἀρχὴ καὶ πέρας πάντων, ὡς περιοχὴ τῶν ὄντων, ὡς εἰδοποιὸν τῶν οὐκ ὄντων, ὡς πάντων ἀγαθῶν αἴτιον, ὡς τῶν κακῶν ἀναίτιον, ὡς πρόνοια καὶ ἀγαθότης παντελής, καὶ ὑπερβάλλουσα τὰ ὄντα καὶ τὰ οὐκ ὄντα, καὶ τὰ κακὰ, καὶ τὴν ἑαυ- τῆς στερήσειν ἀγαθύνουσα, πᾶσιν ἐφετὸν, καὶ ἐραστὴν, καὶ ἀγαπητὸν, καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν ὁ ἀληθὴς ἀπέδειξεν, ὡς οἶμαι, λόγος.

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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