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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CAPUT V. De ente, in quo etiam de exemplaribus.

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CAPUT VI. De vita.

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Νῦν δὲ ὑμνητέον ἡμῖν τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον, ἐξ ἧς ἡ αὐτοζωὴ, καὶ πᾶσα ζωὴ, καὶ ὑφ' ἧς εἰς πρέπει τὰ ὁπωσοῦν ζωῆς μετέχοντα τὸ ζῆν οἰκείως ἑκάστῳ διασπείρεται. Καὶ γοῦν ἡ τῶν ἀθανάτων ἀγγέλων ζωὴ, καὶ ἡ ἀθανασία, καὶ τὸ ἀνώλεθρον αὐτὸ τῆς ἀγγελικῆς ἀεικινησίας. ἐξ αὐτῆς, καὶ δι' αὐτὴν, καὶ ἔστι καὶ ὑφέστηκε· διὸ καὶ ζῶντες ἀεὶ καὶ ἀθάνατοι λέγονται, καὶ οὐκ ἀθάνατοι πάλιν, ὅτι μὴ παρ' ἑαυτῶν ἔχουσι τὸ ἀθάνατον εἶναι καὶ αἰωνίως ζῆν, ἀλλ' ἐκ τῆς ζωοποιοῦ καὶ πάσης ζωῆς ποιητικῆς καὶ συνοχικῆς αἰτίας. Καὶ ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τοῦ ὄντος ἐλέγομεν, ὅτι καὶ τοῦ αὐτοεἶναι ἐστὶν αἴτιον, οὕτω καὶ ἐνθάδε πάλιν, ὅτι καὶ τῆς αὐτοζωῆς ἐστιν ἡ ὑπὲρ ζωὴν ἡ θεία ζωὴ, ζωτικὴ, καὶ ὑποστατική, καὶ πᾶσα ζωὴ, καὶ ζωτικὴ κίνησις ἐκ τῆς ζωῆς, τῆς ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν ζωὴν καὶ πᾶ- σαν ἀρχὴν πάσης ζωῆς. Ἐξ αὐτῆς καὶ αἱ ψυχαὶ τὸ ἀνώλεθρον ἔχουσι, καὶ ζῶα πάντα καὶ φυτὰ κατ᾽ ἔσχατον ἀπήχημα τῆς ζωῆς ἔχουσι τὸ ζῆν. Τῆς ἀναιρουμένης, κατὰ τὸ Λόγιον, ἐκλείπει πᾶσα ζωή, καὶ πρὸς ἣν καὶ τὰ ἐκλελοιπότα τῇ πρὸς τὸ μετέχειν αὐτῆς ἀσθενείᾳ, πάλιν ἐπιστρεφόμενα, πάλιν ζῶα γίνεται.

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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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