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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Καὶ διωρεῖται μὲν πρῶτα τῇ αὐτοζωῇ τὸ εἶναι ζωὴν, καὶ πάσῃ ζωῇ, καὶ τῇ καθ᾽ ἕκαστα τὸ εἶναι εἰκείως ἑκάστην ὃ εἶναι πέφυκε· καὶ ταῖς μὲν ὑπερουρανίοις ζωαῖς τὴν ἄϋλον, καὶ θεοειδῆ, καὶ ἀναλλοίωτον ἀθανασίαν, καὶ τὴν ἀρθετὴν καὶ ἀπαρέγκλιστον ἀεικινησίαν, ὑπερεκτεινομένη διὰ περιουσίαν ἀγαθότητος, καὶ εἰς τὴν δαιμονίαν ζωὴν· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐκείνη τὸ εἶναι παρ᾽ ἄλλης αἰτίας, ἀλλ᾽ ἐξ αὐτῆς καὶ τὸ εἶναι ζωὴ, καὶ τὴν διαμονὴν ἔχει. Δωρουμένη δὲ καὶ ἀνδράσι τὴν, ὡς συμμίκτοις, ἐνδεχομένην ἀγγελοειδῆ ζωὴν, καὶ ὑπερβλύσει φιλανθρωπίας, καὶ ἀποφοιτῶντας ἡμᾶς εἰς ἑαυτὴν ἐπιστρέφουσα καὶ ἀνακαλουμένη, καὶ (τὸ δὴ θειότερον) ὅτι καὶ ὅλους ἡμᾶς, ψυχὰς φημι καὶ τὰ συζυγῆ σώματα, πρὸς παντελῆ ζωὴν καὶ ἀθανασίαν ἐπήγγελται μεταθήσειν· πρᾶγμα τῇ παλαιότητι μὲν ἴσως παρὰ φύσιν δοκοῦν, ἐμοὶ δὲ καὶ σοὶ καὶ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ καὶ θεῖον καὶ ὑπὲρ φύσιν. Ὑπὲρ φύσιν δὲ τὴν καθ' ἡμᾶς φημι τὴν δρωμένην, οὐ τὴν πανσθενῆ τῆς θείας ζωῆς· αὐτὴ γὰρ ὡς πασῶν οὖση τῶν ζωῶν φύσει, καὶ μάλιστα τῶν θειοτέρων, οὐδεμία ζωὴ παρὰ φύσιν ἢ ὑπὲρ φύσιν. Ὥστε οἱ περὶ τούτου τῆς παρανοίας Σίμωνος ἀντιῤῥητικοὶ λόγοι πόρρω θείου χοροῦ, καὶ τῆς σῆς ἱερᾶς ψυχῆς ἀπεληλάσθωσαν. Ἔλαθε γὰρ αὐτὸν, ὡς οἶμαι, καὶ ταῦτα σοφὸν οἰόμενον εἶναι, τὸ μὴ δεῖν τὸν εὐφρονοῦντα τῷ προφανεῖ τῆς αἰσθήσεως λόγῳ συμμάχῳ χρῆσθαι κατὰ τῆς πάντων ἀφανοῦς αἰτίας. Καὶ τοῦτό ἐστι ῥητέον αὐτῷ, τὸ παρὰ φύσιν εἰπεῖν· αὐτῇ γὰρ οὐδὲν ἐναντίον.

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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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