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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CAPUT VII. De sapientia, mente, ratione, veritate, fide.

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Φέρε δὲ, εἰ δοκεῖ, τὴν ἀγαθὴν καὶ αἰωνίαν ζωὴν, καὶ ὡς σοφὴν, καὶ ὡς αὐτοσοφίαν ὑμνήσωμεν, μᾶλλον δὲ ὡς πάσης σοφίας ὑποστατικὴν, καὶ ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν σοφίαν καὶ σύνεσιν ὑπερούσαν. Οὐ γὰρ μόνον ὁ Θεὸς ὑπερπλήρης ἐστὶ σοφίας, καὶ τῆς συνέσεως αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἐστιν ἀριθμὸς, ἀλλὰ καὶ παντὸς λόγου, καὶ νοῦ, καὶ σοφίας ὑπερίδρυται. Καὶ τοῦτο ὑπερφυῶς ἐννοήσας ὁ θεῖος ὄντως ἀνὴρ, ὁ κοινὸς ἡμῶν καὶ τοῦ καθηγεμόνος ἥλιος, Τὸ μωρὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφώτερον τῶν ἀνθρώπων, φησὶν, οὐ μόνον ὅτι πᾶσα ἀνθρωπίνη διάνοια πλάνη τίς ἐστι, κρινομένη πρὸς τὸ σταθερὸν καὶ μόνιμον τῶν θείων καὶ τελειοτάτων νοήσεων· ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ σύνηθές ἐστι τοῖς θεολόγοις, ἀντιπεπονθότως ἐπὶ Θεοῦ τὰ τῆς στερήσεως ἀποφάσκειν. Οὔτω καὶ ἀόρατόν φησι τὰ Λόγια τὸ παμφαὲς φῶς· καὶ τὸν πολυύμνητον καὶ πολυώνυμον, ἄῤῥητον καὶ ἀνώνυμον· καὶ τὸν πᾶσι παρόντα καὶ ἐκ πάντων εὑρισκόμενον, ἀκατάληπτον καὶ ἀνεξιχνίαστον. Τούτῳ δὴ τῷ τρόπῳ καὶ νῦν ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος ὑμνῆσαι λέγεται μωρίαν Θεοῦ, τὸ φαινόμενον ἐν αὐτῇ παράλογον καὶ ἄτοπον, εἰς τὴν ἄῤῥητον καὶ πρὸ λόγου παντὸς ἀναγαγὼν ἀλήθειαν. Ἀλλὰ, ὅπερ ἐν ἄλλοις ἔφην, οἰκείως ἡμῖν τὰ ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς παραλαμβάνοντες, καὶ τῷ συντρόφῳ τῶν αἰσθήσεων ἐνειλούμενοι, καὶ τοῖς καθ' ἡμᾶς τὰ θεῖα παραβάλλοντες, ἀπατώμεθα, κατὰ τὸ φαινόμενον τὸν θεῖον καὶ ἀπόῤῥητον λόγον μεταδιώκοντες· δέον εἰδέναι τὸν καθ' ἡμᾶς νοῦν, ἔχειν τὴν μὲν δύναμιν εἰς τὸ νοεῖν, δι' ἧς τὰ νοητὰ βλέπει, τὴν δὲ ἕνωσιν ὑπεραιρούσαν τὴν τοῦ νοῦ φύσιν, δι' ἧς συνάπτεται πρὸς τὰ ἐπέκεινα ἑαυτοῦ. Κατὰ ταύτην οὖν τὰ θεῖα νοητέον, οὐ καθ' ἡμᾶς, ἀλλ' ὅλους ἑαυτοὺς ὅλων ἑαυτῶν ἐξισταμένους, καὶ Αὐτοῦ θεοῦ γιγνομένους· κρεῖττον γὰρ εἶναι θεοῦ, καὶ μὴ ἑαυτῶν· οὕτω γὰρ ἔσται τὰ θεῖα δωρὰ τοῖς μετὰ θεοῦ γιγνομένοις. Ταύτην οὖν τὴν ἄλογον καὶ ἄνουν καὶ μωρὰν σοφίαν ὑπεροχικῶς ὑμνοῦντες, εἴπωμεν, ὅτι παντός ἐστι νοῦ, καὶ λόγου, καὶ πάσης σοφίας, καὶ συνθέσεως αἰτία· καὶ αὐτῆς ἐστι πᾶσα βουλή, καὶ παρ' αὐτῆς πᾶσα γνῶσις καὶ σύνεσις, καὶ ἐν αὐτῇ πάντες οἱ θησαυροὶ τῆς σοφίας καὶ τῆς γνώσεώς εἰσιν ἀπόκρυφοι. Καὶ γὰρ ἑπομένως τοῖς ἤδη προειρημένοις ἡ ὑπέρσοφος καὶ πάνσοφος αἰτία καὶ τῆς αὐτοσοφίας καὶ τῆς ὅλης καὶ τῆς καθ' ἕκαστὸν ἐστιν ὑπόστατις.

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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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