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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Λόγος δὲ ὁ Θεὸς ὑμνεῖται πρὸς τῶν ἱερῶν Λογίων, οὐ μόνον ὅτι καὶ λόγου καὶ νοῦ καὶ σοφίας ἐστὶ χορηγός, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ τὰς πάντων αἰτίας ἐν ἑαυτῷ μονειδῶς προείληφε, καὶ ὅτι διὰ πάντων χωρεῖ διικνούμενος, ὡς τὰ Λόγιά φησιν, ἄχρι τοῦ πάντων τέλους· καὶ πρὸ γε τούτων, ὅτι πάσης ἀπλίσττος ὁ θεῖος ὑπερήπλωται λόγος, καὶ πάντων ἐστὶν ὑπὲρ πάντα κατὰ τὸ ὑπερούσιον ἀπολελυμένος. Οὗτος ὁ λόγος ἐστὶν, ἡ ἀπλῆ καὶ ὄντως οὖσα ἀλήθεια, περὶ ἣν, ὡς καθαρὰν καὶ ἀπλανῆ τῶν ὅλων γνῶσιν, ἡ θεία πίστις ἐστὶν, ἡ μόνιμος τῶν πεπιστευμένων ἵδρυσις, ἡ τούτους ἐνιδρύουσα τῇ ἀληθείᾳ, καὶ αὐτοῖς τὴν ἀλήθειαν, ἀμεταπείστῳ ταυτότητι, τὴν ἀπλῆν τῆς ἀληθείας γνῶσιν ἐχόντων τῶν πεπεισμένων. Εἰ γὰρ ἡ γνῶσις ἑνωτικὴ τῶν ἐγνωκότων καὶ ἐγνωσμένων, ἡ δὲ ἄγνοια μεταβολῆς ἀεὶ καὶ τῆς ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ τῷ ἀγνοοῦντι διαιρέσεως αἰτία, τὸν ἐν ἀληθείᾳ πιστεύσαντα, κατὰ τὸν ἱερὸν Λόγον, οὐδεὶς ἀποκινήσει τῆς κατὰ τὴν ἀληθῆ πίστιν ἑστίας, ἐφ' ᾗ τὸ μόνιμον ἕξει τῆς ἀκινήτου καὶ ἀμεταβόλου ταυτότητος. Εὖ γὰρ οἶδεν ὁ πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἑνωθεὶς, ὅτι εὖ ἔχει, κἂν οἱ πολλοὶ νουθετοῖεν αὐτὸν, ὡς ἐξεστηκότα· λανθάνει μὲν, ὡς εἰκὸς, αὐτοὺς ἐκ πλάνης τῇ ἀληθείᾳ διὰ τῆς ὄντως πίστεως ἐξεστηκώς· αὐτὸς δὲ ἀληθῶς οἶδεν ἑαυτὸν, οὐχ (ὥς φασιν ἐκεῖνοι) μαινόμενον, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἀστάτου καὶ ἀλλοιωτῆς περὶ τὴν παντοδαπὴ τῆς πλάνης ποικιλίᾳ χώρας διὰ τῆς ἁπλῆς καὶ ἀεὶ κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ καὶ ὡσαύτως ἐχούσης ἀληθείας ἠλευθερωμένον. Οὕτω γοῦν οἱ τῆς καθ’ ἡμᾶς θεοσοφίας ἀρχηγικοὶ καθηγεμόνες ὑπὲρ ἀληθείας ἀποθνήσκουσι πᾶσαν ἡμέραν, μαρτυροῦντες, ὡς εἰκὸς, καὶ λόγῳ παντὶ καὶ ἔργῳ τῇ ἐνιαίων Χριστιανῶν ἀληθογνωσίᾳ, τὸ πασῶν αὐτὴν εἶναι καὶ ἁπλουστέραν καὶ θειοτέραν, μᾶλλον δὲ τὸ ἀληθὲς τὴν εἶναι τὴν μόνην ἀληθῆ καὶ μίαν καὶ ἁπλῆν θεογνωσίαν.

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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