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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§ IV

§ V

§ VI

§ VII

§ VIII

CAPUT II. unio et distinctio.

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§ IV

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§ VII

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§ X

§ XI

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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§ XII

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§ XIV

§ XV

§ XVI

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§ XVIII

§ XIX

§ XX

§ XXI

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§ XXIV

§ XXV

§ XXVI

§ XXVII

§ XXVIII

§ XXIX

§ XXX

§ XXXI

§ XXXII

§ XXXIII

§ XXXIV

§ XXXV

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.

§ I

Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ τὴν θείαν ἀληθότητα καὶ ὑπέρσοφον σοφίαν καὶ ὡς δύναμιν ὑμνοῦσι καὶ ὡς δικαιοσύνην οἱ θεολόγοι, καὶ σωτηρίαν αὐτὴν ἀποκαλοῦσι καὶ ἀπολύτρωσιν, φέρε καὶ ταύτας, ὡς ἐφικτὸν ἡμῖν, τὰς θεωνυμίας ἀναπτύξωμεν. Καὶ ὅτι μὲν ἡ θεαρχία πάσης ἐξήρηται, καὶ ὑπερέχει τῆς ὅπως ποτὲ καὶ οὔσης καὶ ἐννοουμένης δυνάμεως, οὐκ οἶμαι τινα τῶν ἐν τοῖς θείοις λογίοις ἐντεθραμμένων ἀγνοεῖν· πολλαχοῦ γὰρ ἡ θεολογία καὶ τὴν κυρείαν αὐτῇ, καὶ αὐτῶν τῶν ὑπερουρανίων δυνάμεων ἀφορίζουσα παραδέδοται. Πῶς οὖν αὐτὴν οἱ θεολόγοι καὶ ὡς δύναμιν ὑμνοῦσι, τὴν πάσης ἐξηρημένην δυνάμεως; ἢ πῶς ἐπ' αὐτῇ τὴν δυναμωνυμίαν ἐκλάδωμεν;

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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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§ III

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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