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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§ V

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§ VII

§ VIII

CAPUT II. unio et distinctio.

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§ 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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§ XXVII

§ XXVIII

§ XXIX

§ XXX

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§ XXXII

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§ 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.

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Καίτοι φησὶν Ἐλύμας ὁ μάγος· Εἰ παντοδύναμός ἐστιν ὁ Θεός, πῶς λέγεται τι μὴ δύνασθαι πρὸς τοῦ καθ' ὑμᾶς θεολόγου; Λοιδορεῖται δὲ τῷ θείῳ Παύλῳ φήσαντι, μὴ δύνασθαι τὸν Θεὸν ἑαυτὸν ἀρνήσασθαι. Προθεὶς δὲ τοῦτο, λίαν ὀρρωδῶ μὴ καὶ ἀνοίας ὄχλησω γέλωτα, παιδῶν ἀθυρόντων οἰκοδομήματα καὶ ἐπὶ ψάμμῳ καὶ ἀσθενῆ καταλύειν ἐπιχειρῶν, καὶ ὥσπερ τινὸς ἀνεφίκτου σκοποῦ καταστοχάζεσθαι σπεύδων τῆς περὶ τούτου θεολογικῆς διανοίας· ἡ γὰρ ἑαυτοῦ ἄρνησις ἔκπτωσις ἀληθείας ἐστίν· ἡ δὲ ἀλήθεια ὂν ἐστι, καὶ ἡ τῆς ἀληθείας ἔκπτωσις τοῦ ὄντος ἔκπτωσις. Εἰ τοίνυν ἡ ἀλήθεια ὂν ἐστιν, ἡ δὲ ἄρνησις τῆς ἀληθείας τοῦ ὄντος ἔκπτωσις, ἐκ τοῦ ὄντος ἐκπεσεῖν ὁ Θεὸς οὐ δύναται, καὶ τὸ μὴ εἶναι οὐκ ἔστιν, ὡς ἄν τις φαίη, τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι οὐ δύναται, καὶ τὸ μὴ εἰδέναι κατὰ στέρησιν οὐκ οἶδεν. Ὅπερ ὁ σοφὸς οὐκ ἐννοήσας, μιμεῖται τοὺς τῶν ἀθλητῶν ἀπειρονίκας, οἳ, πολλάκις ἀσθενεῖς εἶναι τοὺς ἀνταγωνιστὰς ὑποθέμενοι, κατὰ τὸ δοκοῦν ἑαυτοῖς, καὶ πρὸς ἀπόντας αὐτοὺς ἀνδρείως σκιαμαχοῦντες, καὶ τὸν ἀέρα διακέναις πληγαῖς εὐθαρσῶς καταπαίοντες, οἴονται τῶν ἀντιπάλων αὐτῶν κεκρατηκέναι, καὶ ἀνακηρύττουσιν ἑαυτοὺς, οὔτε εἰδότες τὴν ἐκείνων δύναμιν. Ἡμεῖς δὲ τοῦ θεολόγου κατὰ τὸ ἐφικτὸν στοχαζόμενοι, τὸν ὑπερδύναμον Θεὸν ὑμνοῦμεν, ὡς παντοδύναμον, ὡς μακάριον καὶ μόνον δυνάστην, ὡς δεσπόζοντα ἐν τῇ δυναστείᾳ αὐτοῦ τοῦ αἰῶνος, ὡς κατ' οὐδὲν τῶν ὄντων ἐκπεπτωκότα· μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ὑπέχοντα, καὶ προέχοντα πάντα τὰ ὄντα κατὰ δύναμιν ὑπερούσιον, καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς οὖσι τὸ δύνασθαι εἶναι, καὶ τόδε εἶναι κατὰ περιουσίαν ὑπερβαλλούσης δυνάμεως ἀφθόνῳ χρήσει δεδωρημένον.

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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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