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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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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Τὸ δὲ ἕτερον, ἐπειδὴ πᾶσι προνοητικῶς ὁ Θεὸς πάρεστι, καὶ πάντα ἐν πᾶσι διὰ τὴν πάντων σωτηρίαν γίγνεται, μένων ἐφ' ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τῆς οἰκείας ταὐτότητος ἀνεκφοιτήτως κατ' ἐνέργειαν μίαν, καὶ ἄπαυστον ἑστηκὼς, καὶ ἑαυτὸν ἐπιδιδούς ἀκλίτῳ δυνάμει πρὸς ἔκθεωσιν τῶν ἐπεστραμμένων· καὶ τὴν ἑτερότητα τῶν ποικίλων τοῦ Θεοῦ κατὰ τὰς πολυειδεῖς ὁράσεις σχημάτων, ἕτερά τινα τοῖς φαι- νομένοις παρ’ ὃ φαίνονται, σημαίνειν οἰητέον. Ὡς γὰρ εἰ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτὴν σωματοειδῶς ὁ λόγος διέπλαττε, καὶ μέρη σωματικὰ τῇ ἀμερεῖ περιέπλαττεν, ἑτέρως ἐνοοῦμεν ἐπ’ αὐτῇ τὰ περιτιθέμενα μέρη, τῇ ἀμερείᾳ τῇ κατὰ ψυχὴν οἰκείως· καὶ κεφαλὴν μὲν τὸν νοῦν, αὐχένα δὲ τὴν δόξαν, (ὡς ἐν μέσῳ λόγου καὶ ἀλογίας·) στῆθος δὲ θυμὸν, γαστέρα δὲ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν, σκέλη δὲ καὶ πόδας τὴν φύσιν ἐλέγομεν, τοῖς τῶν μερῶν ὀνόμασι τῶν δυνάμεων συμβόλοις χρώμενοι· πολλῷ γε μᾶλλον ἐπὶ τοῦ πάντων ἐπέκεινα τὴν ἑτερότητα τῶν μορφῶν καὶ τῶν σχημάτων, ἱεραῖς καὶ θεοπρεπέσι καὶ μυστικαῖς ἀναπτύξεσιν ἀνακαθαίρεσθαι χρὴ. Καὶ εἰ βούλει τὰ τρισσὰ τῶν σωμάτων σχήματα τῷ ἀναφεῖ καὶ ἀσχηματίστῳ Θεῷ περιάψαι, πλάτος μὲν θεῖον ῥητέον τὴν ὑπερευρεῖαν ἐπὶ πάντα τοῦ Θεοῦ πρόοδον· μῆκος δὲ, τὴν ὑπερεκτεινομένην τὰ ὅλα δύναμιν· βάθος δὲ, τὴν πᾶσι τοῖς οὖσιν ἀπερίληπτον κρυφιότητα καὶ ἀγνωσίαν. Ἀλλ’ ὅπως μὴ λάθωμεν ἑαυτοὺς ἐκ τῆς τῶν ἑτεροίων σχημάτων καὶ μορφῶν ἀναπτύξεως, τὰς ἀσωμάτους θεωνυμίας ταῖς διὰ συμβόλων αἰσθητῶν συμφυρούντες, διὸ περὶ μὲν τούτων ἐν τῇ Συμβολικῇ θεολογίᾳ· νῦν δὲ αὐτὸ τὴν θείαν ἑτερότητα, μὴ ἀλλοίωσίν τινα τῆς ὑπερατρέπτου ταὐτότητος ὑποπετεύσωμεν, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἐνιαῖον αὐτοῦ πολυπλασιασμόν, καὶ τὰς μονοειδεῖς τῆς ἐπὶ πάντα πολυγονίας προ-

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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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