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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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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Ἄγε δὴ τὴν θείαν καὶ ἀρχισυνάγωγον εἰρήνην ὕμνοις εἰρηναίοις ἀνευφημήσωμεν· αὕτη γάρ ἐστιν ἡ πάντων ἑνωτικὴ, καὶ τῆς ἀπάντων ὁμονοίας τε καὶ συμφυΐας γεννητικὴ καὶ ἀπεργαστική· διὸ καὶ πάντα αὐτῆς ἐφίεται, τὸ μεριστὸν αὐτῶν πλῆθος ἐπιστρέφουσης εἰς τὴν ὅλην ἑνότητα, καὶ τὸν ἐμφύλιον τοῦ παντὸς πόλεμον ἐνούσης εἰς ὁμοειδῆ συνοικίαν. Τῇ μετοχῇ τῆς θείας εἰρήνης αἱ γοῦν πρεσβύτεραι τῶν συναγωγῶν δυνάμεων αὗταί τε πρὸς ἑαυτὰς καὶ πρὸς ἀλλήλας ἐνοῦνται, καὶ πρὸς τὴν μίαν τῶν ὅλων εἰρηναρχίαν, καὶ τὰ ὑφ’ ἑαυτὰς ἐνοῦσιν αὐτά τε πρὸς ἑαυτὰ, καὶ πρὸς ἄλληλα, καὶ πρὸς τὴν μίαν καὶ παντελῆ τῆς πάντων εἰρήνης ἀρχὴν καὶ αἰτίαν, ἥτις, ἀμερώς ἐπιβεβηκυῖα τοῖς ὅλοις, ὥσπερ τισὶ κλειθροῖς τῶν διηρημένων συμπτυκτικοῖς, τὰ πάντα ὁρίζει, καὶ περατοῖ, καὶ ἀσφαλίζεται, καὶ οὐκ ἐᾷ διαιρεθέντα χυθῆναι πρὸς τὸ ἄπειρον καὶ ἀόριστον, ἄτακτα, καὶ ἀνίδρυτα, καὶ ἔρημα Θεοῦ γιγνόμενα, καὶ τῆς ἑαυτῶν ἑνώσεως ἐξιόντα, καὶ ἐν ἀλλήλοις παμμιγῶς συμφυρόμενα. Περὶ μὲν οὖν αὐτῆς, ὅ τί ποτέ ἐστι τῆς θείας εἰρήνης καὶ ἡσυχίας, ἣν ὁ ἱερὸς Ἰοῦστος ἀφθεγξίαν καλεῖ, καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν γιγνωσκομένην πρόοδον ἀκινησίαν, ὅπως τε ἠρεμεῖ, καὶ ἡσυχίαν ἄγει, καὶ ὅπως ἐν ἑαυτῇ καὶ εἴσω ἑαυτῆς ἐστι, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὴν ὅλην ὅλῃ ὑπερήνωται, καὶ οὔτε εἰς ἑαυτὴν εἰσιοῦσα, καὶ πολλαπλασιάζουσα ἑαυτὴν ἀπολείπει τὴν ἑαυτῆς ἕνωσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρόεισιν ἐπὶ πάντα ἑνὸν ὅλη μένουσα δι’ ὑπερβολὴν τῆς πάντα ὑπερεχούσης ἑνώσεως, οὔτε εἰπεῖν, οὔτε ἐννοῆσαί τινι τῶν ὄντων, οὔτε θεμιτὸν οὔτε ἐφικτόν. Ἀλλ’ ὡς ἄφθεγκτον καὶ τοῦτο, καὶ ἄγνωστον ἐπ’ αὐτὴν ἀναθέντες, ὡς πάντων οὖσαν ἐπέκεινα, τὰς νοητὰς αὐ- τῆς καὶ ῥητὰς μετουσίας, καὶ τοῦτο ὡς δυνατὸν ἀνδράσι, καὶ ἡμῖν πολλῶν ἀνδρῶν ἀγαθῶν ἀπολειπομένοις, ἐπισκοπήσωμεν.

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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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