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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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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Ἐν δὲ, ὅτι πάντα ἑνιαίως ἐστι κατὰ μιᾶς ἑνότητος ὑπεροχὴν, καὶ πάντων ἐστὶ τοῦ ἑνὸς ἀνεκφοιτήτως αἴτιον· οὐδὲν γάρ ἐστι τῶν ὄντων ἀμέτοχον τοῦ ἑνός, ἀλλ' ὥσπερ ἅπας ἀριθμὸς μονάδος μετέχει, καὶ μία δυάς, καὶ δεκὰς λέγεται, καὶ ἥμισυ ἓν, καὶ τρίτον καὶ δέκατον ἓν, οὕτω πάντα καὶ πάντων μόριον τοῦ ἑνὸς μετέχει, καὶ τῷ εἶναι τὸ ἓν, πάντα ἐστὶ τὰ ὄντα· καὶ οὐκ ἔστι τὸ πάντων αἴτιον ἓν τῶν πολλῶν ἓν, ἀλλὰ πρὸς παντὸς ἑνὸς καὶ πλήθους, καὶ παντὸς ἑνὸς καὶ πλήθους ὁριστικόν· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔστι πλῆθος ἀμέτοχόν πῃ τοῦ ἑνὸς, ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν πολλὰ τοῖς μέρεσιν ἓν τῷ ὅλῳ· καὶ τὸ πολλὰ τοῖς συμβεβηκόσιν ἓν τῷ ὑποκειμένῳ· καὶ τὸ πολλὰ τῷ ἀριθμῷ ἢ ταῖς δυνάμεσιν ἓν τῷ εἴδει· καὶ τὸ πολλὰ τοῖς εἴδεσιν ἓν τῷ γένει· καὶ τὸ πολλὰ ταῖς προόδοις ἓν τῇ ἀρχῇ· καὶ οὐδέν ἐστι τῶν ὄντων, ὃ μὴ μετέχει πῃ τοῦ ἑνὸς τοῦ ἐν τῷ κατὰ πάντα ἑνικῷ, πάντα καὶ ὅλα πάντα, καὶ τὰ ἀντικείμενα καὶ ἐναντίως προειληφότος. Καὶ ἄνευ μὲν τοῦ ἑνὸς οὐκ ἔσται πλῆθος, ἄνευ δὲ τοῦ πλήθους ἔσται τὸ ἓν, ὡς καὶ μονὰς πρὸ παντὸς ἀριθμοῦ πεπληθυσμένου· καὶ εἰ πᾶσι τὰ πάντα ἡνωμένα τις ὑπόθοιτο, τὰ πάντα ἔσται τῷ ὅλῳ ἕν.

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