Dionysius the Areopagite

Probably the most influential figures within the good reputation for Christianity, Dionysius the Areopagite remains a mystery author sometimes known as Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite to be able to distinguish him in the figure of the identical name pointed out in Functions 17:34. Here, I personally use the name to which Dionysius made a decision to write, while bearing in mind that Dionysius was probably not the main one pointed out by Paul. Many scholars believe he most likely authored these works around 500 A.D. You will find an array of scholarly ideas concerning the dates from the Corpus Dionysianum. varying from some who date the whole shebang to as soon as 300 A.D. to other people who place him as late as 544 A.D.

For the purposes a lot more important than which of those dates applies is Dionysius’s influence, that is enormous. However anachronistic this can be in fact, Dionysius has in the past been considered being an apostolic Father from the Christian tradition, and it was very essential for such authors as John Scotus Erigena, John Tauler, the writer of The Cloud of Unknowing. Thomas Aquinas, Pico della Mirandola and Marsilio Ficino. Indeed, one might with a few justification see Dionysius as central towards the Italian Renaissance, for Pico converted his work just like had Erigena before him.

Why is Dionysius so influential? In my opinion, there’s two central facets of Dionysius’s work that people must consider. Around the one hands, in Divine Names and Celestial Hierarchy. he emphasizes the strength of meaning to share spiritual understanding, as well as in this his work is visible like a cornerstone for which has become referred to as Western esotericism, for Dionysius’s work talks to the strength of the imagination in perceiving transcendent reality through meaning.

However, in Mystical Theology. Dionysius emphasized the complete transcendence that can’t be communicated by meaning, only through negation like this from the Prajnaparamita Sutra in Buddhism. Thus in Dionysius’s work we are able to clearly see each of the central currents running through the good reputation for Western esotericism, around the one hands the attraction to the strength of imaginal meaning that manifests in magic, however a way toward sheer transcendence that’s found in the mysticism of Tauler, The Cloud of Unknowing. and the like contemporary figures as Bernadette Roberts.

We incorporated links here fully texts of Dionysius’s Celestial Hierarchy and Mystical Theology. These versions derive from an anonymous early last century translation printed through the Shrine of Knowledge, but happen to be revised to help make the language a little bit more contemporary. There are many excellent quite recent printed translations of Dionysius’s work, including those of the Complete Works (Paulist Press: 1987). We include these versions here mainly to be used in teaching, as presently there’s not one other available source for Celestial Hierarchy. and you will find not one other works of Dionysius on the internet. Our archivist Josh Strozeski was accountable for checking these in I edited them. You’ll find slightly modifications of those in the Shrine of Knowledge website.