Difference between revisions of "Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite" - New World Encyclopedia

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Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, also known as pseudo-Denys, is the name scholars have given to an anonymous theologian and philosopher of the fifth or sixth century C.E., who wrote a collection of books, the Corpus Areopagiticum, under the pseudonym Dionysius the Areopagite, a convert of Saint Paul from Athens. However, through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, this pseudonym was so convincing that it carried an almost apostolic authority on church doctrines. Out of the works of Pseudo-Dionysius the Aeropagite, four treatises and ten letters currently survive including the Divine Names, Celestial Hierarchy, Mystical Theology, Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, and various others. His thought characterizes the affinity, and perhaps tension, between Neoplatonism and Christianity; nonetheless he is significant of his philosophical approach to issues of theology and church doctrine.

Philosophy

His works are mystical and are characterized by the Neoplatonic tendencies that were developed by the Platonic Academy in Athens—for example, he uses Plotinus' well-known analogy of a sculptor’s cutting away that which does not enhance the desired image. He shows familiarity with Proclus, which indicates he wrote no earlier than the fifth century, as well as Neoplatonic ideas that were developed by Saint Clement of Alexandria, the Cappadocian Fathers, Origen, and others.

He incorporates Christian theology within this Neoplatonic context, which, despite certain tensions that it creates, was a significant mode of philosophy that sought to reconcile pagan and Christian ideas. Signature Neoplatonic ideas that characterize his works include the idea of God as the “Good,” or the “One” of Neoplatonism, and the hierarchy of the "divine procession" that emanates from the origin, God.

In the Divine Names, he further elucidates that the “One,” God, is unknowable, except through the names, or symbols, that depict God in the scriptures; that the only way to approach the God that is beyond human understanding is by the contemplation of these symbols. He then discusses the philosophy of these symbolic terms that appear in the scripture, such as God, life, beautiful, love, ecstasy, and zeal, and goes on to address ideas such as life, wisdom, truth, power, Holy of Holies, King of King, and Lord of Lords among others.

Another application of Neoplatonic principles to Christian theology appears in his exposition on the celestial hierarchies. He explains that these symbols are not meant to be taken at face value, for the value of the symbols is two-fold: that they enable man, who cannot contemplate the divine being itself, to contemplate the divine origin through the symbols; in addition, these symbols are also in place to prevent the divine truth from being exposed to those for whom it would be inappropriate. Thus, the existence of hierarchies reveal the idea of ordered realms of existence based on the beings' ability to contemplate God—which he first categorizes in the hierarchy of the angels in his work on the Celestial Hierarchy, and further, of church authorities in the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy.

Aside from his treatises, the remaining epistles cover various topics ranging from the functions of theology and negative theology, Jesus, and the Good.

Dionysius the Areopagite

Dionysius the Areopagite (Greek: {Polytonic|Διονύσιος ὁ Ἀρεοπαγίτης})) was the judge of the Areopagus who, as related in Acts of the Apostles (Acts 17:34), was converted to Christianity by the preaching of Saint Paul. According to Dionysius of Corinth, quoted by Eusebius (Historia Ecclesiae III: IV), this Dionysius then became a bishop of Athens.

Centuries later, a series of famous writings of a mystical nature, employing Neoplatonic language to elucidate Christian theological and mystical ideas, was misleadingly ascribed to the Areopagite. They have long been known to be fifth-century works in his name (pseudepigrapha) and are now attributed to "Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite."

Dionysius was also popularly misidentified with the martyr of Gaul, Dionysius, the first Bishop of Paris, Saint Denis.

Identity of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite

The Florentine humanist Lorenzo Valla (d. 1457), in his commentaries on the New Testament, did much to establish that the author of the Corpus Areopagiticum could not have been Paul's convert, though he was unable to identify the actual historical author. The fictitious literary persona had long been accepted on face value by all its readers, with a couple of exceptions, such as Nicholas of Cusa. John Grocyn pursued Valla's lines of criticism, and Valla's critical viewpoint of the authorship of the highly influential Corpus was accepted and publicized by Erasmus from 1504 onward.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

Dionysius the Areopagite. The Mystical Theology and the Divine Names. Edited by Clarence E. Rolt. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2004. ISBN 0486434591
Dionysius the Areopagite. Pseudo-Dionysius of Tel-Mahre: Chronicle, Part III. Liverpool University Press, 1997.
Harrington, Michael L. 2004. A Thirteenth-Century Textbook of Mystical Theology at the University of Paris: The Mystical Theology of Dionysius the Areopagite in Eriugena's Latin Translation. Leuven, Belgium: Peeters. ISBN 9042913940
O'Rourke, F. 2005. Pseudo-Dionysius and the Metaphysics of Aquinas. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press. ISBN 0268037248
Rorem, P. 1987. Pseudo Dionysius: The Complete Works. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press. ISBN 0809128381
Rorem, P. 1993. Pseudo-Dionysius: A Commentary on the Texts and an Introduction to their Influence. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195076648

External links

All links retrieved December 2, 2022.

Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Pseudo-Dionysius, Catholic Encyclopedia
Commentary by Clarence Rolt (from 1920) on Pseudo-Dionysius's works (available in .pdf, HTML, and..txt format)
Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite — The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Works available online

Celestial Hierarchy (HTML)
Mystical Theology (Theologica Mystica) (HTML)
Works of Pseudo-Dionysius including The Divine Names, Mystical Theology, Celestial Hierarchy, Ecclesiatial Hierarchy, and Letters (available in .pdf, HTML, and..txt format)

General Philosophy Sources

Credits

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-'''Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite''', also known as '''pseudo-Denys''', is the name scholars have given to an anonymous theologian and philosopher of the [[5th century]], who wrote a collection of books, the ''Corpus Areopagiticum'', [[pseudepigraphy|falsely ascribed]] to [[Dionysius the Areopagite]], mentioned in {{bibleverse||Acts|17:34|NIV}}. The author was historically believed to be the Areopagite because he claimed acquaintance with biblical characters. [[Georgia (country)|Georgian]] academician [[Shalva Nutsubidze]] and [[Belgian]] professor [[Ernest Honigmann]] were authors of a theory identifying pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite with [[Peter the Iberian]].
+{{Copyedited}}{{Paid}}{{Approved}}{{Images OK}}{{Submitted}}
-The author's works currently available include the ''Divine Names'', ''Celestial Hierarchy'', ''Mystical Theology'', ''Ecclesiastical Hierarchy'', and various [[epistles]].  He refers in his writings to some other works of his that are no longer extant such as ''Theological Outlines''.
+'''Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite''', also known as '''pseudo-Denys''', is the name scholars have given to an anonymous theologian and philosopher of the fifth or sixth century <small>C.E.</small>, who wrote a collection of books, the ''Corpus Areopagiticum'', under the pseudonym Dionysius the Areopagite, a convert of [[Saint Paul]] from Athens. However, through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, this pseudonym was so convincing that it carried an almost apostolic authority on church doctrines. Out of the works of Pseudo-Dionysius the Aeropagite, four treatises and ten letters currently survive including the ''Divine Names'', ''Celestial Hierarchy'', ''Mystical Theology'', ''Ecclesiastical Hierarchy'', and various others. His thought characterizes the affinity, and perhaps tension, between [[Neoplatonism]] and [[Christianity]]; nonetheless he is significant of his philosophical approach to issues of [[theology]] and church doctrine.
+{{toc}}
+==Philosophy==
+His works are [[mystical]] and are characterized by the [[Neoplatonism|Neoplatonic]] tendencies that were developed by the Platonic Academy in Athens&mdash;for example, he uses [[Plotinus]]' well-known analogy of a sculptor’s cutting away that which does not enhance the desired image. He shows familiarity with [[Proclus]], which indicates he wrote no earlier than the fifth century, as well as Neoplatonic ideas that were developed by Saint [[Clement of Alexandria]], the [[Cappadocian Fathers]], [[Origen]], and others.
-==Teaching==
+He incorporates Christian theology within this Neoplatonic context, which, despite certain tensions that it creates, was a significant mode of philosophy that sought to reconcile pagan and Christian ideas. Signature Neoplatonic ideas that characterize his works include the idea of God as the “Good,” or the “One” of Neoplatonism, and the hierarchy of the "divine procession" that emanates from the origin, God.
-His works are [[mystical]] and show strong [[Neoplatonism|Neoplatonic]] influence.  For example he uses [[Plotinus]]' well known analogy of a sculptor cutting away that which does not enhance the desired image.  He shows familiarity with [[Proclus]], which indicates he wrote no earlier than the 5th century, as well as influence from Saint [[Clement of Alexandria]], the [[Cappadocian Fathers]], [[Origen]], and others. There is of course a noted difference between  [[Neoplatonism]] and [[Eastern Orthodox]] Christianity in that one believes all returns to the source to be stripped of individual identity, the other that [[Theosis]] gives the individual an infinite and divine god status. The liturgical references in his writings also date his corpus after the 4th century.
-He appeared to have belonged to the group which attempted to form a compromise position between [[monophysitism]] and the [[orthodox]] teaching.  His writings first appeared in the 5th century, and were initially used by monophysites to back up parts of their arguments, but they were quickly accepted by other church theologians as well. The Dionysian corpus of writings and its mystical teaching was universally accepted throughout the East, amongst both Chalcedonians and non-Chalcedonians. St. Gregory Palamas, for example, in referring to these writings, calls the author, "an unerring beholder of divine things." And in the West, these writings grew to be extremely popular amongst theologians in the middle ages, but debates over the authenticity of his works began in the [[Renaissance]].
+In the ''Divine Names'', he further elucidates that the “One,” God, is unknowable, except through the names, or symbols, that depict God in the scriptures; that the only way to approach the God that is beyond human understanding is by the contemplation of these symbols. He then discusses the philosophy of these symbolic terms that appear in the scripture, such as God, life, beautiful, love, ecstasy, and zeal, and goes on to address ideas such as life, wisdom, truth, power, Holy of Holies, King of King, and Lord of Lords among others.
-[[Pierre Abélard]], the 12th century theologian and philosopher, after his unfortunate experience with [[Heloise]], became a [[Benedictine]] monk at [[Saint Denis Basilica|Saint Denis]]. Around [[1120]] he was convicted of teaching [[Sabellianism]] and expelled for a short time. Upon his return around 1121, he turned his attention to the story of [[Denis|their patron saint]], and disentangled the three Dionysiuses. The monks were offended, and Abelard did not remain long at Saint Denis. The great monastery of Saint Denis just north of [[Paris]] claimed to have the [[relic]]s — the mortal remains — of Dionysius (Dionysius = Denys = Denis = Dennis).  However, there are at least three different persons from whom the relics could be:
+Another application of Neoplatonic principles to Christian theology appears in his exposition on the celestial hierarchies. He explains that these symbols are not meant to be taken at face value, for the value of the symbols is two-fold: that they enable man, who cannot contemplate the divine being itself, to contemplate the divine origin through the symbols; in addition, these symbols are also in place to prevent the divine truth from being exposed to those for whom it would be inappropriate. Thus, the existence of hierarchies reveal the idea of ordered realms of existence based on the beings' ability to contemplate God&mdash;which he first categorizes in the hierarchy of the angels in his work on the ''Celestial Hierarchy'', and further, of church authorities in the ''Ecclesiastical Hierarchy''.
-*The 1st century Athenian convert of [[Paul of Tarsus|St. Paul]] mentioned in the [[Acts of the Apostles]] (the Areopagite)
+Aside from his treatises, the remaining epistles cover various topics ranging from the functions of theology and negative theology, Jesus, and the Good.
-*The 3rd-century [[bishop of Paris]] who was martyred c. 250
-*The 5th century author pseudo-Dionysius, who is possibly the Georgian theologian, [[Peter the Iberian]].
-This also could stem from the text being an oral tradition that was only at the dates given finally put to record. "It must also be recognized that "forgery" is a modern notion. Like Plotinus and the Cappadocians before him, Dionysius does not claim to be an innovator, but rather a communicator of a tradition." [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pseudo-dionysius-areopagite/]
+==Dionysius the Areopagite ==
+'''Dionysius the Areopagite''' (Greek: ''{Polytonic|Διονύσιος ὁ Ἀρεοπαγίτης})'') was the judge of the Areopagus who, as related in Acts of the Apostles (Acts 17:34), was converted to [[Christianity]] by the preaching of [[Paul|Saint Paul]]. According to Dionysius of Corinth, quoted by Eusebius (''Historia Ecclesiae'' III: IV), this Dionysius then became a [[bishop]] of Athens.
-Two of the three men, of course, actually were named Dionysius, which was not an uncommon Greek name.  The monastery of St. Denis cheerfully conflated the three.  They had a good [[Greek language|Greek]] edition of pseudo-Dionysius's works given to them by [[Charles the Bald]], which was translated into [[Latin]] by [[Johannes Scotus Eriugena|John Scotus Eriugena]] in the late 9th century. This translation widely popularized both pseudo-Dionysius' Neoplatonism and his explanation of the angels.
+Centuries later, a series of famous writings of a [[mystical]] nature, employing [[Neoplatonism|Neoplatonic]] language to elucidate Christian theological and mystical ideas, was misleadingly ascribed to the Areopagite. They have long been known to be fifth-century works in his name (''pseudepigrapha'') and are now attributed to "Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite."
-==Identity==
+Dionysius was also popularly misidentified with the martyr of Gaul, Dionysius, the first Bishop of Paris, Saint Denis.
-The Florentine humanist [[Lorenzo Valla]] (died 1457), in his commentaries on the New Testament, did much to establish that the author of the ''Corpus Areopagiticum'' could not have been St Paul's convert, though he was unable to identify the actual historical author. The fictitious literary ''persona'', or literary device, had long been accepted on face value by all its readers, with a couple of exceptions, such as [[Nicholas of Cusa]], who have been singled out by modern historians, but whose reservations went unheard. [[John Grocyn]] pursued Valla's lines of text criticism, and Valla's critical viewpoint of the authorship of the highly influential ''Corpus'' was accepted and publicized by [[Erasmus]] from 1504 onward, for which he  was criticized by Catholic theologians. In the Leipzig disputation with [[Martin Luther]], 1519, [[Johann Eck]] used the ''Corpus'', specifically the ''Angelic Hierarchy'', as an argument for the apostolic origin of papal supremacy, pressing the Platonist analogy, "as above, so below". During the 19th century, modernist Catholics too came generally to accept that this self-identified disciple of St. Paul must have lived after the time of [[Proclus]], whose works he paraphrased in transforming [[Neoplatonism]] in Christian terms — which is the philosophical approach that had interested the Christian Neoplatonist Valla in the first place. The compilers of the ''Stanford History of Philosophy'' [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pseudo-dionysius-areopagite/] find the pseudo-Dionysius to be most probably  "a pupil of Proclus, perhaps of Syrian origin, who knew enough of Platonism and the Christian tradition to transform them both. Since Proclus died in 485 C.E., and since the first clear citation of Dionysius' works is by Severus of Antioch between 518 and 528, then we can place Dionysius' authorship between 485 and 518-28 C.E.."
-==Reference==
+==Identity of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite ==
-*''Pseudo Dionysius: The Complete Works'', 1987, Paulist Press, ISBN 0809128381
+The Florentine humanist [[Lorenzo Valla]] (d. 1457), in his commentaries on the New Testament, did much to establish that the author of the ''Corpus Areopagiticum'' could not have been Paul's convert, though he was unable to identify the actual historical author. The fictitious literary persona had long been accepted on face value by all its readers, with a couple of exceptions, such as [[Nicholas of Cusa]]. John Grocyn pursued Valla's lines of criticism, and Valla's critical viewpoint of the authorship of the highly influential ''Corpus'' was accepted and publicized by [[Erasmus]] from 1504 onward.
-==See also==
+==References==
-*[[Christian Meditation]]
+* Dionysius the Areopagite. ''The Mystical Theology and the Divine Names''. Edited by Clarence E. Rolt. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2004. ISBN 0486434591
-*[[St. Dionysus Institute in Paris]]
+* Dionysius the Areopagite. ''Pseudo-Dionysius of Tel-Mahre: Chronicle, Part III''. Liverpool University Press, 1997.
-* [[Vladimir Lossky]]
+* Harrington, Michael L. 2004. ''A Thirteenth-Century Textbook of Mystical Theology at the University of Paris: The Mystical Theology of Dionysius the Areopagite in Eriugena's Latin Translation''. Leuven, Belgium: Peeters. ISBN 9042913940
+* O'Rourke, F. 2005. ''Pseudo-Dionysius and the Metaphysics of Aquinas''. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press. ISBN 0268037248
+* Rorem, P. 1987. ''Pseudo Dionysius: The Complete Works''. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press. ISBN 0809128381
+* Rorem, P. 1993. ''Pseudo-Dionysius: A Commentary on the Texts and an Introduction to their Influence''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195076648
 ==External links==
-*[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pseudo-dionysius-areopagite/ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite]
+All links retrieved December 2, 2022.
-*[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/rolt/dionysius.html Commentary by Clarence Rolt] (from 1920) on pseudo-Dionysius's works (available in.pdf, HTML, and.txt format)
+*[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pseudo-dionysius-areopagite/ Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite] &mdash; Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
+*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05013a.htm Pseudo-Dionysius, Catholic Encyclopedia]
+*[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/rolt/dionysius.html Commentary by Clarence Rolt] (from 1920) on Pseudo-Dionysius's works (available in .pdf, HTML, and..txt format)
+*[http://www.iep.utm.edu/p/pseudodi.htm Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite] &mdash; The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
 ===Works available online===
 *[http://www.esoteric.msu.edu/VolumeII/CelestialHierarchy.html ''Celestial Hierarchy''] (HTML)
 *[http://www.esoteric.msu.edu/VolumeII/MysticalTheology.html ''Mystical Theology''] (Theologica Mystica) (HTML)
-*[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/dionysius/works.html ''Works''] (''Corpus Areopagiticum'') of pseudo-Dionysius including ''The Divine Names'', ''Mystical Theology'', ''Celestial Hierarchy'', ''Ecclesiatial Hierarchy'', and Letters (available in.pdf, HTML, and.txt format)
+*[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/dionysius/works.html ''Works'' of Pseudo-Dionysius] including ''The Divine Names'', ''Mystical Theology'', ''Celestial Hierarchy'', ''Ecclesiatial Hierarchy'', and Letters (available in .pdf, HTML, and..txt format)
-[[Category:Church Fathers]]
+===General Philosophy Sources===
-[[Category:Christian mysticism]]
+*[http://plato.stanford.edu/ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
-[[Category:Neoplatonists]]
+*[http://www.bu.edu/wcp/PaidArch.html Paideia Project Online]
-[[Category:Theologians]]
+*[http://www.iep.utm.edu/ The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
-[[Category:Pseudepigraphy]]
+*[http://www.gutenberg.org/ Project Gutenberg]
-[[fr:Pseudo-Denys l'Aréopagite]]
+[[Category:Biography]]
-[[it:Pseudo-Dionigi]]
+[[Category:Philosophy and religion]]
-[[hu:Pszeudo-Dionüsziosz]]
-[[nl:Pseudo-Dionysius]]
-[[ja:偽ディオニシウス・アレオパギタ]]
-[[pl:Pseudo-Dionizy Areopagita]]
-[[pt:Pseudo-Dionísio, o Areopagita]]
-[[ru:Дионисий Ареопагит]]
-[[sk:Dionýzios Pseudo-Areiopagités]]
-[[fi:Pseudo-Dionysios Areopagita]]
-[[sv:Dionysios Areopagita]]
-{{credit|62676297}}
+{{credit2|Pseudo-Dionysius_the_Areopagite|62676297|Dionysius_the_Areopagite|85550469}}