Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite

c. 480 – 530 · 5th/6th c. · Greek (Syrian milieu)

Anonymous Greek-writing theologian active c. 500 AD, writing under the pseudonym 'Dionysius the Areopagite' (the Athenian convert of St Paul in Acts 17:34). His Corpus Areopagiticum — the Divine Names, Mystical Theology, Celestial Hierarchy, Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, and ten Letters — synthesizes late Neoplatonic metaphysics with Christian doctrine and became foundational for Orthodox apophatic theology. The Orthodox tradition receives the corpus critically (recognizing its pseudonymity) while reading it as a vital expression of mystical theology: cited extensively by St Maximus the Confessor, St John of Damascus, and the hesychast tradition through St Gregory Palamas.

Works in the library · 5

Lettersletter
On Mystical Theologytreatise
On the Celestial Hierarchytreatise
On the Divine Namestreatise
On the Ecclesiastical Hierarchytreatise