Letters

Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite · c. 500 AD

The Works of Dionysius the Areopagite (Parker), John Parker, The Works of Dionysius the Areopagite, 2 vols., London: James Parker & Co. (Skeffington), 1897–1899; transcribed by Roger Pearse, tertullian.org.

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.

Contents

1. Letter I — To Gaius Therapeutes(1 chapter)
2. Letter II — To the same Gaius Therapeutes. (1 chapter)
3. Letter III — To the same Gaius(1 chapter)
4. Letter V — To Dorotheus, Leitourgos(1 chapter)
5. Letter X — To John, Theologos, Apostle and Evangelist, imprisoned in the Isle of Patmos(1 chapter)
6. Letter XI — Dionysius to Apollophanes, Philosopher(1 chapter)