On Mystical Theology

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. Caput I — What is the Divine Gloom?(3 chapters)
2. Caput II — How we ought both to be united and render praise to the Cause of all and above all.(1 chapter)
3. Caput III — What are the affirmative expressions respecting God, and what the negative.(1 chapter)
4. Caput IV — That the pre-eminent Cause of every object of sensible perception is none of the objects of sensible perception.(1 chapter)
5. Caput V — That the pre-eminent Cause of every object of intelligible perception is none of the objects of intelligible perception.(1 chapter)