2 rov vcpeiyiivois KadiepuTals Kul lfpw/j.evoLS.
^ sc. It would be an impiety to do so, for he is almost equal to the Sciiptural Writers, as he showed when he met with them to view the body of the li. V. M.
* Cf. p I, n I.
Ttie Divine Names ^5
yea, he was wholly transported, was wholly outside of
himself, and was so moved by a communion with
those Mysteries he was celebrating^, that all who
heard him and saw him and knew him (or rather
knew him not) deemed him to be rapt of God and
endued with utterance Divine. But why should 1
tell thee of the divine things that were uttered in that
place ? For, unless I have forgotten who I am, I
know that I have often heard from thee certain
fragments of those enraptured praises ; so earnest
hast thou been with all thy soul to follow heavenly
things.
3. But, to say nothing of those mystical ex-
periences (since they cannot be told unto the world,
and since thou knowest them well), when it behoved
us to communicate these things unto the world and
to bring all whom we might unto that holy knowledge
we possessed, how he surpassed nearly all the holy
teachers in the time he devoted to the task, in pure-
ness of mind, in exactness of exposition, and in all
other holy qualities, to such a degree that we could
not attempt to gaze upon such spiritual radiance.
For we are conscious in ourselves and well aware
that we cannot sufficiently perceive those Divine
Truths which are granted to man's perception, nor
can we declare and utter those elements of Divine
Knowledge which are given unto man to speak. We
fall very short of that understanding which the
Divine men possessed concerning heavenly truths,
and verily, from excess of reverence, we should not
have ventured to listen, or give utterance to any
truths of Divine philosophy, were it not that we are
convinced in our mind that such knowledge of Divine
Truth as is possible must not be disregarded. This
conviction was wrought within us, not only by the
natural impulse of our minds, which yearn and strive
for such vision of supernatural things as may be
86 Dionysius the Areopagite
attained, but also by the holy ordinance of Divine
Law itself, which, while it bids us not to busy ourselves
in things beyond us because such things are both
beyond our merits and also unattainable,^ yet
earnestly exhorts us to learn all things within our
reach, which are granted and allowed us, and also
generously to impart these treasures unto others.'^
In obedience to these behests we, ceasing not through
weariness or want of courage in such search for
Divine Truth as is possible, yea, and not daring to
leave without assistance those who possess not a
greater power of contemplation than ourselves, have
set ourselves to the task of composition, in no vain
attempt to introduce fresh teaching, but only seeking
by more minute and detailed investigations to make
more clear and plain that which the true Hierothcus
hath said in brief.
Chapter Iv
Co?icenting ''Good,'' " TJc^ht:' "Beautiful:' " Deshr;' ■ " Ecstasy :' ''Jealousy." Also that Evil is neither existent nor spru7ig from a7iy thing existetit nor inherent in existent tilings.
I. Now let us consider the name of " Good " which
the Sacred Writers apply to the Supra-Divine God-
head in a transcendent manner, calling the Supreme
Divine Existence Itself " Goodness " (as it seems to
me) in a sense that separates It from the whole
creation, and meaning, by this term, to indicate that
the Good, under the form of Good-l^eing,^ extends
Its goodness by the very fact of Its existence unto all
^ l"'cclu.s. iii. 21 ; ]\. cxxxi. i. - 2 Tim. ii. 2.
The Divine Names 87
things.^ hor as our sun, throui^h no choice or deli-
beration, but by the very fact of its existence, ii^ives
hght to all those things which have any inherent
power of sharing its illumination, even so the Good
(which is above the sun, as the transcendent archetype
by the very mode of its existence is above its faded
image) sends forth upon all things according to their
receptive powers, the rays of Its undivided Goodness.
Through these all Spiritual Beings and faculties and
activities (whether perceived or percipient^) began;
through these they exist and possess a life incapable
of failure or diminution, and are untainted by any
corruption or death or materiality or birth, being
separate above all instability and flux and restless-
ness of change. And whereas they are bodiless and
immaterial they are perceived by our minds, and
whereas they are minds themselves, they possess a
supernatural perception and receive an illumination
(after their own manner) concerning the hidden
nature of things,^ from whence they pass on their
own knowledge to other kindred spirits. Their rest
is in the Divine Goodness, wherein they are grounded,
and This Goodness maintains them and protects
them and feasts them with Its good things. Through
desiring this they possess their being and their
blessedness, and, being conformed thereto (according
^ God's activity cannot be distinguished from Himself. Cf. p. 8i, n. 4. God acts simply by being what He is — by being Good. This fits in with the doctrine that He creates the world as being the Object of its desire. He attracts it into existence.
" ai voTjTal Kot vo^paX iracrai Koi oiialai koI Swdueis koI fU€pyeiai. Angels and men are percipient Essences; their powers when quiescent or dormant on the one hand and active on the other are respectively percipient faculties and activities. But angels and men with their faculties and activities can also be perceived. Cf. next sentence.
^ This doctrine may be based on some psychic experience enjoyed by D. or recounted to him. George Fox received an experience of this kind in which he had an intuitive knowledge concerning the hidden properties of plants. See his Diary near the beginning.
88 Dionysius the Areopagite
to their powers), they are goodly, and, as the Divine
Law commands, pass on to those that are below
them, of the gifts which have come unto them from
the Good.
2. Hence have they their celestial orders, their
self-unities, their mutual indwellings, their distinct
Differences, the faculties which raise the lower unto
the higher ranks, the providences of the higher for
those beneath them ; their preservation of the pro-
perties belonging to each faculty, their unchanging
introversions,^ their constancy and elevation in their
search for the Good, and all the other qualities which
we have described in our book concerning the Pro-
perties and Orders of the Angels.- Moreover all
things appertaining to the Celestial Hierarchy, the
angelic Purifications, the Illuminations and the at-
tainments which perfect them in all angelic perfection
and come from the all-creative and originating Good-
ness, from whence it was given to them to possess
their created goodness, and to manifest the Secret
Goodness in themselves, and so to be (as it were)
the angelic Evangelists of the Divine Silence and
to stand forth as shining lights revealing Him that
is within the shrine. And next those sacred and
holy Minds, men's souls and all the excellences that
belong to souls derive their being from the Super-
Excellent Goodness. So do they possess intelli-
gence; so do they preserve their living being ^
immortal ; so is it they exist at all, and can, by
straining towards the living angelic powers, through
^ Lit. "Revolutions." (at . . . irepl eavras a/jLeTdirTuroi (XvvcXi^ets.) In Dante' ii 7\zradiso the souls of the Redeemed all move with a circular motion. This symbolizes an activity of spiritual concentration. Cf. iv. 8, 9.
'^ The Celestial Hierarchy is among D.'s extant works. It is referred to by Dante and was the chief source of mediivval ani^elolocjy.
^ T)t]v ovaicoSr] (^co-qv — i.e. life as such, mere life, the life which they share with animals and plants.
THE DIVINE NAMES Sf)
their good guidance mount towards the Bounteous
Origin of all things ; so can they (according to tlicir
measure) participate in the iUuminations which
stream from above and share the bounteous gift
(as far as their power extends) and attain all the
other privileges which we have recounted in our book,
Coiccriiing the Soul. Yea, and the same is true,
if it must needs be said, concerning even the irrational
souls, or living creatures, which cleave the air, or
tread the earth, or crawl upon the ground, and those
which live among the waters or possess an amphibi-
ous life, and all that live buried and covered in the
earth — in a word all that possess a sensitive soul
or life. All these are endowed with soul and life
because the Good exists. And all plants derive
from the Good that life which gives them nourish-
ment and motion, and even whatsoever has no life
or soul exists through the Good, and thus came into
the estate of being. ^
3. Now if the Good is above all things (as indeed
It is) Its Formless Nature produces all-form ; and
in It alone Not-Being is an excess of Being,^ and
Lifelessness an excess of Life and Its Mindless state
is an excess of Wisdom,^ and all the Attributes of
^ The existence of the whole creation — angels, men, animals, and vegetables, dead matter — is in the Good. It has not, in the ordinary sense, made them, but they are grounded in It and draw their existence from it and would not exist but for it. They exist not through any particular activity It exerts but solely because It Is.
^ " Being" implies finite relations; for one thing must be distin- guished from another. If a thing is itself, it is not something else ; this thing is not that. The Good is beyond this distinction, for nothing (on the ultimate plane) is outside It. See Intr., p. 5.
' This apparently profitless speculation really suggests profound spiritual mysteries. Love is the one reality and love is self-realization through self-sacrifice. We must lose our life to find it. We must, through the excess of spiritual life within us, seek to be (as it were) lifeless, so that this excess of life n-.ay still I'e ours. And such was the Incarnate Life of Christ and such is the Life of God in eternity. So too the wisdom of Chiist is, from a worldly point of view, fooli>hness.
90 DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGlTE
the Good we express in a transcendent manner by
negative images.^ And if it is reverent so to say,
even that which is not desires the all-transcendent
Good and struggles itself, by its denial of all things,
to find its rest in the Good which verily transcends
all being.
4. Nay, even the foundation and the bound- aries of the heavens (as we forgot to say while
For worldly wisdom = self-seeking, but the Wisdom of Christ = self- abandonment. In fact Heavenly Wisdom = Love. Cf. i Cor. i. 25 ; iii. 18, 19.
^ That which Is Not = Evil {vt'de infra in this chapter). Cf. Inlr., p. 20. The Good is Non-Existent as being beyond existence ; evil is non-existent as being contrary to it. Thus evil is by its very nature trying as it were to be Good.