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Pseudo Dionysius: The Complete Works (Classics of Western Spirituality)

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Until the publication of this book, Pseudo-Dionysius, a major influence on Meister Eckhart and John of the Cross, among others, was like a tantalizing mirage, frequently referred to but generally not seen in full. Finally, here he is. The book contains "The Divine Names", "The Mystical Theology", "The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy", "The Celestial Hierarchy", and letters. In addition, there are three (!) introductions, to tell us about Pseudo-Dionysius in later antiquity, the middle ages, and the reformation. The translations are modern, well-annotated, and clear inasmuch as this is possible. One of the introductory writers comments that many readers are surprized at how short these works are, because they may seem long due to the dense writing style. As for content, Pseudo-Dionysius attempted to wed the Neoplatonism of Plotinus and Proclus with the Bible and Christian practice. The reader will have to judge how successful this effort actually is, but it probably helps account for the survival of these works through many heresy purges. The result translated here is interesting in a historical sense and useful in a spiritual sense. The discussion of evil in "The Divine Names" is particularly fascinating, if difficult. And for those who wonder about angel theory, well, "The Celestial Hierarchy" has it all. It is very good to finally be able to read these works in their entirety.

The Classics of Western Spirituality Series (Paulist Press) is an amazing undertaking, and every volume becomes the standard for primary sources for the religious thinkers covered. This certainly holds true for this complete volume of the works of Pseudo-Dionysius (anonymous writer of the fifth or sixth-century C.E.). Beautiful translations from the Greek of "The Divine Names," "The Mystical Theology," "The Celestial Hierarchy," "The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy," and all ten extant letters, three essay-introductions by Jaroslav Pelikan, Jean Leclercq, and Karlfried Froehlich, an exhaustive bibliography, and complete biblical and textual indices make this a volume that will last more than one lifetime and serve as the finest authority on Pseudo-Dionysian theology available. No understanding of twelfth and thirteenth-century theology is complete without an acquaintance with Dionysius's work--this includes Aquinas. Covering prayer, religious epistemology, and biblical interpretation, Pseudo-Dionysius always makes for enlightening reading and deeper appreciation of the often overlooked aspects of Christian theology: its mystical or "immediate" side. For the price, this book cannot be beaten. Buy it and read it, you might be suprised at what you'll learn.

"It would be a challenging project, but a fascinating one, to write the history of Western Christian spirituality in the late patristic and medieval periods primarily or even exclusively on the basis of those neglected writings that are identified in successive volumes of J. P. Migne's Patrologia Latina and Patrologia Graeca as 'spurious' or as 'dubious,' together with the purportedly authentic writings that in fact belong in the same categories." So Jaroslav Pelikan begins his introduction - it is the first of three introductions - to the complete works of Pseudo-Dionysius. That there should be three introductory essays detailing the history and reception of the Dionysian corpus simply goes to show how utterly important these writings are, despite the fact that we do not know (or perhaps we simply do not believe?) who wrote them. It is perfectly accurate to write that above any other writings of the Patristic period, these writings are the most influential mystical writings of not only the early Church, but of all Christian history.

It is currently believed that the writer who called himself Dionysius the Aeropagite (St. Paul's first convert) was a monk from Syria in the fifth or sixth century. Most of his writings have been lost (or, if one wishes to be suspicious about it, were never really written in the first place), but those that remain - The Divine Names, The Mystical Theology, The Celestial Hierarchy, The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy and ten Letters - have all been translated and copiously annotated in the present volume.

Dionysius is best known for his understanding that theological language exists to be surpassed by "a mystical silence" that is at the height of all theological contemplation: union with God. The belief that doxology is overflown by the God that our language points and reaches out to is central to Dionysius' worldview. However, there is are two essential connections that one must make here. First, because our language - which is "cataphatic" (that is, it affirms something) - is surpassed by God, apophaticism (language that denies something) is truer of God than cataphaticism. Second - and this is the more important point - God is also beyond apophaticism. Thus, cataphatically I say "God is good", apophatically I follow with "God is not good", and find myself pushed to affirm that "God is beyond goodness as I understand goodness to be". Dionysius refuses to allow us to drown in apophatic quietism and pushes us to let God "overflow" our theological language (and he uses the image of overflowing frequently).

Central to Dionysius' paradigm is the liturgy as a participation with the heavenly choirs of angels; in short, liturgy as mystical. Such liturgy is inspired by God - the theologian is the one who is given inspired visions of God - and the purpose of worship is ascent to Christ. Some have claimed that Dionysius is fundamentally deficient in his trinitarian theology, but if one understands his understanding of Jesus as the divine mediatory and the Holy Spirit as the one who inspire (as in St. Paul), then what emerges is not an underveloped theology, but a theology that sees that activity of the whole Trinity as foundational to our experience of God in worship, lifting us to see God's own face in a "dazzling darkness" - not because of absence, but because of the overflowing light of the Godhead which blinds our natural eyes just as it inspires desire within us.

These writings are theologically dense, to put it simply. Yet, they are profound. For those that are well-versed in the doctrines of the Incarnation and Trinity, they will find these writings to be a helpful next step in understanding better the functions of theological language, especially within the liturgical context.

Sometime at around the 5th or 6th century A.D., a Christian monk sat down and penned several works on 'mystical' theology. Passing himself off as the famous Athenian convert to Christianity who heard St Paul in Athens, the works of this monk became the foundations upon which later great Christian mystics such as Meister Eckhart, the author of the Cloud of Unknowning, St John of Cross, Nicholas of Cusa, St Bonaventure, Richard of St Victor, and many others would base their 'ascents' to God.

The two most important works on the Corpus are the 'Mystical Theology' and 'The Divine Names.' Probably using the language and concepts of Neo-Platonism and in particular of Proclus along with ideas he got from reading Gregory of Nyssa, Denys expounds the 'via negativa' apprach to God.

In the mystical theology Denys outlines how Moses ascended to God through a dark 'cloud of unknowing' and reached the ineffable Godhead who is beyond all concepts, ideas and words. In the view of Denys, even in a 'clear' vision of God we do not get a clear vision of God but rather only see a 'dazzling darkness' which is above and beyond every possible concept and idea we could have of God, or any name we can apply to God. Denys seems very keen to protect the mystery of God's transcendant being, which even when 'naked' and exposed by stripping it of all concepts and ideas and names, is still completely hidden by virtue of its transcendance.

Denys explores these ideas further in 'The Divine Names', a very important work both in mysticism and theology. Denys talks of what names can be said to apply to God and he also discusses how God's goodness 'flows out' of itself to create the universe and all beings (which he calls theophanies) and which return back to God in a circular procession. This little work would have a profound effect on many of Christendom's most creative and innovative thinkers, from Scotus Eriugena, Maximus Confessor, Thomas Aquinas, St John of Cross, St Bonaventure, Robert Grosseteste and Nicholas of Cusa. Its influence still continues to this day and seems to be undergoing a kind of renaissance amoung theologians such as Von Balthasar, Karl Rahner and Valdimir Lossky.

The works which follow are somewhat weaker in both literary and theological merit. The Celestial heirarchy and the Ecclesiastical Heirarchy are attempts to fuse Neo-Platonic symbolism and angelology with Christian angelology and liturgical symbolism. His letters are somewhat edifying and refer a lot to lost works, however they were probably not written to the people he addresses them to since modern scholarship has shown Denys lived long after the New Testament was formulated canonically, and all the Apostles were long dead.

However, these weaknesses do not detract from the theological brilliance of Denys, who manages to fuse the better aspects of Neo-Platonic Philosophy with the deepest and most profound Christian theology and mysticism, without leaping to the frenzied visions of the Gnostics, nor reducing God to anthropomorphism. His spirituality is very ethereal at times and while his excesses can mislead the contemplative into over-valuing the spiritual world over the material, it should be remembered Denys also stresses God's infinite and ineffable beauty which is radiated in his glory and goodness, which makes the created universe and all beings (human and angelic) beautiful as well. He has a positive view of the incarnation and of the world, and in my view still represents one of the best mystical theologies in the Christian tradition, and in terms of world religious philosophy, offers one of the most inspiring visions of the Absolute.

This is a great book! In its pages are found some of the most significant early mystical writings for the Christian tradition. The introduction and preface lay out just how influential this work has been and help the reader to understand why. The breadth of vision to be found within Dionysius's treatises though will impress a person's approach to prayer forever after!

As these sort of works go, Pseudo Dionysius's works definitely add depth and help sort out passages of the bible and practices within the Christian faith.

I recommend skipping the introductory material in the beginning of this edition and simply reading Pseudo Dionysius's books and letters first. Then you can go back to the introductory material. I say this only because I like to skip any and all introductory material in any book I read because these essays were never included in original versions.

I am grateful for this series (Classics of Western Spirituality) and while the 'Ecclesiastical Hierarchy' book within this collection has more to do with those seeking the vocation, there are observations and such that will open the lay person's mind to new ideas.

Frankly, the Celestial Hierarchy and the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy will leave most readers cold. Even readers with traditional ecclesial hierarchies of the sort Pseudo-Dionysius is talking about, i.e. Catholics and Orthodox.

The real meat of the matter is in The Divine Names and the Mystical Theology, in which the basics of negative/apophatic theology are set down. Unfortunately, these are both shorter works and can be read in one sitting, so that the majority of the text isn't really necessary unless you're a completist. Still, they're worth the price of the whole thing just by themselves and no one interested in the christian mystical tradition can really afford to pass on these seminal texts.

I'd like to begin by saying that Bertrand Russell was dogmatically anti-Christian, so anyone who trusts in him to dispute anything having to due with Christianity is raising Russell to the status of a demigod. Atheists attempt to take faith away, yet insist on giving it to men like Russell. That is folly. David Hume was no different, a demigod for atheists. "The human being who identifies him/herself with the objectively existing world comes to construct a personality, a sense of self, that is, at base, fully dependent upon the ever-changing structure of temporal existence. The resulting lack of permanence, of autonomy, leads such an individual to experience anxieties of all kinds, and eventually to shun the mysterious and collectively meaningful patterns of human existence in favor of a private and stifling subjective context, in the confines of which life plays itself out in the absense of any reference to a greater plan or scheme. Hopelessness, atheism, despair, are the results of such an existence." The Classics of Western Spirituality series "Pseudo-Dionysius The Complete Works" wipes away in one fair swoop the temporal illusions of empericists. "The Divine Names" begins by explaining God to be "Good," then descends to the lower tier of "divine names." Once again, rising to the "Good" or "One." It raises the mind to the pinnacle of Gnostic-Christian Neo-Platonism. "The Mystical Theology" is utterly mind boggling--equivocally, univocally, literally--whatever way you gaze upon it. It describes God as beyond being, and even the so-called known is unknown. A beatific masterpiece, to say the least. "The Celestial Hierarchy" and "The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy" deal respectively with the three triads or orders of angelic beings with their earthly counterparts. "The Letters" are a fascinating, insightful journey into the mind and spirit of the Areopagite. A well-written Foreward, Preface, and Introductions by leading scholars. I highly recommend this volume, as well as the other volumes in the series, especially the selections by Nicholas de Cusa.

This is a challenging book. I admit that I only read parts of it, and skimmed through the rest.

The unknown writer known to modern scholars as Pseudo-Dionysius probably lived during the fifth or sixth century AD. He may have been a "heretical" Christian monk or even a Neo-Platonist, attempting to cast his message in a Christian mould. To achieve the maximum impact, this unknown writer claimed to be Dionysius the Aeropagite, a person mentioned in the New Testament. This pious fraud is no longer taken seriously by scholars or theologians, hence the designation "Pseudo-Dionysius". Despite this, the writings are still held in high esteem by many in the Eastern churches, where Pseudo-Dionysius is regarded as an unknown Church Father.

This collection contains translations of all writings attributed to Dionysius: "The Divine Names", "The Mystical Theology", "The Celestial Hierarchy", "The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy" and ten letters. The book also contains introductory chapters and footnotes. However, it's not really a scholarly treatise on Pseudo-Dionysius. The introductions and notes are quite short. The main point of this volume is to present the works of the man himself. More extensive scholarly analyses can be found elsewhere.

My wild guess concerning Pseudo-Dionysius is that he was a lonely pagan philosopher who attempted to salvage the Neo-Platonist legacy by adding some Christian touches to it. But perhaps I'm being unfair. After all, the writings of "Dionysius the Aeropagite" were held in high esteem by many Christians during the Middle Ages. Clearly, our author must have said *something* that struck a chord. Christianity was already influenced by Platonist philosophy. The experiences of mystics are often remarkably similar across cultural and religious divides. And Pseudo-Dionysius was, of course, a mystic. Finally, Dionysius defends the church hierarchy and the sacraments, claiming it reflects the heavenly hierarchy of angels. As the editors point out: the most successful pseudonymous writings are those who confirm what everyone "knows" already. The texts even contain Christological formulations: one of them sounds Monophysite, while the other sounds Chalcedonian! In the event, both groups claimed Dionysius as their own.

Still, the similarities with Neo-Platonism are tantalizing. Dionysius seems to have an almost pantheist conception of God. He believes that the world proceeds from God and then returns to God. He calls God "Good" and seems to have problems making the Christian Trinity part of his scheme. Neo-Platonist terminology is used through out, and there is a long chain of intermediary beings between God and humanity, just as in later Neo-Platonism. There is also a preoccupation with symbols, initiation, esotericism and "don't throw pearls before swine". The symbols have a double meaning: to make the ineffable understandable to our limited human intellects, but also to hide the truth from the unworthy. The hierarchy of the church stands inbetween the unworthy, who can't see God at all, and the mystics, who experience him without the mediation of symbols. Apparently, Iamblichus had similar ideas about pagan rituals. In the footnotes, the editors briefly point out various similarities between Dionysius and the Neo-Platonists Iamblichus and Proclus.

On a lighter note, one of the letters supposedly penned by the Biblical Dionysius to Polycarp (a real bishop of the second century) claims that Dionysius and a certain Apollophanes observed a mysterious eclipse of the sun while strolling in the Egyptian town of Heliopolis. This, of course, was the eclipse supposedly following the crucifixion of Jesus in Jerusalem. Apparently, poor Apollophanes later turned a sceptic and refused to believe the Gospel stories about Jesus. Dionysius vainly pointed out to him that the life of Jesus is written down in the sacred books of the Persians, and that even today, the Magi celebrate "the triple Mithras". That's presumably the Trinity! Ooops. Here the Neo-Platonist syncretism of the writer becomes obvious: Egypt, Judea, Chaldea. And this supposedly in a letter from a disciple of Paul to a disciple of John...

Be that as it may, I nevertheless recommend this volume to serious students of either mysticism, mystical theology or Christian history. Who or what Dionysius really was, he certainly made an impression. His marriage of Christianity and Neo-Platonism was a happy one, it seems.

If you are one well read in the High Paganism of Neoplatonism (Proclus, Iamblichus, Porphyry, Plotinus, etc), reading this work of full-blown Christian mysticism will give you all the joy of a hog in slop.

The sense of The Divine Names is that while God is called by many names (Life, Light, Love, Power, Wisdom, Ancient of Days, the One, the Beautiful, the Good, etc) He is beyond all that these names signify because these are merely His attributes that flow from His overabundance. Indeed, He is a Creator beyond even Being and Non-Being.

The Celestial Hierarchy addresses the function of symbolism - to put us in accord with celestial beings beyond the range of mere human reason. Similarly, the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy explains the deep significance of religious symbolism, arguing that the function of religious symbolism is to attune all levels of our being to that aspect of the Divine which we seek to bring into our lives, that "every sacred operation forges a divine unity out of the divisions within us, granting us communion with the One" (p. 209). The Letters (at the book's close) are fascinating models of wise advice on religion generally.

Integral to this wide-ranging work is the Pythagorean sketch of God as "the One" from which all numbers and all multiplicity arise. But, here again, God is beyond even the One, which too is merely a gnomon like all the others that merely points toward the moon.

What I really enjoyed about this work is the repeated insistence that, because of the transcendence of the Divine, to engage in heated hair-splitting and doctrinal disputes is an error to which human thinking is all too prone. Howbeit, if you are coming to this book having just read The Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena, you will find this work uninspiring if not unilluminating. The spiritual fire of St. Catherine is wholly lacking, one might say sorely missed, here (as are the subtle mystery and earthy practicality of John Climacus).

Like the Neoplatonism of Philo Judaeus, this work has an amphibian, hybrid quality to it in its fusion of philosophical Neoplatonic dialectic with historical Judaeo-Christian revealed religion. Still, this fusion successfully delivers the central message of this work - that people dedicated to a spiritual path need to stay really mindful that their religious symbols are just that: SYMBOLS evocative of a Divine reality that is beyond all human reasoning, comprehension, and symbolism itself.

Certainly recommended as a fascinating and historically important work in the history of Western Spirituality.