Abstract
Pseudo-Dionysius (active c. 500 CE) is a Greek-writing Christian theologian whose identity remains an unsolved mystery. Under the pseudonym of Dionysius the Areopagite, St. Paul’s Athenian convert (Acts 17:34), he composed four treatises (The Celestial Hierarchy, The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, The Divine Names, and The Mystical Theology) and ten epistles. He may have authored additional treatises, referenced in his extant works, but no traces of these survive, with the possible exception of The Symbolic Theology (Mali 2002). Taken together, Dionysius’ extant writings present a coherent theological system, deeply indebted to Athenian Neoplatonism, in particular to the philosophy of Proclus (Perl 2007; Klitenic Wear and Dillon 2007).
Bibliography
Primary Sources
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Collections
Boiadjiev T, Kapriev G, Speer A (eds) (2000) Die Dionysius-Rezeption im Mittelalter: Internationales Kolloquium in Sofia vom 8. bis 11. April 1999 unter der Schirmherrschaft der Société Internationale pour l’Étude de la Philosophie Médiévale. Brepols, Turnhout
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Journal Articles
Golitzin A (2003) Dionysius Areopagites: a Christian mysticism? Pro Ecclesia 12.2:1–52
Perczel I (1999) Une théologie de la lumière: Denys l’Aréopagite et Évagre le Pontique. Revue des études augustiniennes 45.1:79–120
Treiger A (2005) New evidence on the Arabic versions of the Corpus Dionysiacum. Le Muséon 118:219–240
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Treiger, A. (2011). Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. In: Lagerlund, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9729-4_423
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