The Mystical Theology and The Divine Names Book

"But no Unity or Trinity or Number or Oneness or Fecundity or any other thing that either is a creature or can be known to any creature, is able to utter the mystery, beyond all mind and reason, of that Transcendent Godhead which super-essentially surpasses all things." - Pseudo-Dionysius

The works of the so-called Dionysius the Areopagite are of inestimable value in the history of Christian thought. The author, an anonymous Christian monk probably writing during the turn of the 6th century, is the mystic par excellence of the Ancient Church. "Dionysius," a figure from the Book of Acts, was a pseudonym, perhaps of an influential teacher now known as Peter the Iberian. This edition by Dover is a reprint of an English translation originally from 1920 and comprises two treatises: "On the Divine Names," which comprises most of the volume, and "The Mystical Theology," which is just a few scant pages. It is the work of a translator named C. E. Rolt who also provides ample footnotes and commentary throughout the texts. As a warm admirer (even disciple) of the Areopagite, Rolt is far from hindering the reader in leaving footnotes on almost every page; I found his words to be the clear and genuinely appreciative "hints" to the reader to assist him or her in tracing the argument in all its nuanced subtlety. Indeed, I found myself at times furiously underlying and bracketing Rolt's own comments because they were frequently helpful and occasionally brilliant. (Note: Rolt is the author of an original work, "The Spiritual Body" (1920) which was published posthumously.)

"The Divine Names" influenced Maximus the Confessor, John Scotus Eriugena, Thomas Aquinas, and virtually all medieval mystics. Its neo-platonic "Via Negativa" exerted a tremendous influence in the Christian past, and as this Dover edition testifies, it still does (in some way) today. I read it slowly and carefully over the course of several weeks and found that it altered my own thinking, praying, and talking about the Almighty. But one has to be careful, as the other editors (who finished Rolt's work after his untimely death) warn at the beginning and end of this edition. One must be careful because such mystical theology, such subtle penetration of the undifferentiated Godhead, is not for the "uninitiated." It will befuddle those who are not familiar with neo-platonic ideas; it will anger those who have no appreciation of the mystical; it will challenge those who are too comfortable in their private conceptions of God.

For God is, as the Areopagite argues throughout, above our knowledge, language, perception, and reason. Even the term "God" is insufficient; it is a symbol for It - the Ground and Fountain of all things who is named with a plethora of names in the Scriptures and yet is named "above all names" (Philippians 2:9). Christians are frequently (then as now) guilty of treating the Godhead as if He were simply more perfect and more powerful than us, rather than the Ultimate and incomprehensible Source of all perfection and power. Despite His incomprehensibility, He reveals Himself as Triune - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - in the Scriptures, Nature, the Church, and the Person of Jesus Christ. Whereas systematic theology delineates the energies of these Persons of the Trinity, mystical theology "unknows" what has been said concerning God, with the recognition that in Him all sense perceptions and human efforts are utterly worthless at drawing closer to this Unity. He must draw close to you, apart from your knowledge and apart from your learning; this is the process of Deification.

Yet, after finishing this incredible book, I am not so sure where Christ fits into the system. Though the Areopagite claims to have dealt with the Son of God at length in another work (now lost or, perhaps, never written), there is very little of Him in this work. The Areopagite claims that God in His differentiated revelation as a Triadic Being is stooping down to humanity's level. For, as One God - the "One" of Plotinus - He is undifferentiated, whole, and simple. To discuss the Christ as the God-Man who is both Lord and Leader, Advocate and Friend, is, for the neo-platonist, perhaps too earthy. Flesh is not a means of sacred encounter for Pseudo-Dionysius. In this is the glaring weakness of his work.

Brilliantly thought-provoking, subtly profound, and even beautifully worshipful, "The Divine Names" and "The Mystical Theology" are the most important works from the most important mystic of the ancient Church. They will reward any reader who is interested in Christian mysticism or Trinitarian Theology. I will return to them again and again. After reading much 20th century mysticism (Underhill, Teilhard, Berdyaev, etc.), the ideas of Dionysius seemed remarkably familiar, as if I've always known him, and perhaps, in some way, I always have.