William K. Riordan - Divine Light: Theology of Denys the Areopagite

DIVINE LIGHT:
THE THEOLOGY OF
DENYS THE AREOPAGITE

WILLIAM K. RIORDAN

DIVINE LIGHT

The Theology of
Denys the Areopagite

IGNATIUS PRESS SAN FRANCISCO

Unless otherwise noted Scripture quotations (except those within citations) have been taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Holy Bible, Catholic Edition. The Revised Standard Version of the Holy Bible: the Old Testament, 1952; the Apocrypha, 1957; the New Testament, 1946; Catholic Edition of the Old Testament, incorporating the Apocrypha, 1966; The Catholic Edition of the New Testament, 1965, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.

All rights reserved.

Cover design by John Herreid

Cover art: Christ Descending into Limbo Taking Adam by the Hand
Byzantine mosaic from the Arch of the Passion
Location: S. Marco, Venice, Italy
Photo Credit: Cameraphoto/Art Resource, NY

2008 Ignatius Press, San Francisco
All rights reserved
ISBN 978-1-58617-120-9
Library of Congress Control Number 2005938821
Printed in the United States of America

Because of him his messenger finds the way ,

and by his word all things hold together .

Though we speak much we cannot reach the end ,

and the sum of all our words is: He is the all .

Where shall we find strength to praise him ?

For he is greater than all his works .

Terrible is the Lord and very great ,

and marvelous is his power .

When you praise the Lord, exalt him

as much as you can ;

for he will surpass even that .

When you exalt him, put forth all your strength ,

and do not grow weary, for you cannot praise

him enough .

Sirach 43: 26-30

His divine power has granted to us all things that

pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge

of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,

by which he has granted to us his precious and very great

promises, that through these you may escape from

the corruption that is in the world because of passion,

and become partakers of the divine nature.

2 Peter 1:3-4

I

a. The East

b. The West

II

a. The Unity of God

b. The Goodness of Gods Cosmos

c. Gods Love for His Cosmos

d. The Ascent of the Mystic

III

a. One Super-Essential

b. Three Hypostases

a. Introductory Remarks

b. Origin of Evil: Sin (: hamartia)

c. Christos Philanthropos

a. ChristThe Light

b. Christ Resplendent in His Hierarchies

IV

a. Symbolic Theology

b. Affirmative Theology and Negative Theology

c. Mystical Theology; Gods Presence with the Mystic

a. The Divine Goodness, Eros, and Ecstasy

b. The Anagogy of Knowing and Loving

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I wish to extend my gratitude to:

Dr. Nella Filippi and Fr. Joseph Henchey, C. S. S., for their careful direction of my doctoral thesis which has formed the foundation of this book.

Dr. Daniel Keating, Kristin Towle, Kristen Harr, and the staff at Ignatius Press, who reviewed the work in progress and offered helpful suggestions for its improvement.

Fr. Joseph Fessio who also read the manuscript and was willing to bring it to publication.

Dr. Daniel Nodes, a fellow faculty member at Ave Maria University, who brought his excellent acuity in ancient Greek to the aid of the text by reviewing quoted passages from Denys.

Michael Horton who contributed enormously by his typing of the rough draft.

Kevin Schemenauer who painstakingly reviewed the text and prepared the indices.

The Theology department and library staff of Ave Maria University who in numerous ways assisted the work.

My parents, Joseph and La Verne Riordan, my first teachers in the faith.

Our friends the Callagys and the Ryans for their generous help.

My wife, Claudia, my beloved in Christ, who has so lovingly and consistently nurtured this work. Our dear daughter, Annamaria.

Our spiritual father in Christ, Fr. Owen Carroll, who is taught not only by learning but by suffering divine things.

ABBREVIATIONS

CCC Catechism of the Catholic Church

*CD Corpus Dionysiacum

*CH The Celestial Hierarchy

*DN The Divine Names

DS Dictionnaire de Spiritualite

DTC Dictionnaire de la Theologie Catholique

*EH The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy

*Ep. Epistle

HC Histoire du Christianisme: des origines de nos jours

*MT The Mystical Theology

PG Patrologiae Series Graeca

PGL A Patristic Greek Lexicon

PL Patrologiae Series Latina

RSPT Revue des Sciences philosophiques et theologiques

SC Sources Chretiennes

ST Summa Theologiae

I have used the standard text numbering as found in Corpus Dionysiacum (CD) shown above. Unless otherwise indicated, the quotes from Denys in English were taken from Pseudo-Dionysius: The Complete Works , trans. Colm Luibheid (New York, 1987).

*These starred sources indicate works by Denys himself. They have been used throughout the book, not only in quoting, but also in discussing and comparing them. When coming across an abbreviation in the latter context, read it as the title. In Chapter 1, section 2, for example, How-ever, MT [ The Mystical Theology ] summarizes DN [The Divine Names ]... Another example being: By the time one comes to read his MT [ Mystical Theology ], one should already have read his DN [ Divine Names ].

Scriptural quotes have been taken from the Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition.

It is to be understood that this important theologian has no fixed appellation in English. He is known most commonly as Denys or Dionysius the Areopagite, but also as

Denis,

Pseudo-Denys,

Pseudo-Dionysius, and

The Areopagite.

All names are explained in Chapter 1.

PROLOGUE

In his masterpiece, Herrlichkeit , the late Father Hans Urs von Balthasar says of Denys that he is perhaps the strongest aesthetic theologian in the history of theology.

The metaphysical profundity of Denys work has long been admired by master theologians of the East and the West. In our present-day situation, characterized as it is by a fracturing of theology into specializations that tend to exclude one another, Denys panoramic presentation of God and His world is a deeply integrated and refulgent unity. The main text of this book aspires to serve as an introduction to Denys thought, while it is hoped that the footnotes might provide the more advanced reader with a deeper and more nuanced reflection. Our major emphasis will be on the deep synergy of all creatures from, through, and unto God as seen from Denys perspective. Within this synergy, we will give particular attention to his very fertile understanding of the metamorphosis of the soul in the process of divinization. Our work is divided into four chapters, and also includes a summary and an appendix.