Mystical Theology of Dionysius: Transcendental God-Talk. Chapter Four. Part One.

Last updated on: June 4, 2018 at 3:08 am by Henry Karlson

Mystical Theology of Dionysius: Transcendental God-Talk. Chapter Four. Part One. 2018-06-04T03:08:23-05:00 Henry Karlson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

CAPUT IV.

That the pre-eminent Cause of every object of sensible perception is none of the objects of sensible perception.

WE say then- that the Cause of all, which is above all, is neither without being, nor without life—-nor without reason, nor without mind, nor is a body—-nor has shape—-nor form—-nor quality, or quantity, or bulk—-nor is in a place—-nor is seen—-nor has sensible contact—-nor perceives, nor is perceived, by the senses—-nor has disorder and confusion, as being vexed by earthly passions,—-nor is powerless, as being subject to casualties of sense,—-nor is in need of light;—-neither is It, nor has It, change, or decay, or division, or deprivation, or flux,—-or any other of the objects of sense.

After explaining his methodology, Dionysius put it to use, showing the way apophatic theology, and its denials about God, are to be engaged by those who would like to seek after the truth of God. He provided the means by which his reader can follow him in a theological ascent, abstracting away from our thoughts all the images and ideas which we have of God which are not proper to God, so that we no longer have them in our mind, distracting us from the truth which is to be found only in union with God himself.

In this fashion, what he wrote in the next two chapters can be read theologically, helping to counter any of our poor theological notions about God. Nonetheless, it can also be read as a meditational tool, where he gave us the means by which we can slowly clear our mind so that then properly direct it towards God. The two, for Dionysius, go together. Theology is not meant to be pure theory without application; its value lies in its ability to help transform us, making us ready for God. This is not to say it is purely pragmatic without interest in the truth; it must always be founded upon the truth as it is able to be established in conventional truth, else where we direct ourselves will not be towards God, but something other than God, hindering us from our goal. Positive theological statements, even apparent doctrinal statements, will have to have their outward shell removed, so that the truth behind such theological declarations can remain.

The ascent has to be done in proper order. Before Dionysius explained the problems of various intellectual, non-material or intelligible representations of God, he first wrote on the problems concerning notions of God founded upon images established by the realm of perception. That is what is to be found in this chapter. But even then, Dionysius had to find a starting point for his theological reflection. Following Proclus, and Platonic philosophy in general, Dionysius did this by calling God the Cause of all, the foundation by which and from which all things come to be*, which is above all.* That is, as Ficino explained, God is preeminent, above all things, without proportion infinitely greater than all which comes from him:

He adds that God is a cause in a preeminent way. For the rest of the causes have some proportion with their effects, because causes and effected are contained under the same universal principle of things. Thus the fiery sphere has some proportion with [all] hot effects, or rather Mars and Sun do, as the Platonists confirm. But the first cause has no proportion at all with any effect, as Plato demonstrates. Rather it creates absolutely and with absolute infinity, otherwise it would not be utterly simple and first.[1]

God, the Cause of all, can be said to be the first cause. He is simple and infinite, transcending all thought constructions, and yet, from his bounty, he grants a share of being to all existing things. What he is by nature they cannot be, but yet they can and do partake of him, finding themselves contained by him so that he is said to have them while not being possessed by them. His infinite transcendence allows for no proportional relationship with any created being, because their finite existence will equally be nullified by his transcendence. Nonetheless, we can discern analogical conventions which help point the way by which we can come to apprehend the truth about God, and these are what we use, slowly moving up the chain of being until we come to the end of that chain and find ourselves at its cause with God.

Dionysius, with great skill, showed us how apophaticism can grant us the means to approach God, making sure that we do not confuse apophatic denial with nihilism, by saying that God is neither without being, nor without life—-nor without reason, nor without mind. Here, we find a denial for God which actually affirms something positive about him, though of course, we will have to follow the lead carefully lest we misconstrue what we gain from this apophatic denial and turn God into a thing as a result. Dionysius first suggested that God is not without being; we must not think of this as meaning he is with being as if it is a predicate to God, making God like any other contingent entity. Rather, this was Dionysius’s attempt to point out the transcendence of God, to show that what is thought of by those without being, that is, those things which do not exist or have any reality to them, is not what we should mean if we deny being to God. God is not without that which being possesses, because he possesses and grants the reality of being itself, as He is the cause of being. In this fashion, we can say he is not without being because he is not without the reality which is implied by being, though we must not confuse him to possessing being either, lest, we turn him to something less than the Cause of all things, including being.

Likewise, when we think of something without life, we think of them as inanimate, something which exists as a pure object without subjectivity. When we think of something without reason or mind, we think of something irrational, incapable of engaging rational discourse, incapable of working with and discussing great ideas, indeed, incapable of knowing the truth and remembering the things which have happened. God, by being the cause of all things, certainly transcends what it means to be with being, with life, with reason, and with mind. Some translators and commentators, confused by what Dionysius meant, thought Dionysius was already denying these qualities to God, because God is without qualities, forgetting that Dionysius here was at the beginning of his ascent, and needing to find a starting point of his discussion which allows God to be great and which relies, in part, on kataphatic theology.[2] Dionysius, with skillful means, therefore wrote as he did, making sure we would not deny the truth of God himself, as the scholia attributed to Anastasius explained: “For Dionysius had to forewarn his reader through that, that he might not guess from the rest of the rejections that there is no divinity at all.”[3] Similarly, St. Albert the Great suggested that we can say God is with being, life, reason and mind, not because they are qualities predicated to them, but because “they proceed formally from him.” [4] In this fashion, Dionysius not only affirmed the divinity, making sure we do not end up denying it in a nihilistic fashion, in the means by which he did so, he also affirmed the creation of God, saying that by establishing them, he is not to be found without them, so that creation itself, and the qualities within it, or not nihilistically denied.

Therefore, God, the first cause, is to be understood as something superior to anything which we find in the realm of creation. When we engage apophatic denials, it is for the sake of his transcendence. We must be careful in how we engage such denials. We do not want to confuse those who listen to us to thinking we are denying God himself. What is misconstrued about God is what is to be denied. God is to be God, the transcendent source and foundation of all things. In this way, he is never without that which he has established, even if he is himself beyond them. We can say he is not without being, life, reason and mind because he has established them; they come from him and participates in him as their proper cause. He is not them, though we can describe him through them with proper analogical understanding, as we establish the truth of God in conventional form.

[Image=Woodcut for “Die Bibel in Bildern”, 1860. By Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons]

[1] Marsilio Ficino, Mystical Theology in Marsilio Ficino: On Dionysius the Areopagite. Volume I: Mystical Theology and The Divine Names, Part I. trans. And ed. Michael J. B. Allen (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2015), 73.

[2] See, for example, Thomas Gallus “Exposicio” in Mystical Theology: The Glosses of Thomas Gallus and the Commentary of Robert Grosseteste on De Mystica Theologia. Trans. and ed. By James McEvoy (Parish: Peeters, 2003), 45.

[3] A Thirteenth-Century Textbook of Mystical Theology at the University of Paris. trans. L Michael Harrington (Paris: Peeters, 2004), 95.

[4] St. Albert the Great, “Commentary on Dionysius’ Mystical Theology” in Albert & Thomas, Selected Writings. Trans. Simon Tugwell, OP (New York: Paulist Press, 1988), 187

Previous Post

June 1, 2018

Self-Giving and Communion

Next Post

June 5, 2018 Those Who Cast Their Lots With Trump Need To Worry

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion Abraham abuse Aesthetics AI Aliens Ambrose Ancestors and Everything Andrew Angels Animals Anne Anthony Antisemitism apologetics Apophatic Apostle John Aquinas Artificial Intelligence Asanga Ascension Asceticism Assumption Atheism Attachment Augustine Authority Avarice Balthasar Baptism Beauty Biden birthright citizenship Bishops Black History Books Buddhism Bulgakov Byzantine Calendar C.S. Lewis Calcidius Catholic Catholicism Catholicism Celibacy Charity Chastity children Chrismation Christ Christmas Christology Church Climate Change Common Good Communion Confession Confirmation Conscience Constantine conventions conversion councils Covid Creation Cross Dead Death Death Penalty Debate Deception Demagogues Demons Desert Monks Desert Mothers Desire destruction development Dialogue Dignity Dionsyius Dionysius Discipline Diversity Division Doctor Who doctrine dogma Dormition Dualism Easter Easter Series Ecumenical Councils Ecumenism Education Election Empathy Environment Error Eschatology eschaton Eternity Ethics Eucharist Evangelism Eve Evil evolution Faeries Faith Fear femininity Ficino Florence Florensky Folktale Fools Forgiveness Freedom Future gender Gentile Gentiles Glory Gnostic God gods Good Samaritan Goodness Gospel Government Grace Great Fast Guns Hate healing Health Heaven Hell Hellenism Heresy Hierarchy Hildegard Hinduism History Holiness Holy Spirit Holy Week Hope Horror Human rights humanity Humility hypocrisy ICE icon icons Identification Identity Idol II Nicea Immigration incarnation Individualism Informal Reflections Inklings Intention Inter-Religious Interfaith Internet Interpretation Intrinsic evil Irenaeus Islam Israel Jacob Jerome Jesus Jews John Chrysostom John of Damascus John the Baptist Joseph Judaism justice Justification kenosis Kindnesss Kingdom of God Kingdom of Heaven Law Law of Moses Lazarus Leaf by Niggle Lent Lenten Reflection Liberation Theology Lies Life Listen Literature Liturgy locutions Logic Logos Love Marriage Martyrs Mary Mass Maximos The Confessor Meanness Meditation Mercy Middle Path Migrants Mind Miracles Miriam Morals Moses Movies Music Muslims Myths Names Nationalism Native Americans New Year Nicea Nicholas Nothing Novatian Obedience Occam's Razor Ordination Origen Original Sin Orthodox orthopraxis Pagans Palamas Palm Sunday Paradise Paschaltide Paul Peace Pentecost person Peter piety PKD Plato pluralism Plurality Poem Poetry Poiltics Politics Poor Pope Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV Post Office Prayer Pride Pro-life Prodigal Son propaganda Prophecy Prophets Providence Putin Racism Reading Reason Reflection Refugees Relationships Religion Religion Series Religious Liberty Repent Republicans Rest Resurrection Rich Rites Russia Sacraments Saints Salvation Salvian Santa Science Scripture Self-Giving Sexuality Sibyl Sick Silence Sin Singlehood Social Justice Society Sodom Solovyov Speculations Spiritual Reflection St. Cyril of Alexandria St. Justin Martyr Suffering Sunday of the Paralytic Man Sunday of the Samaritan Woman Superhero Supreme Court Teaching Technology Thanksgiving The Father the Universe Theological Reflection Theology Theosis Theotokos Thomas Timaeus Time Tolerenace Tolkien Tradition Transfiguration Trinity Trump Truth Uncategorized Unity Universities USCCB Value Vatican II Vegetarian Vices Violence Virtue Vocations War Water Welcome Wisdom Womanhood Women Work World View Worship Writing Zacchaeus

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz