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

Last updated on: July 23, 2018 at 3:09 am by Henry Karlson

Mystical Theology of Dionysius: Transcendental God-Talk. Chapter Five. Part Five. 2018-07-23T03:09:39-05:00 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.

Holding to the teaching that no concept which we have of God can be affirmed in an absolute sense as properly being predicated to God, Dionysius took on the concepts of movement and rest, saying that neither can be attributed to God. Thus, he paradoxically wrote that neither is [God] standing, nor moving; nor at rest. But does that not suggest a contradiction? If God is not moving then he must be standing still or at rest, while if God is not at rest, then is he not moving?

Both the concepts of movement and rest end of misconstruing God if we take either of them as reflecting who and what God is in the absolute sense, while both of them can be affirmed, in a relative sense. Both movement and rest are understood by us in relation to temporal existence. Movement is measured by the change which occurs over time (especially, and normally, the change of location). Movement indicates activity and the lack of movement indicates the lack of activity, so that there is a sense of stasis or rest when movement is lacking. A subject which is at rest has no measurable forms of activity which can be attributed to them.

God, therefore, is not moving, because he is outside of time and place. And yet, when it is said that God is not moving, this suggests he is standing still and at rest. That is, God does not appear to be an active subject. Not being an active subject, God would have no active engagement with others. In this fashion, God would end up having no influence on the temporal order. The unmoved subject absolutely at rest would not be a mover, but rather, would be completely unmoving, having no causal relationship with anything or anyone else. Nonetheless, God is the creator of everything; he is the agent by which all creation exists. He must not be seen as moving within time, but he is an active agent who exists outside of time, whose agency affects the whole created order. In this fashion, because he is an active agent, God transcends what we conceive of immobility by being active, while he transcends what we conceive of mobility because he is outside of time and space. He is the unmoving agent who transcends all sense of change. As an active subject, there is nothing which moves him or forces him to act; there is no change in him, and yet there is an eternal unchanging divine activity from which all creation, all contingent being flows.

St. Maximos the Confessor, reflecting upon this paradox, explained it similarly:

In the same way, the Divine by essence and nature is completely unmoved, insofar as it is boundless, unconditioned, and infinite, but not unlike a scientific principle that exists within the substances of beings, it is said to be moved, since it providentially moves each and every being (in accordance by which each one is naturally moved), and as the cause of beings, it may receive – without suffering any change – all the attributes of the beings of which it is the cause. [1]

We must deny God is mobile, that God is moving, because God is neither in time nor subject to change. But we must also deny what denial of mobility suggests about God. That is by denying mobility, it suggests he is not a free subject but rather like an inanimate object without will, without activity. God remains free, and with his will, he acts and generates creation, but he does so in a way which transcends our understanding of activity when our comprehension of activity is founded upon temporal movers.

Proclus, in his Elements of Theology, understanding this point, suggested that eternal actions must be seen as activity without change:

If its activity be eternal in addition to its existence, this too is simultaneously entire, steadfast in an unvarying measure of completeness and as it were frozen in one unchanging outline, without movement or transition. [2]

Time is finite, while God’s eternal activity is infinite; that infinitude of God’s action, when encountered in time, might make it seem that God is changing, but that is because of us and not God. If someone could see into eternity and outside of time, they would be able to perceive the unchangeable quality of God’s activity and so would have no problem understanding his activity to be from his unchanging eternal will.

Our concept of action causes us to be confused when we say God is not mobile; to affirm God’s free agency, Dionysius had to deny our concept of activity as a whole. He did this by denying God is mobile while denying God is at rest: he is neither, because both concepts reflect subjects under the domain of time. His denials, then, deny the conceptual framework which we normally use to understand the cosmos. When we try to apply that conceptual framework and use it in speaking about God, we establish notions which infringe on the character of God. Dionysius can be shown to be moving us away from all discursive reason by showing how our logical distinctions fail. As Robert Grosseteste indicated, motion and rest are seen “disjunctively” in relation to those things which exist in creation,[3] so that something is either active and an agent, or inactive and merely objective; both of these must be denied for God because he is an agent who is active in a transcendent fashion. God is active without ceasing and yet his activity itself is one which does not change. Our denials deny the dualistic way in which we construct our vision of the world, a dualism which is always implicit in the words and concepts which we use to describe God.

[IMG=Hand of God Creating the World from the Schedelsche Weltchronik or Nuremberg Chronicle. Scan by Hartmann Schedel (Self-scannedlanguage: Latin) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons]

[1] St. Maximos the Confessor, On Difficulties in the Church Fathers: The Ambigua. Volume II. Trans. Nicholas Constas (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014), 5-7.

[2] Proclus, The Elements of Theology. Trans. E.R. Dodds (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1963), 51.

[3] See Robert Grosseteste, “De Mystica Theologia” 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), 115.

Stay in touch! Like A Little Bit of Nothing on Facebook

Previous Post

July 19, 2018

Stop Judging Someone By The Number Of Children They Have

Next Post

July 24, 2018 Justice Is More Important Than Civility

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