Hierarchy and the Definition of Order in the Letters of Pseudo-Dionysius

Hierarchy and the Definition of Order in the Letters of Pseudo-Dionysius PDF Author: Ronald F. Hathaway
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401191832
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 199

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Book Description
N eoplatonism begins explicitly with Plotinus in the third century of our era. The later Neoplatonism of the fifth and six century schools at Athens and Alexandria was both the continuation of the philosophy of Plotinus and also a pagan ideology. When these schools were closed, despite attempts at compromise at Alexandria and as a result of direct and indirect political pressures and actions, pagan ideology died. Many philosophers, such as Isidore, Asclepiodotus, Damascius, and Olym piodorus, must have foreseen the danger to philosophy, and their extant writings are sprinkled with forebodings. Would the death of pagan ideology, in the form of pagan worship and the Homeric and Orphic traditions, bring about the death of all genuine philosophy as well? One answer to this great question is found in the enigmatic writings of Ps. -Dionysius the Areopagite. Purposing to be the writings of the Athenian convert of St. Paul, they fall within the province of a multitude of so-called "pseudepigraphic" Christian writings. 1. GENERAL ARGUMENT I embarked on the study of Ps. -Dionysius' Letters with two goals in mind: (r) to grasp in clear detail the unknown author's philosophic intentions in writing his famous Corpus and the way in which he set about writing, and (2) to attempt to see with precision the reason for the absence of a political philosophy in Christian Platonism. The Letters provided a richness of detail and information bearing on the first subject which was wholly unexpected.

Hierarchy and the Definition of Order in the Letters of Pseudo-Dionysius

Hierarchy and the Definition of Order in the Letters of Pseudo-Dionysius PDF Author: Ronald F. Hathaway
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401191832
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 199

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Book Description
N eoplatonism begins explicitly with Plotinus in the third century of our era. The later Neoplatonism of the fifth and six century schools at Athens and Alexandria was both the continuation of the philosophy of Plotinus and also a pagan ideology. When these schools were closed, despite attempts at compromise at Alexandria and as a result of direct and indirect political pressures and actions, pagan ideology died. Many philosophers, such as Isidore, Asclepiodotus, Damascius, and Olym piodorus, must have foreseen the danger to philosophy, and their extant writings are sprinkled with forebodings. Would the death of pagan ideology, in the form of pagan worship and the Homeric and Orphic traditions, bring about the death of all genuine philosophy as well? One answer to this great question is found in the enigmatic writings of Ps. -Dionysius the Areopagite. Purposing to be the writings of the Athenian convert of St. Paul, they fall within the province of a multitude of so-called "pseudepigraphic" Christian writings. 1. GENERAL ARGUMENT I embarked on the study of Ps. -Dionysius' Letters with two goals in mind: (r) to grasp in clear detail the unknown author's philosophic intentions in writing his famous Corpus and the way in which he set about writing, and (2) to attempt to see with precision the reason for the absence of a political philosophy in Christian Platonism. The Letters provided a richness of detail and information bearing on the first subject which was wholly unexpected.

Hierarchy and the Definition of Order in the Letters of Pseudo-Dionysius

Hierarchy and the Definition of Order in the Letters of Pseudo-Dionysius PDF Author: Ronald F Hathaway
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789401191845
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description


Pseudo-Dionysius

Pseudo-Dionysius PDF Author: Paul Rorem
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195360362
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Book Description
"Dionysius the Areopagite" is the biblical name chosen by the pseudonymous author of an influential body of Christian theological texts, dating from around 500 C.E. The Celestial Hierarchy, The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, The Divine Names, and The Mystical Theology offer a synthesis of biblical interpretation, liturgical spirituality, and Neoplatonic philosophy. Their central motif, which has made them the charter of Christian mysticism, is the upward progress of the soul toward God through the spiritual interpretation of the Bible and the liturgy. Dionysius continually reminds his readers, however, that all human concepts fall short of the transcendence of God and must therefore be abandoned in negotiations and silence. In this book, Rorem provides a commentary on all of the Dionysian writings, chapter by chapter, and examines especially their complex inner coherence. The Dionysian influence on medieval theology is introduced in essays on specific topics: hierarchy, biblical symbolism, angels, Gothic architecture, liturgical allegory, the scholastic doctrine of God, and the mystical theology of the western Middle Ages. Rorem's book makes these texts more accessible to both scholars and students and includes a comprehensive bibliography of secondary sources.

The Authorship of the Pseudo-Dionysian Corpus

The Authorship of the Pseudo-Dionysian Corpus PDF Author: Vladimir Kharlamov
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000762564
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 146

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Book Description
This monograph revisits one of the most debated aspects of Dionysian scholarship: the enigma of its authorship. To establish the identity of the author remains impossible. However, the legitimacy of the attribution of the corpus to Dionysius the Areopagite should not be seen as an intended forgery but rather as a masterfully managed literary device, which better indicates the initial intention of the actual author. The affiliation with Dionysius the Areopagite has metaphorical and literary significance. Dionysius is the only character in the New Testament who is unique in his conjunction between the apostle Paul and the Platonic Athenian Academy. In this regard this attribution, to the mind of the actual author of the corpus, could be a symbolic gesture to demonstrate the essential truth of both traditions as derived essentially from the same divine source. The importance of this assumption taken in its historical context highlights the culmination of the formation of the civilized Roman-Byzantine Christian identity.

The Oxford Handbook of Dionysius the Areopagite

The Oxford Handbook of Dionysius the Areopagite PDF Author: Mark Edwards
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192538799
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 753

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Book Description
This Handbook contains forty essays by an international team of experts on the antecedents, the content, and the reception of the Dionysian corpus, a body of writings falsely ascribed to Dionysius the Areopagite, a convert of St Paul, but actually written about 500 AD. The first section contains discussions of the genesis of the corpus, its Christian antecedents, and its Neoplatonic influences. In the second section, studies on the Syriac reception, the relation of the Syriac to the original Greek, and the editing of the Greek by John of Scythopolis are followed by contributions on the use of the corpus in such Byzantine authors as Maximus the Confessor, John of Damascus, Theodore the Studite, Niketas Stethatos, Gregory Palamas, and Gemistus Pletho. In the third section attention turns to the Western tradition, represented first by the translators John Scotus Eriugena, John Sarracenus, and Robert Grosseteste and then by such readers as the Victorines, the early Franciscans, Albert the Great, Aquinas, Bonaventure, Dante, the English mystics, Nicholas of Cusa, and Marsilio Ficino. The contributors to the final section survey the effect on Western readers of Lorenzo Valla's proof of the inauthenticity of the corpus and the subsequent exposure of its dependence on Proclus by Koch and Stiglmayr. The authors studied in this section include Erasmus, Luther and his followers, Vladimir Lossky, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Jacques Derrida, as well as modern thinkers of the Greek Church. Essays on Dionysius as a mystic and a political theologian conclude the volume.

Apophasis and Pseudonymity in Dionysius the Areopagite

Apophasis and Pseudonymity in Dionysius the Areopagite PDF Author: Charles M. Stang
Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand
ISBN: 0199640424
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 245

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Book Description
This book examines the writings of an early sixth-century Christian mystical theologian who wrote under the name of a convert of the apostle Paul, Dionysius the Areopagite, and argues that the pseudonym and the corresponding influence of Paul are the crucial lens through which to read this influential corpus.

The Universal History of Stepʻanos Tarōnecʻi

The Universal History of Stepʻanos Tarōnecʻi PDF Author: Tim Greenwood
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192511068
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 375

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Book Description
The Universal History (Patmutʻiwn tiezerakan) of Stepʻanos Tarōnecʻi is a history of the world in three books, composed by the Armenian scholar at the end of the tenth century and extending from the era of Abraham to the turn of the first millennium. It was completed in 1004/5 CE, at a time when the Byzantine Empire was expanding eastwards across the districts of historic Armenia and challenging key aspects of Armenian identity. Stepʻanos responded to these changing circumstances by looking to the past and fusing Armenian tradition with Persian, Roman, and Islamic history, thereby asserting that Armenia had a prominent and independent place in world history. The Universal History was intended to affirm and reinforce Armenian cultural memory. As well as assembling and revising extracts from existing Armenian texts, Stepʻanos also visited monastic communities where he learned about prominent Armenian scholars and ascetics who feature in his construction of the Armenian past. During his travels he gathered stories about local Armenian, Georgian, Persian, and Kurdish lords, which were then repeated in his composition. The Universal History therefore preserves a valuable narrative of events in Byzantium, Armenia, and the wider Middle East in the second half of the tenth century. This volume presents the first ever English translation of this work, drawing upon Manukyan's 2012 critical edition of the text, and is also the first study and translation of the Universal History to be published outside Armenia for a century. Fully annotated and with a substantial introduction, it not only provides an accessible guide to the text, drawing on the most up-to-date scholarship available, but also offers valuable new insights into the significance of an often overlooked work, the intellectual and literary contexts within which it was composed, and its place in the Armenian tradition.

Jewish Roots of Eastern Christian Mysticism

Jewish Roots of Eastern Christian Mysticism PDF Author: Andrei A. Orlov
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004429530
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 407

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Book Description
The essays collected in Jewish Roots of Eastern Christian Mysticism intend to honor Alexander Golitzin, a scholar known for his keen attention to the Jewish matrix of Eastern Orthodox spirituality. Following Golitzin's insights, this Festschrift explores influences of Jewish apocalypticism and mysticism on certain early and late Christian authors, including Irenaeus, Origen, Evagrius of Pontus, Pseudo-Dionysius, and Symeon the New Theologian. Special attention is given to Jewish theophanic traditions regarding the beatific vision of the divine Glory (Kavod), which profoundly shaped Eastern Christian theology and liturgy. This volume demonstrates that recent developments in the study of apocalyptic literature, the Qumran Scrolls, Gnosticism, and later Jewish mysticism throw new and welcome light on the sources and continuities of Orthodox theology, liturgy, and spirituality

Neoplatonism și creștinism: negație și transcendență

Neoplatonism și creștinism: negație și transcendență PDF Author: Daniel Jugrin
Publisher: Globe Edit
ISBN: 6200649111
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 458

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Book Description
„Nu este nici cuvânt al ei, nici nume, nici cunoștință. Nu este nici întuneric, nici lumină, nici eroare, nici adevăr. Nu este defel nici postulare (thesis) a ei, nici îndepărtare (aphairesis). Ci, făcând postulările și îndepărtările a celor de după ea, nici nu o postulăm, nici nu o îndepărtăm, de vreme ce cauza deplină și una a tuturor este hyper toată postularea; și hyper toată îndepărtarea, ca cea care este preeminența (hyperoche) liberă de toate și dincolo de (epekeina) toate.” (Dionisie Areopagitul, Despre teologia mistică, V).

From Iamblichus to Eriugena

From Iamblichus to Eriugena PDF Author: Gersh
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004621938
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 377

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Book Description