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Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names · 13 of 15 · tr. C.E. Rolt

Chapter 1, Section 1m

65 In the whole of this passage God is spoken of as at the same time Efficient, Formal and Final Cause of the soul’s activity. D. teaches that God is present in all things, but not equally in all. Cf. Intr., p. 14 66 Gen. i. 67 Three stages may be traced here corresponding to Purgation, Illumination and Union. I have tried to indicate the transitions from one stage to the next by the punctuation. 68 τῶν τελουμένων τελεταρχία. “Perfect” (τέλειος) and the words connected with it were technical terms in the Greek Mysteries. Possibly there are traces of this technical use in St. Paul’s Epistles (e.g. I Cor. ii. 6 ; Phil. iii. 15 ). 69 τῶν θεουμένων θεαρχιά. See Intr., p. 39. 70 The soul must turn away from the complex world of sense and have only one desire—the desire for God. Thus it becomes concentrated as it were, and so is in a simple and unified state. Cf. Matt. vi. 22. See Intr., p. 25 71 i. e. So far as we are capable of receiving this communication. 72 ἐκφαντορικῶς καὶ ὑμνητικῶς. 73 i.e. God’s differentiated activities. Since the ultimate Godhead is ineffable, Scripture can only hint at its Nature by speaking of Its manifestations in the relative sphere. See Intr., p. 8. 74 God is ineffable and transcends unity, see Intr., p. 5. But, since His presence in man produces an unity in each individual (and in human society), Scripture calls Him “One.” 75 The ineffable Godhead transcends our conception of the Trinity. But we call Him a Trinity because we experience His trinal working—as our ultimate Home, as an Individual Personality Who was once Incarnate, and as a Power within our hearts. See Intr., p. 7. 76 God is not a First Cause, for a cause is one event to a temporal series, and God is beyond Time and beyond the whole creation. Yet in so far as He acts on the relative plane He may, by virtue of this manifestation of Himself in the creation, be spoken of as a Cause. 77 Beauty is a sacrament and only truly itself when it points to something beyond itself. That is why “Art for Art’s sake” degrades art. Beauty reveals God, but God is more than Beauty. Hence Beauty has its true being outside itself in Him. Cf. Intr., p. 31. 78 Love is the most perfect manifestation of God. Yet God is in a sense beyond even love as we know it. For love, as we know it, implies the distinction between “me” and “thee,” and God is ultimately beyond such distinction. See Intr., p. 35. 79 ὁ ἁπλοῦς Ἰησοῦς συνετέθη. Cf. Myst. Theol. III., “Super Essential Jesus.” 80 ἱεραρχικῶν παραδόσεων, i. e. Ecclesiastical Tradition. 81 I Thess. iv. 16.
Themes
◆Apophatic Theologytheology

Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.

The passage explicitly states that God is ineffable and transcends unity, emphasizing the limits of human language to describe the divine.

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◆Divine Hiddennesstheology

The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.

God is described as ineffable and transcending unity, indicating a radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge.

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◆Divine Lighttheology

The uncreated luminous quality of the divine, sometimes experienced directly in mystical states; illumination as revelation.

Beauty is described as a sacrament that reveals God, linking divine illumination to the manifestation of truth.

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◆Divine Simplicitytheology

The doctrine that God has no parts, divisions, or composite attributes; pure undivided being.

The text emphasizes God's ineffable nature and transcendence of unity, aligning with the doctrine of pure undivided being.

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◆Emanation Hierarchycosmology

A chain of divine beings or principles flowing downward from a single transcendent source (the One or the Father), each level less perfect than the one above.

The passage references stages of purification and union corresponding to Purgation, Illumination, and Union, implying a hierarchical descent from the divine source.

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◆Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology

Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.

The text discusses the soul's communication with God and the revelation of God's Nature through Scripture.

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◆Hidden Sayingssoteriology

Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.

Scripture is described as hinting at God's Nature by speaking of its manifestations rather than revealing it directly.

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◆Inner Lightanthropology

The divine spark or luminous quality residing within the human person, potentially recognisable through introspection.

The text mentions God's presence within the human heart and the soul's desire for Him as a source of illumination.

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◆Kingdom Withinanthropology

The claim that the divine realm is present inside the individual, accessible without external mediation.

God is described as present in all things, including within the human heart, suggesting the divine realm is accessible internally.

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◆Ladder Of Lovesoteriology

Diotima's staged ascent from love of beautiful bodies → beautiful souls → beautiful pursuits → beautiful knowledge → Beauty itself; the canonical scala amoris that grounds Plotinus's On the Beautiful and Bruno's Eroici Furori — distinct from generic spiritual_ascent in that eros is the specific motive force.

The passage describes stages of purification and union that mirror the ascent from love of beauty to union with God.

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◆Living Godtheology

The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.

God is described as actively present in all things and acting on the relative plane through His differentiated activities.

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◆Mystical Unionsoteriology

The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.

The passage explicitly describes the soul's journey toward union with God as a state of simple and unified being.

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◆Paradox As Teachingethics

Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.

The text uses apparent contradictions such as God being both ineffable and called 'One' to convey deeper truths.

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◆Return To Sourcesoteriology

The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination.

The passage outlines a staged journey of the soul back to its divine origin through purification and union.

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◆Spiritual Ascentpraxis

A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.

The text describes stages of purification and union that constitute an upward movement toward the divine source.

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◆Theosis Deificationsoteriology

The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy.

The passage speaks of the soul becoming concentrated in a simple and unified state through union with God.

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Related passages · 12 parallels
◆neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter III
“The wise, [49] therefore, speak as follows: The soul having a twofold life, one being in conjunction with body, but the other being separate from all body; when we are awake we employ, for the most part, the life which is common with the bo…”
Both passages discuss the soul's relationship with the divine, emphasizing stages of spiritual progression, the ineffable nature of God, and the soul's union with the divine. They also share themes of divine manifestation and the soul's transcendence beyond the physical world.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 216
“Section 2 2. It is of this Soul especially that we read "All Soul has care for the Soulless"- though the several Souls thus care in their own degree and way. The passage continues- "Soul passes through the entire heavens in forms varying wi…”
Both passages discuss the soul's ascent towards the divine and the need to transcend lower, sensuous desires. They also emphasize the importance of focusing on the higher, intellectual or spiritual principles, which are closely tied to the divine.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 286 (part 1)
“Section 2 2. It can be demonstrated that soul must, necessarily, be of just this nature and that there can be no other soul than such a being, one neither wholly partible but both at once. If it had the nature of body it would consist of…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the soul and its relationship with the divine, emphasizing unity and the transcendent nature of God. They share themes of divine presence, the ineffability of God, and the soul's journey towards union with the divine.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 293
“Section 6 6. But how comes it that while the All-Soul has produced a kosmos, the soul of the particular has not, though it is of the one ideal Kind and contains, it too, all things in itself? We have indicated that a thing may enter and dwe…”
Both passages discuss the relationship between a universal soul or divine principle and individual souls or human beings. They explore the hierarchy and differing capacities of these souls in relation to the divine, with Plotinus focusing on the All-Soul and particular souls, and the second passage discussing God's presence and influence on the soul's activity.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 294
“Section 7 7. So far, so good: but what of the passage in the Philebus taken to imply that the other souls are parts of the All-Soul? The statement there made does not bear the meaning read into it; it expresses only, what the author was the…”
Both passages discuss the relationship between a higher, transcendent entity (the All-Soul in Plotinus, God in the second passage) and individual souls or beings. They explore the nature of this relationship, emphasizing the unity and interconnectedness of all souls with the higher entity, while also acknowledging the distinctness and individuality of each soul.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 295 (part 1)
“Section 8 8. These considerations, amounting to the settlement of the question, are not countered by the phenomenon of sympathy; the response between soul and soul is due to the mere fact that all spring from that self-same soul [the next…”
Both passages explore the nature of the soul and its relationship to a higher divine principle. They discuss the unity and multiplicity of the soul, its perfection, and its connection to the divine, showing genuine conceptual parallels across different mystical traditions.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 318
“Section 31 31. But if each of the two phases of the soul, as we have said, possesses memory, and memory is vested in the imaging faculty, there must be two such faculties. Now that is all very well as long as the two souls stand apart; but,…”
Both passages discuss the relationship between different aspects of the soul and its connection to a higher reality. Passage A explores the unity and conflict between the two phases of the soul and their imaging faculties, while Passage B discusses the soul's desire for God and the stages of spiritual development, highlighting the unity and transcendence of God.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 335
“Section 15 15. But there is a difficulty affecting this entire settlement: Eternity is characteristic of the Intellectual-Principle, time of the soul- for we hold that time has its substantial being in the activity of the soul, and springs…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the divine and its relationship to time and the soul. Passage A explores the distinction between eternity and time in the context of the Intellectual-Principle and the soul, while Passage B discusses God's transcendence of time and the soul's desire for union with the divine. Both touch on the themes of the eternal and the temporal, and the soul's relationship to the divine.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 336
“Section 16 16. But if in the soul thing follows thing, if there is earlier and later in its productions, if it engenders or creates in time, then it must be looking towards the future; and if towards the future, then towards the past as wel…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the soul and its relationship to a higher principle (Intellectual-Principle in Plotinus, God in the second passage). They explore the concepts of unity, order, and the soul's aspiration towards the divine, indicating a genuine conceptual parallel.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 378 (part 1)
“Section 3 3. With this prologue we come to our discussion of Memory. That the soul, or mind, having taken no imprint, yet achieves perception of what it in no way contains need not surprise us; or rather, surprising though it is, we canno…”
Both passages explore the nature of the soul and its connection to higher realities. Passage A discusses the soul's ability to perceive and remember, while Passage B describes the soul's journey towards union with God. Both emphasize the soul's capacity to transcend the material world and connect with a higher, intellectual or divine realm.
2 more
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 602
“Section 12 12. Think of a sound passing through the air and carrying a word; an ear within range catches and comprehends; and the sound and word will strike upon any other ear you may imagine within the intervening void, upon any that atten…”
Both passages discuss the omnipresence and unity of a transcendent principle (soul in Plotinus, God in the second passage). They explore how this principle is present in all things without division, emphasizing the unity and indivisibility of the principle.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 652 (part 1)
“Section 13 13. For Intellectual-Principle is not a simplex, nor is the soul that proceeds from it: on the contrary things include variety in the degree of their simplicity, that is to say in so far as they are not compounds but Principles…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the divine intellect or principle and its relationship to the creation of the universe. They explore themes of unity, diversity, and the movement within the divine intellect, showing a genuine conceptual parallel across different mystical traditions.