Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names · 3 of 16 · tr. C.E. Rolt
Chapter 2, Section 1c
But if he taketh Scriptural Truth as his Standard, this is the very Rule and Light by which we will (so far as in us lies) proceed straight to our defence, and will declare that the Sacred Science sometimes employs a method of Undifference and sometimes one of Differentiation; and that we must neither disjoin those things which are Undifferenced 68 nor confuse those which are Differentiated; but following the Sacred Science to the best of our powers, we must lift up our eyes towards the Divine Rays; for, receiving thence the Divine Revelations as a noble Standard of Truth, we strive to preserve its treasure in ourselves without addition, diminution, or distortion, and in thus preserving the Scriptures, we also are preserved, and are moreover enabled by the same to the end that we may still preserve them and be by them preserved.
3.
Now Undifferenced Names belong to the entire Godhead 186 186 The method of Undifference applies to the ultimate Godhead, that of Differentiation to the emanating Godhead.
The absolute and the relative planes of Being both belong to God.
On the absolute plane all distinctions are transcended, and the Persons exist in a manner in which They would appear to us to be merged, but on the relative plane we see that They are eternally distinct.
See Intr., p.
8.
(as we showed more fully from the Scriptures in the Outlines of Divinity).
To this class belong the following: “Super-Excellent,” “Super-Divine,” “Super-Essential,” “Super-Vital,” “Supra-Sapient,” and thereto all those titles wherein the negative expresses excess; moreover, all those titles which have a causal sense, such as “Good,” “Fair,” “Existent,” “Lifegiving,” “Wise,” and whatever titles are ascribed to the Cause of all good things from Its bountiful gifts.
187 187 Because we see things which are good, fair, existent, etc., we apply to God, their ultimate Cause, the titles “Good,” “Fair,” “Existent,” etc.
See p.
36, n.
6.
The differentiated Names, on the other hand, are the Super-Essential names and connotations of “Father,” “Son,” and “Spirit.” In these cases the titles cannot be interchanged, nor are they held in common.
Again, besides this, the perfect and unchangeable subsistence of Jesus in our nature is differentiated, and so are all the mysteries of Love and Being therein displayed.
188 188 i.
e.
Only the Second Person was Incarnate, was crucified, etc.
‘Mysteries of Love and Being” = φιλανθρωφίας οὐσιώδη μυστήρια.
69 4.
But needs must we, methinks, go deeper into the matter and thoroughly explain the difference between Undifference and Differentiation as concerning God, in order that our whole Discourse may be made clear, and, being free from all doubtfulness and obscurity, may (to the best of our powers) give a distinct, plain, and orderly statement of the matter.
For, as I said elsewhere, the Initiates of our Divine Tradition designate the Undifferenced Attributes of the Transcendently Ineffable and Unknowable Permanence as hidden, incommunicable Ultimates, but the beneficent Differentiations of the Supreme Godhead, they call Emanations 189 189 προόδους τε καὶ ἐκφάνσεις,—sc.
the Persons of the Trinity.
See Intr., p.
16.
The doctrine that God has no parts, divisions, or composite attributes; pure undivided being.
The entire passage is structured around the doctrine that the ultimate Godhead is undifferenced and undivided, with all distinctions transcended on the absolute plane, and the Sacred Science must 'neither disjoin those things which are Undifferenced nor confuse those which are Differentiated.'
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 explicitly distinguishes between the 'Undifferenced Attributes of the Transcendently Ineffable' and the 'beneficent Differentiations of the Supreme Godhead', implying a hierarchical structure.
The doctrine that the divine or a spiritual principle takes on a specific, bounded material or bodily form — descending from an unconditioned state into individual, corporeal existence — as a discrete act rather than a diffuse pervading presence. The Christian Word made flesh, the Hindu avatara, the Egyptian pharaoh as living Horus, the Vajrayana tulku. Distinct from divine_immanence (the general claim that the divine pervades all of creation diffusely, not a specific embodiment-event) and separation_from_source (the felt exile FROM origin, the opposite motion) in describing a specific, individuated descent INTO a particular body or form.
The passage states that 'the perfect and unchangeable subsistence of Jesus in our nature is differentiated,' with the footnote clarifying that only the Second Person was Incarnate, making the Incarnation a specific act of differentiation within the divine economy.
The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
The distinction between the Transcendently Ineffable Godhead and the Differentiated Godhead implies a singular first principle from which differentiation flows.
The doctrine that reality has two registers — an Absolute truth as the divine or ultimate mind knows it, and a Relative truth as finite human reason perceives and must act on — with both held as legitimate on their own plane rather than the second being simply an error to correct. Distinct from apophatic_theology (a claim about how the divine may be described, by negation) and unity_of_being (a claim that being is ultimately one) in being a claim about two coexisting registers of truth-claim itself.
The passage explicitly distinguishes two registers: the absolute plane where 'all distinctions are transcended' and the relative plane where the Persons are 'eternally distinct,' holding both as legitimate on their own plane.
The doctrine that the one Godhead or first principle subsists as three co-equal aspects or persons rather than a bare unity — the Christian Father/Son/Holy Ghost invoked in the recurring liturgical formula 'In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,' but structurally the same pattern as the Egyptian Amen/Ptah/Osiris, the Hindu Brahma/Vishnu/Siva, and the Kabbalistic Chochmah/Binah/Kether triads that esoteric writers explicitly map onto it as instances of one universal law. Distinct from unity_of_being (the general claim that all existence is one substance, agnostic about internal plurality) and divine_simplicity (God as having no parts or divisions at all) in asserting a definite three-aspected differentiation within a single divine essence.
The passage explicitly identifies the differentiated names as 'Father,' 'Son,' and 'Spirit,' states their titles 'cannot be interchanged, nor are they held in common,' and identifies the emanations as the Persons of the Trinity.