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Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names · 8 of 16 · tr. C.E. Rolt

Chapter 2, Section 1h

Even so if any one says that Very Life lives, or that Very Light is enlightened, he will be wrong (according to my view) unless, perchance, he were to use these terms in a different sense from the ordinary one to mean that the qualities of created things pre-exist, after a superlative manner as touching their true Being in the Creative Originals. 208 208 So St. Augustine constantly teaches that God acts not in the manner which we call activity, but by causing the creature itself to perform the action. Thus he explains God’s rest on the Seventh Day to mean not that God Himself rested but that the creation now rested in Him. Aristotle and his disciple, St. Thomas, teach that God moves all things simply through being desired by them. So God causes action without Himself acting (somewhat as fire causes warmth without feeling it). Cf. p. 87, n. 1. 9. Even the plainest article of Divinity, namely the 76 Incarnation and Birth of Jesus in Human Form, cannot be expressed by any Language or known by any Mind—not even by the first of the most exalted angels. That He took man’s substance is a mysterious truth, the which we have received; but we know not how from the Virgin’s seed He was formed in another manner than is natural, nor how His dry feet supporting the solid weight of His material body He walked upon the unstable substance of the water, nor understand we any of the other things which belong to the Supernatural Nature of Jesus. Of these things I have spoken enough elsewhere; and our renowned Teacher hath wonderfully 209 209 ὑπερφυῶς. The proper meaning of ὑπερφυής in the Dionysian writings appears to be “supernatural.” declared, in his Elements of Divinity , what he hath either learnt directly from the Sacred Writers, or else hath discovered from his cunning research concerning Scriptural truths through the much toil and labour which he bestowed thereon, or else hath had revealed unto him by some diviner inspiration wherein he received not only true spiritual notions but also true spiritual motions , 210 210 οὺ μόνον μαθὼν ἀλλὰ καὶ παθὼν τὰ θεῖα. and by the kinship of his mind with them (if I may so express it) was perfected to attain without any other teacher to a mystical communion with these verities and a belief therein. 211 211 πρὸς τὴν ὰδιδακτὸν αὐτῶν καὶ μυστικὴν ἀποτελεσθεὶς ἕνωσιν καὶ πίστιν. And to put before them in briefest compass the many blessed speculations of his ingenious mind thus speaketh he concerning Jesus in his compilation of the Elements of Divinity . 10. From the Elements of Divinity , by S. Hierotheus. The Universal Cause which filleth all things is the Deity of Jesus, whereof the parts are in such wise tempered to the whole that It is neither whole nor part, and yet is at the same time whole and also part, 77 containing in Its all-embracing unity both part and whole, and being transcendent and antecedent to both. 212 212 Being beyond Unity the Godhead is, of course, beyond the categories of whole and part.
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Themes
Apophatic Theologytheology

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

The text explicitly states that Jesus' nature cannot be expressed by language or known by any mind.

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Divine Hiddennesstheology

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

The passage emphasizes that the truth of Jesus' formation is beyond ordinary knowledge and language.

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Divine Lighttheology

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

The passage discusses 'Very Light' and its relation to the Creative Originals in a non-literal sense.

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Divine Simplicitytheology

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

The text describes God as transcendent and antecedent to both whole and part, indicating an undivided nature.

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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 distinguishes between created things and their 'true Being in the Creative Originals'.

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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 describes a mystical communion with verities attained without any other teacher.

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Hidden Sayingssoteriology

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

The passage notes that certain truths about Jesus' formation are mysterious and beyond ordinary understanding.

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Mystical Unionsoteriology

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

The text describes a mystical communion with the verities and a belief therein achieved through spiritual motions.

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Paradox As Teachingethics

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

The passage uses the paradoxical statement that God is neither whole nor part yet contains both.

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Unity Of Beingtheology

The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.

The text describes the Universal Cause as a unity that contains both part and whole in its all-embracing nature.

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