Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names · 22 of 39 · tr. C.E. Rolt
Chapter 4, Section 1v
cannot be free from pain, nor without a feeling of ill, since there would be something causing Him trouble, yea, all things must in that case be in a state of disorder and perpetual strife; whereas the Good imparts a principle of harmony to all things and is called by the Sacred Writers Peace and the Bestower of Peace.
And hence it is that all good things display a mutual attraction and harmony, and are the offspring of one Life and are disposed in fellowship towards one Good, and are kindly, of like nature, and benignant to one another.
And so evil is not in God, 339 339 i.
e.
Evil does not arise through the passage of the Good from Super-Essence into Essence.
It is not in the Good through the Good submitting to the conditions of existence (D.
has already shown that evil has no place in the ultimate Super-Essential Nature of the Good).
and is not divine.
Nor cometh it of God.
For either He is not good, or else He worketh goodness and bringeth good things unto 119 existence.
Nor acts He thus only at some times and not at others, or only in the case of some things but not of all.
For were He to act thus, He must suffer a change and alteration, and that in respect of the divinest quality of all—causality.
And if the Good is in God as His very substance, God must, in changing from the Good, sometimes exist and sometimes not exist.
Doubtless if you feign that He hath the Good by mere participation therein, and derives It from another, in that case He will, forsooth, sometimes possess It and sometimes not possess It.
340 340 This is a reductio ad absurdum.
D.
considers it obvious that God possesses the Good as His Substance and not by participation.
The Persons of the Trinity are not products of the Absolute but Emanations or Differentiations of It.
Evil, therefore, doth not come from God, nor is it in God either absolutely or temporally.
341 341 The argument is as follows: No evil is from God.
All existence is from God.
Therefore no existence is evil.
22.
Neither inhereth evil in the angels.
342 342 Having shown that existence as such is not inherently evil, D.
now takes various forms of existence and shows that none of them is, as such, inherently evil.
For if the good angel declares the Divine Goodness, he is in a secondary manner and by participation that which the Subject of his message is in a primary and causal manner.
343 343 Cf.
Old Testament title, “Sons of God,” and D.
on Deification.
Cf.
also “I have said, Ye are Gods.” And thus the angel is an image of God, a manifestation of the invisible light, a burnished mirror, bright, untarnished, without spot or blemish, receiving (if it is reverent to say so) all the beauty of the Absolute Divine Goodness, and (so far as may be) kindling in itself, with unallowed radiance, the Goodness of the Secret Silence.
Hence evil inhereth not in the angels; they are evil only in so far as they must punish sinners.
But in this respect even those who chastise wrong-doers are evil, and so are the priests who exclude the profane man from the Divine 120 Mysteries.
But, indeed, ‘tis not the suffering of the punishment that is evil but the being worthy thereof; nor yet is a just exclusion from the sacrifices evil, but to be guilty and unholy and unfit for those pure mysteries is evil.
23.
Nor are the devils naturally evil.
Themes
◆Apophatic Theologytheology
Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.
The passage defines God by negating evil and temporal change.
All passages →◆Cosmic Sympathycosmology
The Stoic and Plotinian doctrine that all parts of the cosmos are bound by hidden affinities, so that a movement in one part resonates through the whole; the metaphysical basis for astrology, magic, and divination.
The text states that all good things display a mutual attraction and harmony towards one Good.
All passages →◆Divine Hiddennesstheology
The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.
The text references the 'Secret Silence' as a manifestation of divine nature.
All passages →◆Divine Lighttheology
The uncreated luminous quality of the divine, sometimes experienced directly in mystical states; illumination as revelation.
Angels are described as images of God and burnished mirrors receiving the beauty of the Absolute Divine Goodness.
All passages →◆Divine Simplicitytheology
The doctrine that God has no parts, divisions, or composite attributes; pure undivided being.
God is described as possessing the Good as His very substance without change or alteration.
All passages →◆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 text distinguishes between Super-Essence and Essence in relation to God's nature.
All passages →◆Evil As Privationtheology
Augustinian and Plotinian doctrine that evil has no positive being of its own but is a lack, distortion, or absence of the good — denying ontological dualism while preserving moral seriousness.
The passage explicitly argues that evil does not exist in God or angels but arises from the conditions of existence and lack of participation in the Good.
All passages →◆Living Godtheology
The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.
God is depicted as actively imparting harmony and working goodness unto existence.
All passages →◆Monadcosmology
The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
The 'Good' is presented as a singular principle from which all things derive harmony.
All passages →◆Ritual Puritypraxis
The maintenance of a state of cleanliness—physical, moral, or spiritual—required for encounter with the divine.
The text discusses the exclusion of the profane man from Divine Mysteries based on holiness.
All passages →◆Separation From Sourcesoteriology
The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive.
The passage contrasts the harmony of good things with the disorder caused by evil and the suffering of punishment.
All passages →◆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 text discusses angels as images of God and the deification of the Good through participation in divine nature.
All passages →Related passages · 15 parallels
◆hermeticism|Corpus Hermeticum 6: The All-Father|Section 1b
“So then, Asclepius, the name alone of Good is found in men, the thing itself nowhere [in them], for this can never be.
For no material body doth contain It - a thing bound on all sides by bad, by labors, pains, desires and passions, by err…”
Both passages discuss the nature of Good and its relationship with God, emphasizing that true Good is not found in the material world but is inherent in the divine. They also highlight the human tendency to mistake evil for good.
◆neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter XIV
“Farther still, with respect to “ what are called the necessities of the Gods ,” the whole truth of this is, that necessities are peculiar to, and subsist in such a way as accords with the nature of, the Gods. [34] Hence they do not subsist…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the divine and the impossibility of evil or compulsion within the divine realm. They emphasize the harmony and goodness inherent in the divine nature, though they come from different mystical traditions.
◆neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter XVIIIb
“A certain thing of this kind also may take 71 place in the harmony and crasis of the universe: for the same things may be the salvation of the whole, through the perfection of the things inherent and the recipients; but may be noxious to th…”
Both passages discuss the nature of evil and its relationship to divine beings. They argue that evil does not originate from the divine and that divine entities are not the cause of evil, showing a conceptual parallel in their theological perspectives.
◆neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter V
“The multitude, also, are accustomed to doubt in common the very same thing concerning providence, viz. why certain persons are afflicted undeservedly, as they have not done any thing unjustly prior to their being thus afflicted. For neither…”
Both passages discuss the nature of divine justice and the limitations of human understanding of it. They explore how divine justice operates beyond human comprehension and the role of souls or angels in this framework.
◆neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter VI
“In order, therefore, that from an abundance of arguments we may contend against the objection which is now adduced, we will grant, if you please, the contrary to what we have asserted, viz. that certain unjust things are performed in this b…”
Both passages argue that the divine is inherently good and cannot be the source of evil. They explore the nature of good and evil, asserting that evil does not originate from the divine, and discuss the implications of this for understanding the divine nature.
◆neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter VII
“Moreover, it is necessary to add the causes whence evils [90] sometimes arise, and to show how many and of what kind they are. For the form of them is not simple; but, being various, is the leader of the generation of various evils. For if…”
Both passages discuss the nature of evil and its relationship to the divine. They agree that evil does not originate from God or the divine, and explore how evil manifests in different beings, such as angels or dæmons.
◆neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter VII
“The discussion therefore requires that we should show what it is through which sacrifices are effective of things, and are suspended from the Gods, the precedaneous causes of 234 effects. If then we say that the communion of similar powers,…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the divine and its relationship to the world, emphasizing the harmony and goodness inherent in divine essence. They both argue against the idea that evil originates from the divine, highlighting the transcendent and benevolent nature of the Gods or the Good.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 81 (part 1)
“Section 6 6.
If this be so, how do we explain the teaching that evils can never pass away but "exist of necessity," that "while evil has no place in the divine order, it haunts mortal nature and this place for ever"?
Does this mean that h…”
Both passages discuss the nature of evil in relation to the divine. They explore how evil is not inherent in the divine nature and the distinction between the divine good and earthly evil. The passages share a conceptual parallel in their exploration of the origin and nature of evil.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 121
“Section 18 18. Are the evils in the Universe necessary because it is of later origin than the Higher Sphere? Perhaps rather because without evil the All would be incomplete. For most or even all forms of evil serve the Universe- much as the…”
Both passages discuss the role of evil in the context of a divine or higher order. They explore how evil can serve a purpose within the broader framework of creation and the divine plan, though they do so from different theological perspectives.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 192
“Section 5 5. Now, once Happiness is possible at all to Souls in this Universe, if some fail of it, the blame must fall not upon the place but upon the feebleness insufficient to the staunch combat in the one arena where the rewards of excel…”
Both passages discuss the nature of evil and its relationship to the divine and the cosmos. They explore how evil can be used or transformed into good within the broader framework of existence, though they do so from different theological perspectives.
5 more
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 198
“Section 11 11. Are we, then, to conclude that particular things are determined by Necessities rooted in Nature and by the sequence of causes, and that everything is as good as anything can be? No: the Reason-Principle is the sovereign, maki…”
Both passages discuss the nature of good and evil in relation to a higher principle or divine entity. They explore how evil is not a primary or inherent aspect of the divine but rather a secondary or necessary part of the overall order.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 203 (part 1)
“Section 16 16.
But if all this is true, what room is left for evil?
Where are we to place wrong-doing and sin?
How explain that in a world organized in good, the efficient agents [human beings] behave unjustly, commit sin?
And how comes…”
Both passages explore the nature of evil and its relationship to the divine. They discuss how evil can exist in a world created by a good and rational principle, and both emphasize the harmony and unity within the universe despite the presence of evil.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 667
“Section 28 28. Now to see what all this reasoning has established: Universally, what approaches as a good is a Form; Matter itself contains this good which is Form: are we to conclude that, if Matter had will, it would desire to be Form una…”
Both passages explore the nature of good and evil, and the relationship between matter and form (or essence). They discuss how evil is not inherent in the ultimate good or divine principle, and how the good seeks to elevate or purify what is evil.
◆taoism|Tao Te Ching|Chapter 58
“The government that seems the most unwise, Oft goodness to the people best supplies; That which is meddling, touching everything, Will work but ill, and disappointment bring. Misery!--happiness is to be found by its side! Happiness!--misery…”
Both passages discuss the nature of good and evil, and the role of a higher power or sage in maintaining harmony. They explore the idea that evil is not inherent in the divine or the sage, and that balance is key to understanding their relationship.
◆western_esoteric|Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi)|3. The Triangle Of Solomonb
“The primeval sages, when seeking the First of Causes, behold good and evil in the world.
They considered shadow and light; they compared winter with spring, age with youth, life with death, and their conclusion was this: The First Cause is…”
Both passages explore the nature of good and evil in relation to the divine. They share the conceptual insight that evil is not inherent in the divine nature and that good and evil are contrasted yet interdependent principles.