Dionysius the Areopagite (or Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite) remains one of the most enigmatic figures of the early Christianity. He was a Greek author, Christian theologian and Neoplatonic philosopher of the late 5th to early 6th century, who wrote a set of works known as the Corpus Areopagiticum or Corpus Dionysiacum. The author pseudonymously identifies himself in the corpus as "Dionysios", portraying himself as Dionysius the Areopagite, the Athenian convert of Paul the Apostle mentioned in Acts 17:34. This attribution to the earliest decades of Christianity resulted in the work being given great authority in subsequent theological writing in both the East and the West. The Dionysian writings and their mystical teaching were universally accepted throughout the East, amongst both Chalcedonians and non-Chalcedonians, and also had a strong impact in later medieval western mysticism, most notably Meister Eckhart. Its influence decreased in the West with the fifteenth-century demonstration of its later dating, but in recent decades, interest has increased again in the Corpus Areopagiticum.

Dionysius the Areopagite, the early sixth-century Christian writer, bridged Christianity and neo-Platonist philosophy. Bringing together a team of international scholars, this volume surveys how Dionysius’s thought and work has been interpreted, in both East and West, up to the present day. One of the first volumes in English to survey the reception history of Dionysian thought, both East and West Provides a clear account of both modern and post-modern debates about Dionysius’s standing as philosopher and Christian theologian Examines the contrasts between Dionysius’s own pre-modern concerns and those of the post-modern philosophical tradition Highlights the great variety of historic readings of Dionysius, and also considers new theories and interpretations Analyzes the main points of hermeneutical contrast between East and West

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Here are the complete works of the enigmatic fifth- and sixth-century writer known as the Pseudo Dionysius, prepared by a team of six research scholars.

"In The Divine Names the unknown Dionysius the Areopagite expresses many profound truths concerning the Divine Nature, based upon discussions of the names which are ascribed in the Bible to Him and to His attributes. In doing so, Dionysius had the advantage of the mystical teachings of the Neoplatonic School, which developed the Platonic teachings. Since he treated these from a Christian point of view, Dionysius played a great part in developing Christian mysticism. At the same time he is a link with the older thought, and therefore illustrates how the one fundamental truth is contimued [sic] through many schools of thought."--

The work of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite stands at a cusp in the history of thought: it is at once Hellenic and Christian, classical and medieval, philosophical and theological. Unlike the predominantly theological or text-historical studies which constitute much of the scholarly literature on Dionysius, Theophany is completely philosophical in nature, placing Dionysius within the tradition of ancient Greek philosophy and emphasizing, in a positive light, his continuity with the non-Christian Neoplatonism of Plotinus and Proclus. Eric D. Perl offers clear expositions of the reasoning that underlies Neoplatonic philosophy and explains the argumentation that leads to and supports Neoplatonic doctrines. He includes extensive accounts of fundamental ideas in Plotinus and Proclus, as well as Dionysius himself, and provides an excellent philosophical defense of Neoplatonism in general.

Dionysius the Areopagite is the pseudonymous author of an influential body of early (about 500 AD) Christian theological texts. Paul Rorem here explores the profound influence of these texts on medieval theolgy in the East and the West.