The Dionysian Mystical Theology

Book Preface

The double goal of this short book is to introduce the sixth-century Pseudo-Dionysian “mystical theology” and to offer glimpses at key stages in its interpretation and critical reception through the centuries. In part 1, the elusive Areopagite’s own miniature essay, The Mystical Theology, will be quoted in its entirety, sentence by sentence (courtesy of Paulist Press) with commentary. Yet its cryptic contents would be almost impenetrable without reference to the rest of the Dionysian corpus: The Divine Names, The Celestial Hierarchy, The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, and the (ten) Letters. While all of these works deserve extensive comments in their own right, and have indeed received such commentary, including my own, they will here be invoked more specifically to shed light on the compressed wording of The Mystical Theology. Of special importance in this context is the Dionysian use of negations in an “apophatic” theology that recognizes the transcendence of God beyond human words and concepts.

Stages in the reception and critique of this corpus and theme are sketched in part 2: first, the initial sixth-century introduction and marginal comments or scholia by John of Scythopolis; second, the early Latin translation and commentary by the ninth-century Carolingian theologian Eriugena and the twelfth-century commentary by the Parisian Hugh of St. Victor; and third, the critical reaction by Martin Luther in the sixteenth-century Reformation. In conclusion, the Dionysian apophatic will be presented alongside other forms of negative theology from the Christian tradition in light of modern (and postmodern) interest in the subject.

My comments on The Mystical Theology constitute a wholly new composition, but the four essays in part 2 have already been published separately, as itemized in the publication data. With thanks to those original editors and publishers, they are here lightly adjusted and joined together for a sequential narrative. For much more on various stages of the Dionysian reception, see Re-thinking Dionysius the Areopagite, edited by Sarah Coakley and Charles M. Stang (Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009), originally published as Modern Theology 24, no. 4 (2008).

I am delighted that this slender volume will lead off a new Fortress series, Mapping the Tradition, so that other theologians from the Christian tradition can be briefly introduced and have their own reception histories sketched.

For help on this volume, I thank Marcia Tucker, librarian at the Institute for Advanced Study; Michael Gibson, supportive editor at Fortress Press; Judith Attride, patient transcriber; Mark Dixon, research assistant, especially for the apparatus; and Kate Skrebutenas, the library’s Director of Access, Research and Outreach at Princeton Theological Seminary and truly my better half.