Peri mystikes theologias

Peri mystikes theologias , the mystical theology ( Greek Περὶ μυστικῆς θεολογίας Perí mystikēs theologías , Latin De mystica theologia ) of the Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita , is a brief script in the Greek language consisting of five chapters, "which" addresses the question of the knowledge of God ] “Leads to an aporetic answer: 'There is neither a statement nor a name nor knowledge of it (that is, of God as cause); it is neither dark nor light, neither error nor truth '(5,150,3–5). The only way to God is that of mystical union. "

The Mystical Theology is addressed to a certain Timothy, is meant by the probably the same name, mentioned in the Bible employees of Paul (cf.. Acts 16.1 EU ; Gal 2,3 EU and passim..). However, the work cannot have been written in biblical times, since the introductory prayer to the Trinity requires a fully developed doctrine of the Trinity, which did not yet exist in the first century AD. Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita is usually dated to the early 6th century.

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Chapter 1

The topic is the “divine darkness”, ie the fact that God's being is not accessible to human reason and therefore has to be grasped in a different way. At the beginning, Timothy is asked to “stretch himself up on a non-cognitive path [...] to unity with the one who transcends all existence and knowledge.” This “non-cognitive path” is made possible by the biblical narrative of Moses' encounter with God Illustrated on Sinai (Exodus 24): When Moses, on God's command, reached the summit of Mount Sinai in a long ascent, he did not meet God, but only a cloud, which was a parable for God's “presence beyond comprehension ", Which the human spirit" at most (as if touched with the tip of the foot). "In order to really meet God, Moses must go into the cloud, i. H. "Into the darkness of ignorance". Only "when all cognitive activity ceases, is he united in a higher sense with him who is completely unknowable, and when he ceases to recognize anything, he knows in a way that goes beyond reason."

Chapter 2

In this chapter, Pseudo-Dionysius describes the procedure in more detail, which is supposed to enable an approach to this God, who transcends all things. He calls for “through not seeing and not knowing” to perceive God, “who transcends our seeing and knowing”. This can be compared with the work of sculptors "who carve a statue out of a solid block of stone: [...] by simply cutting away they [...] reveal hidden beauty." This is also the case with the knowledge of God by "denying": "[...] we strip off everything in order to openly recognize that ignorance that is enveloped by everything that is knowable in the entire world of being."

Chapter 3

The topic is the difference that exists between the “negation” required in the previous chapter and the usual affirmative designations of God. In the introduction, Dionysius refers to the attempts, discussed in more detail elsewhere, to describe God's nature in more detail by means of affirmative statements. In his work “On the Divine Names”, he examined “[…] in what sense [God] is called good, as being, as life and wisdom and strength.” If one now turns to negation, one draws closer to God to come, one must be aware of the different nature of this approach. One aspect of this is that in the affirmative statements about God z. T. have to make a lot of words; but now, on the contrary, the endeavor to use as few words as possible is required: “For the more we strive towards the higher, the more the words die for us under the comprehensive vision of what can only be grasped spiritually. So even now, as we plunge into the darkness, which is higher than our reason, we will not (only) fall into lack of words, but into complete lack of words and ignorance. "

Chapter 4

In the two concise final chapters, the way of approaching God through negation is concretized on two levels. Chapter 4 is about the fact that God, who is the cause of everything that is perceptible to the senses, does not belong to the realm of the perceptible to the senses. Among other things, according to Dionysius, God is "no body, has neither shape nor form, neither quality nor quantity, nor weight."

Chapter 5

Likewise, God as the cause of the spiritual, the intelligible himself, does not belong to this realm of the spiritual either: “Even higher, we say of it (the all cause) that it is neither soul nor spirit; it cannot be ascribed to imagination, opinion, reason or thinking, nor is it to be equated with reason and thinking, nor is it predicated or thought. "These negations are increased to seem paradoxical juxtapositions: God is" neither greatness nor smallness, neither equality nor inequality , neither similarity nor dissimilarity. ”These and other apparently contradicting negations lead to statements through which Pseudo-Dionysius expresses his absolutely transcendent conception of God:“ [The universal cause] defies any (essential) determination, naming and knowledge. It is neither to be equated with darkness nor with light, neither with error nor with truth. You can neither attribute nor deny anything to her at all. [...] Because it, the all-perfect, only cause of all things, is just as superior to any affirmation, just as no negation comes close to it, it, which is absolutely free of any limitation and transcends everything. "

reception

The mystical theology of the Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita influenced numerous thinkers in the Middle Ages, e.g. B. Master Eckhart . Even today, the work is highly regarded in the Roman Catholic Church. B. with regard to the interreligious dialogue with Buddhism and Hinduism. The Pope Benedict XVI paid tribute to Pseudo-Dionysius during an audience in 2008 as follows: “Today there is a new topicality of Dionysius Areopagita: He appears like a great mediator in the modern dialogue between Christianity and the mystical theologies of Asia, whose essential feature is the conviction that one cannot can say who God is; one can speak of it only in negative forms ; one can speak of God only with "not", and only when one enters into this experience of "not" one arrives at him. And here you can see a similarity between the thinking of the Areopagite and that of the Asian religions: Today he can be a mediator. "

Individual evidence

↑ BR Suchla: Article "Dionysius", in: Encyclopedia of Early Christian Literature, edited by Siegmar Döpp u. a. Freiburg i.Br. 2002, p. 204.
↑ Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita: On Mystical Theology and Letters. Introduced, translated and annotated by Adolf Martin Ritter, Library of Greek Literature Stuttgart 1994, p. 74
↑ Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita: On Mystical Theology and Letters. Introduced, translated and annotated by Adolf Martin Ritter, Library of Greek Literature Stuttgart 1994, p. 75
↑ Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita: On Mystical Theology and Letters. Introduced, translated and annotated by Adolf Martin Ritter, Library of Greek Literature Stuttgart 1994, p. 76
↑ Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita: On Mystical Theology and Letters. Introduced, translated and annotated by Adolf Martin Ritter, Library of Greek Literature Stuttgart 1994, p. 77
↑ Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita: On Mystical Theology and Letters. Introduced, translated and annotated by Adolf Martin Ritter, Library of Greek Literature Stuttgart 1994, p. 77
↑ Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita: On Mystical Theology and Letters. Introduced, translated and annotated by Adolf Martin Ritter, Library of Greek Literature Stuttgart 1994, p. 78
↑ Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita: On Mystical Theology and Letters. Introduced, translated and annotated by Adolf Martin Ritter, Library of Greek Literature Stuttgart 1994, p. 79
↑ Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita: On Mystical Theology and Letters. Introduced, translated and annotated by Adolf Martin Ritter, Library of Greek Literature Stuttgart 1994, p. 79
↑ Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita: On Mystical Theology and Letters. Introduced, translated and annotated by Adolf Martin Ritter, Library of Greek Literature Stuttgart 1994, p. 80
↑ BR Suchla: Article "Dionysius", in: Encyclopedia of Early Christian Literature, edited by Siegmar Döpp u. a. Freiburg i.Br. 2002, p. 205
↑ http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2008/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20080514_ge.html

[1] BR Suchla: Article "Dionysius", in: Encyclopedia of Early Christian Literature, edited by Siegmar Döpp u. a. Freiburg i.Br. 2002, p. 204.

[2] Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita: On Mystical Theology and Letters. Introduced, translated and annotated by Adolf Martin Ritter, Library of Greek Literature Stuttgart 1994, p. 74

[3] Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita: On Mystical Theology and Letters. Introduced, translated and annotated by Adolf Martin Ritter, Library of Greek Literature Stuttgart 1994, p. 75

[4] Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita: On Mystical Theology and Letters. Introduced, translated and annotated by Adolf Martin Ritter, Library of Greek Literature Stuttgart 1994, p. 76

[5] Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita: On Mystical Theology and Letters. Introduced, translated and annotated by Adolf Martin Ritter, Library of Greek Literature Stuttgart 1994, p. 77

[6] Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita: On Mystical Theology and Letters. Introduced, translated and annotated by Adolf Martin Ritter, Library of Greek Literature Stuttgart 1994, p. 77

[7] Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita: On Mystical Theology and Letters. Introduced, translated and annotated by Adolf Martin Ritter, Library of Greek Literature Stuttgart 1994, p. 78

[8] Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita: On Mystical Theology and Letters. Introduced, translated and annotated by Adolf Martin Ritter, Library of Greek Literature Stuttgart 1994, p. 79

[9] Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita: On Mystical Theology and Letters. Introduced, translated and annotated by Adolf Martin Ritter, Library of Greek Literature Stuttgart 1994, p. 79

[10] Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita: On Mystical Theology and Letters. Introduced, translated and annotated by Adolf Martin Ritter, Library of Greek Literature Stuttgart 1994, p. 80

[11] BR Suchla: Article "Dionysius", in: Encyclopedia of Early Christian Literature, edited by Siegmar Döpp u. a. Freiburg i.Br. 2002, p. 205

[12] ttp://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2008/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20080514_ge.html