Re–thinking Dionysius the Areopagite

“Dionysius the Areopagite,” the early sixth–century Christian writer who took the name of Paul’s first convert in Athens, effected a marriage between Christianity and Neoplatonism which was, from the start, as controversial as it was generative. Today’s renewed fascination with Dionysius arises partly from the interest in “apophatic” thought that has occurred in post–Kantian continental philosophy, and partly from the contemporary attraction to “mystical” practice. But the Corpus Dionysiacum is easily misunderstood. A false conflation between post–modern “deferral” and Dionysius’ “mystical theology” can easily occur, and little can be properly understood of Dionysius’ import until his oeuvre is read as a whole, and through the complex history of his reception in both the East and West. This volume provides a succinct and clear analysis of the original context and intent of the Dionysian writings, and of their subsequent interpretation in Christian tradition, up to the present day. About the series Born out of the journal Modern Theology , the Directions in Modern Theology book series focuses on important theological topics and texts in current debate within the disciplines of historical, systematic, and philosophical theology, while looking at broader contemporary developments from a theological perspective. It analyses notions and thinkers, as well as examining a wide spectrum of “modern” theological eras: from late Medieval through to the Enlightenment and up until the present–day “post–modern” movements. Attracting distinguished theologians from a worldwide base, the series provides a distinguished forum for international debate and a set of invaluable teaching resources.

Introduction: Re–Thinking Dionysius the Areopagite: Sarah Coakley (University of Cambridge). 1. Dionysius, Paul, and the Significance of the Pseudonym: Charles M. Stang (Harvard University). 2. The Earliest Syriac Reception of Dionysius: István Perczel (Central European University). 3. The Reception of Dionysius up to Maximus the Confessor: Andrew Louth (Durham University). 4. The Reception of Dionysius in the Byzantine World: Maximus to Palamas: Andrew Louth (Durham University). 5. The Early Latin Dionysius: Eriugena and Hugh of St. Victor: Paul Rorem (Princeton Theological Seminary). 6. The Medieval Affective Dionysian Tradition: Boyd Taylor Coolman (Boston College). 7. Albert, Aquinas, and Dionysius: David Burrell, C.S.C (University of Notre Dame) and Isabelle Moulin. 8. Dionysius and some Late Medieval Mystical Theologians of Northern Europe: Denys Turner (Yale University). 9. Cusanus on Dionysius: The Turn to Speculative Theology: Peter Casarella (Depaul University). 10. Luther and Dionysius: Beyond Mere Negations: Piotr J. Malysz (Harvard University). 11. Dionysian Thought in 16th Century Spanish Mystical Theology: Luis M. Girón–Negrón (Harvard University). 12. The Reception of Dionysius in 20th Century Eastern Orthodoxy: Paul L. Gavrilyuk (University of Saint Thomas). 13. Dionysius, Derrida, and the Critique of ‘Ontotheology’: Mary–Jane Rubenstein (Wesleyan University). 14. Dionysius in Hans Urs von Balthasar and Jean–Luc Marion: Tamsin Jones (Harvard University). Index

Sarah Coakley is the Norris–Hulse Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge. She previously taught at Lancaster, Oxford, and Harvard Universities. Charles M. Stang is Assistant Professor of Early Christian Thought at Harvard Divinity School.

" Re–Thinking Dionysius the Areopagite is a helpful tool in navigating the great tidal wave of Dionysian–inspired literature." ( Journal of Church History , September 2010)