PSEUDO-DIONYSIUS, THE COMPLETE WORKS
John Farina, Editor-in-Chief
Complete works of Dionysius the Aeropagite
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1 |
“Let us contemplate the one simple nature of that peaceful unity which joins all things to itself and to each other, preserving them in their distinctiveness and yet linking them together in a universal and unconfused alliance.”
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2 |
“All the radii of a circle are brought together in the unity of the center which contains all the straight lines brought together within itself. These are linked one to another because of this single point of origin and they are completely unified at this center.”
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3 |
"We owe to God's goodness our being and our life…using the everlasting model of beauty, God has made us in his image and he has given us a share of the divine condition and uplifting."
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4 |
“The power of the Godhead spreads out everywhere, penetrates all things irresistibly.”
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5 |
"This essential Good, by the very fact of its existence, extends goodness into all things. Think of how it is with our sun….by the very fact of its existence it gives light to whatever is able to partake of its light. So it is with the Good. Existing far above the sun, an archetype far superior to its dull image, it sends the rays of its undivided goodness to everything with the capacity to receive it. These rays are responsible for all intelligible and intelligent beings, for every power and every activity….Their longing for the Good makes them what they are and confers on them their well-being. Shaped by what they yearn for, they exemplify goodness and, as the Law of God requires of them, they share with (all) the good gifts which have come their way."
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6 |
"Everything in some way partakes of the providence flowing out of this transcendent Deity which is the originator of all that is. Indeed nothing could exist without some share in the being and source of everything. Even the things which have no life participate in this, for it is the transcendent Deity which is the existence of every being."
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7 |
“This transcendently real Godhead is the source of everything. It is the cause which gives being. It is the power holding all things together and the goal embracing all things.”
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8 |
“The Transcendent One predefined and brought into being everything that is.”
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9 |
"The divine Light, out of generosity, never ceases to offer itself to the eyes of the mind, eyes which should seize upon it for it is always there, always divinely ready with the gift of itself."
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10 |
“The supra-divine transcendentally one God dwells indivisibly in every individual.”
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"The name 'One' means that God is uniquely all things through the transcendence of one unity and that He is the cause of all without ever departing from that oneness. Nothing in the world lacks its share of the One…that One which in its utterly comprehensive unity uniquely contains all and everything beforehand, even opposites."
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12 |
“God penetrates without hindrance through everything.”
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13 |
"To praise this divinely benificent Providence you must turn to all of creation. It is there at the center of everything and everything has it for a destiny. It is there 'before all things and in it all things hold together (Col. 1:17)."
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14 |
"God displays neither a grudge nor profane anger over previous apostasy and transgressions. In godlike fashion he gives to all who approach his guiding light and does so in harmonious and orderly fashion and in proportion to the disposition of each one toward the sacred."
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15 |
“The reality is that all things are contained beforehand in and are embraced by the One in its capacity as an inherent unity.”
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16 |
"Godhead is granted as a gift to all things. It flows over in shares of goodness to all. And it becomes differentiated in a unified way. It is multiplied and yet remains singular. It is dispensed to all without ceasing to be a unity….God is indivisible multiplicity, the unified overfullness, which produces, perfects, and preserves all unity and all multiplicity….In fact, He is the one God who dwells indivisibly in every individual and who is in Himself undifferentiated unity with no commixture and no multiplication arising out of His presence among the many."
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17 |
"We must learn about Wisdom from all things. As scripture says, 'Wisdom has made and continues always to adapt everything (Ps. 104:24). It is the cause of the unbreakable accomodation and order of all things and it is forever linking the goals of one set of things with the sources of another and in this fashion it makes a thing of beauty of the unity and the harmony of the whole."
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18 |
"He is all in all, as scripture affirms, and certainly He is to be praised as being for all things the creator and originator, the One who brings them to completion, their preserver, their protector, and their home, the power which returns them to itself, and all this in the one single, irrepressible, and supreme act."
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19 |
"There is a simple self-moving power directing all things to mingle as one; it starts out from the Good, reaches down to the lowliest creation, returns then in due order through all the stages back to the Good, and thus turns from itself and through itself and upon itself and toward itself in an everlasting circle."
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20 |
"Each bestirs itself and all are stirred to do and to will whatever it is they do and will because of the yearning for the Beautiful and the Good…..The divine longing is Good seeking good for the sake of the Good."
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21 |
"Now this is unified and one and common to the whole divinity, that the entire wholeness is participated in by each of those who participate in it; none participates in only a part. It is rather like the case of a circle. The center point of the circle is shared by the surrounding radii. Or take the example of a seal. There are numerous impressions of the seal and these all have a share in the original prototype; it is the same whole seal in each of the impressions and none participates in only a part."
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22 |
“Wisdom is the One who renews and makes perfect.”
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23 |
"For anyone, purification consists of a participation in the transparent clarity of the Godhead."
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24 |
“Nothing possessed of being lies outside the workings of Providence.”
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25 |
"We must make the holy journey to the heart of the sacred symbols."
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