dP 2826 Deification according to Dionysius the Areopagite

and Maximus the Confessor

PONTIFICAL UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
Second Semester 2014-15
Fridays, 10.30-12.15
Dr. David Dawson Vasquez
dawson@romestudy.org
The course will examine detail how the writings of Dionyisus the Areopagite and Maximus the Confessor
describe the goal of human existence. It will concentrate on a detailed reading of select texts from both authors.

Essential Bibliography
Dionysius the Areopagite, The Complete Works, trans. Colm Luibheid (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1987).
Maximus the Confessor, Selected Writings, trans. George C. Berthold (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1985).
Maximus the Confessor, On the Difficulties of the Church Fathers: The Ambigua, trans. Nicholas Constas, 2
vols. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014).

Course schedule
March 20: Introduction
March 27: Dionysius, The Divine Names, chapters 1-5
March 6: Dionysius, The Divine Names, chapters 6-13
March 13: Dionysius, The Mystical Theology, Letters 1-7
March 20: Dionysius, The Celestial Hierarchy, chapters 1-6
March 27: Dionysius, The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, chapters 1-4
April 17: Maximus, Mystagogy
April 24: Maximus, Chapters on Knowledge
May 8: Maximus, Chapters on Love
May 15: Maximus, Ambigua
May 22: Maximus, Ambigua
May 29: Conclusions

Important Secondary Works

Lossky, Vladimir, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church (Crestwood: St. Vladimirs Seminary Press,
1997).
Louth, Andrew, Denys the Areopagite (Wilton, CT: Morehouse-Barlow, 1989).
Louth, Andrew, Maximus the Confessor (London: Routledge, 1996).
Roques, Ren, LUnivers dionysien: Structure hirarchique du monde selon le Pseudo-Denys (Paris: Les
Editions du Cerf, 1983).
Rorem, Paul, Pseudo-Dionysius: A Commentary on the Texts and an Introduction to Their Influence (New
York: Oxford University Press, 1993).

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Further Bibliography
Bathrellos, Demetrios, The Byzantine Christ: Person, Nature, and Will in the Christology of Saint Maximus the
Confessor (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004).
Bernard, C. A. La doctrine mystique de Denys lAropagite, Gregorianum 68 (1987): 523-566.
Bausenhart, Guido, In allem uns gleich ausser der Snde: Studien zum Beitrag Maximos des Bekenners
zur altkirchlichen Christologie mit einer kommentierten bersetzung der Disputatio com Pyrrho (Mainz:
Matthias-Grnewald, 1992).
Blowers, Paul M., Exegesis and Spiritual Pedagogy in Maximus the Confessor: An Investigation of the
Quaestiones ad Thalassium (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1991).
Blowers, Paul M., Gentiles of the Soul: Maximus the Confessor on the Substructure and Transformation of
the Human Passions, Journal of Early Christian Studies 4 (1996): 57-85.
Bornert, Ren, Lintelligence spirituelle de la liturgie selon la Mystagogie de saint Maxime le confesseur
(Paris: Institut Franais des Etudes Byzantines, 1966).
Brons, Bernard, Gott und die Seienden: Untersuchungen zum Verhltnis von neuplatonischer Metaphysik und
christlichen Tradition bei Dionysius Areopagita (Gttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1976).
Carabine, Deirdre, The Unknown God: Negative Theology in the Platonic Traditon: Plato to Eriugena (Leuven:
Peeters, 1995).
Coakley, Sarah and Stang, Charles M., Rethinking Dionysius the Areopagite (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell,
2009).
Cooper, Adam G., The Body in St. Maximus the Confessor: Wholly Flesh, Wholly Deified (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2005).
Cooper, Adam G., Maximus the Confessor on the Structural Dynamics of Revelation, Vigilae Christianae 55
(2001), 161-186.
Croce, Vittorio, Tradizione e ricerca: Il metodo teologico di san Massimo il Confessore (Milano: Vita e
Pensiero, 1974).
Corsini, Eugenio, Il trattato De divinis nominibus dello pseudo-Dionigi e i commenti neoplatonici al
Parmenide (Turin: Giappichelli, 1962).
de Andia, Ysabel (ed.), Denys lAropagite et sa posterit en orient et en occidens: Actes due Colloque
International, Paris 21-14 Septembre 1994 (Paris: Vrin, 1997).
de Andia, Ysabel, Henosis: Lunion dieu chez Denys lAreopagite (Leiden: Brill, 1996).
De Angelis, Bernardo, Natura persona libert: Lantropologia di Massimo il Confessore (Roma: Armando,
2002).
Della Volpe, G., La dottrina del Areopagita e i suoi presupposti neoplatonici (Rome, 1941).
De Vocht, C., Maximus der Bekenner, Theologische Realenzyklopdie (Berlin, 1992), 22.300.
Farrell, Joseph P., Free Choice in St. Maximus the Confessor (South Canan, PA: St. Tikhons Seminary Press,
1989).
Dupr, Louis, From Silence to Speech: Negative Theology and Trinitarian Spirituality, Communio 9 (1984),
28-34.
Gersh, Stephen, From Iamblicus to Eriugena: An Investigation of the Prehistory and Evolution of the PseudoDionysian Tradition (Leiden: Brill, 1978).
Golitzin, Alexander, Et Introibo ad Altare Dei: The Mystagogy of Dionysius Areopagita, with Special Reference
to Its Predecessors in the Eastern Christian Tradition (Thessalonike: Patriarchikon Idryma Paterikon Meleton,
1994).

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 Golitzin, Alexander, Hierarchy versus Anarchy? Dionysius Areopagita, Symeon the New Theologian, and
Nicetas Stethatos, in Bradley Nassif, ed., New Perspectives in Historical Theology: Essays in Memory of
John Meyendorff (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1996), 250-278.
Garrigues, Juan-Miguel, Maxime le Confesseur: La charit, avenir de lhomme (Paris: Beauchesne, 1976).
Gibson, Michael D., The Beauty of the Redemption of the World: The Theological Aesthetics of Maximus the
Confessor and Jonathan Edwards, Harvard Theological Review 101 (2008), 45-76.
Hausherr, Irne, Philautie: De la tendresse pour soi la charit selon Saint Maxime le Confesseur (Roma:
PIO, 1952).
Heinzer, Felix, Gottes Sohn als Mensch: Die Struktur des Menschseins Christi bei Maximus Confessor
(Freiburg Schweiz: Univesittsverlag, 1980).
Heinzer, Felix, Schnborn, Christoph von (eds.), Maximus Confessor: Actes du Symposium sur Maxime le
Confesseur, Fribourg, 2-5 septembre 1980 (Fribourg: Editions universitaires, 1982).
Hornus, Jean-Michel, Les recherches rcentes sur le Pseudo.-Denys lAropagite, Revue dhistoire et
philosophie religieuse 35 (1955): 404-48.
Hornus, Jean-Michel, Les recherches dionysiennes de 1955 1960, Revue dhistoire et philosophie
religieuse 41 (1961): 11-77.
Jones, John N., Sculpting God: The Logic of Dionysian Negative Theology, Harvard Theological Review 89
(1996), 355-71.
Kattan, Assaad Elias, Verleiblichung und Synergie: Grundzge der Bibelhermeneutik bei Maximus Confessor
(Leiden: Brill, 2003).
Kharlamov, Vladimir, The Beauty of the Unity and the Harmony of the Whole: The Concept of Theosis in the
Theology of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2009).
Kharlamov, Vladimir, Theosis in Patristic Thought, Theology Today 65 (2008), 158-68.
Larchet, J.-C., La divinisation de lhomme selon saint Maxime le Confesseur (Paris: Les Editions du Cerf,
1996).
Larchet, Jean-Claude, Saint Maxime le Confesseur (Paris: Cerf, 2003).
Lthel, Franois-Marie, Thologie de lagonie du Christ: La libert humaine du Fils de Dieu et son importance
sotriologique mises en lumire par saint Maxime le Confesseur (Paris: Beauchesne, 1979).
Lvy, Antoine, Le cr et lincr: Maxime le confesseur et Thomas dAquinAux sources de la querelle
palamienne (Paris: Bibliothque thomist, 2007).
Loosen, Josef, Logos und Pneuma im begnadeten Menschen bei Maximus Confessor (Mnster:
Aschendorffsche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1941).
Louth, Andrew, Recent Research on St. Maximus the Confessor: A Survey, St. Vladimirs Theological
Quarterly 42 (1998): 67-84.
McFarland, Ian A., Naturally and By Grace: Maximus the Confessor on the Operation of the Will, Scottish
Journal of Theology 58 (2005), 410-433.
McFarland, Ian A., Willing is Not Choosing: Some Anthropological Implications of Dyothelite Christology,
International Journal of Systematic Theology 9 (2007), 3-23.
Meyendorff, John. Notes sur linfluence dionysienne en Orient, Studia Patristica 2 (1957): 547-552.
Mueller-Jourdan, Pascal, Typologies patio-temporelle de lEcclesia byzantine: La Mystagogie de Maxime le
Confesseur dans la culture philosophique de lantiquit tardive (Leiden: Brill, 2005).
ORourke, Frances, Pseudo-Dionysius and the Metaphysics of Aquinas (Leiden: Brill, 1992).
Nichols, Aidan, Byzantine Gospel: Maximus the Confessor in Modern Scholarship (Edinburgh: T&T Clark,
1993).

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 Perl, Eric, Metaphysics and Christology in Maximus the Confessor and Eriugena, in Eriugena: East and
West, ed. Bernard McGinn and Willemein Otten (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1994), 253-70.
Perl, Eric D., Theophany: The Neoplatonic Philosophy of Dionysius the Areopagite (Albany, NY: State
University of New York Press, 2007).
Piret, Pierre, Le Christ e la Trinit selon Maxime le Confesseur (Paris: Beauchesne, 1983).
Renczes, Philipp-Gabriel, Agir de Dieu et libert de lhomme: Recherches sur lanthropologie thologique de
saint Maxime le Confesseur (Paris: Cerf, 2003).
Riou, Alain, Le monde et lEglise selon Maxime le Confesseur (Paris: Beauchesne, 1973).
Riorden, William, Divine Light: The Theology of Denys the Areopagite (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2008).
Rorem, Paul, The Uplifting Spirituality of Pseudo-Dionysius, in Christian Spirituality: Origins to the Twelfth
Century, ed. Bernard McGinn, John Meyendorff, and Jean Leclerq (New York: Crossroad, 1993), 132-151.
Russell, Norman, The Doctrine of Deification in the Greek Patristic Tradition (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2006).
Savvidis, Kyriakos, Die Lehre von der Vergttlichung des Menschen bei Maximos dem Bekenner und ihre
Rezeption durch Gregor Palamas (St. Ottilien: EOS Verlag, 1997).
Sherwood, Polycarp, An Annotated Date-List of the Works of Maximus the Confessor (Rome: Herder, 1952).
Sherwood, Polycarp, Introduction, St. Maximus the Confessor: The Ascetic Life; The Four Centuries on
Charity (ACW 21) (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1955), 1-102.
Sherwood, Polycarp, The Earlier Ambigua of Saint Maximus the Confessor and His Refutation of Origenism
Studia Anselmiana 36 (Rome: Herder, 1955).
Spearritt, Placid, The Souls Participation in God According to Pseudo-Dionysius, The Downside Review 88
(1970), 378-92.
Thunberg, Lars, Microcosm and Mediator: The Theological Anthropology of Maximus the Confessor
(Chicago: Open Court Press, 1995), originally published in 1965.
Tollefsen, Torstein, The Christocentric Cosmology of St. Maximus the Confessor (Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2008).
Toronen, Melchisedec, Union and Distinction in the Thought of St. Maximus the Confessor (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2007).
Vanneste, Jan, Le Mystre de Dieu: Essai sur la structure rationnelle de la doctrine mystique du pseudoDenys lAropagite (Brussels: Descle de Brower, 1959).
Vlker, Walther, Kontemplation und Extase bei Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita (Wiesbaden, 1958)
Vlker, Walther, Maximus Confessor als Meister des geistlichen Lebens (Wiersbaden: F. Steiner, 1965).
von Balthasar, Hans Urs, Cosmic Liturgy: The Universe According to Maximus the Confessor, trans. Brian E.
Daley (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2001).
von Balthasar, Hans Urs, The Glory of the Lord, vol. 2.1: Clerical Styles (San Francisco: Ignatius Press), ch. 3.
von Ivnka, Endre, Plato Christianus (Einsiedeln: Johannes Verlag, 1964), ch. 6.
Wear, Sarah Klitenic and John Dillon, Dionysius the Areopagite and the Neoplatonist Tradition (Aldershot:
Ashgate, 2007).
Williams, Janet, The Apophatic Theology of Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite, The Downside Review 117
(1999), 157-72, 235-50.

Texts of Dionysius
Beate Regina Suchla, ed., The Corpus Dionysiacum I: De Divinibus Nominibus (New York & Berlin: De Gruyter,
1990), and Gnter Heil and Aldof Martin Ritter, eds., Corpus Dionysiacum II (New York & Berlin: De Gruyter,
1991).
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English translations
Luibheid, Colm (trans.), Dionysius the Areopagite, The Complete Works (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1987).
Jones, John D. (trans.), The Divine Names and Mystical Theology (Milwaukee: Marquette University Press,
1980).
Rolt, C. E., On the Divine Names and the Mystical Theology (public domain).

Texts of Maximus
The complete Greek corpus can be found in a text established by Franois Combefis (17th century), collected in
J.-P. Mignes Patrologia Graeca 90 and 91 (Paris, 1850, 1863).
The Churchs Mystagogy
He Mystagogia tou Agiou Maximou tou omologetu, ed. C. Stoteropoulos (Athens, 1978).
Maximus Confessor: Selected Writings, trans. George Berthold (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1985), 181-225.
Earlier and Later Ambigua
Ambigua ad Ioahannem, Corpus Christianorum Series Graeca, 18, ed. Eduardus Jeauneau (Turhout: Brepols,
1988)
Difficulty 10, 41, 71 of the Earlier Ambigua and Difficulty 1, 5 of the Later Ambigua in Louth, Andrew, Maximus
the Confessor (London: Routledge, 1996), 94-179.
Sherwood, Polycarp, The Earlier Ambigua of St. Maximus the Confessor (SA 36) (Rome, 1955).
Ambigua, trans. Emmanuel Ponsoye (Paris: Les Editions de lAncre, 1994).
Maximus the Confessor, On the Difficulties of the Church Fathers: The Ambigua, trans. Nicholas Constas, 2
vols. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014).
Opuscula Theologica et Polemica (Opuscula exegetica duo)
Corpus Christianorum Series Graeca, 23 ed. Peter van Deun (Turhout: Brepols, 1991)
Opuscula 7 and 3 in Louth, Andrew, Maximus the Confessor (London: Routledge, 1996), 180-198.
Opuscules thologiques et polmiques, trans. Emmanuel Ponsoye (Paris: Cerf, 1988).
Chapters on Theology and the Economy (Capita theologica et oeconomica)
PG 90.1084-1173
Letters
Letter 2 in Louth, Andrew, Maximus the Confessor (London: Routledge, 1996), 84-93.
Maxime le Confesseur: Lettres, trans. Emmanuel Ponsoye (Paris: Cerf, 1988).
The Four Hundred Chapters on Love (Capitoli sulla Carit)
Verba Seniorum, n. s. 3, ed. A. Ceresa-Gastaldo (Roma: Editrice Studium, 1963)
Maximus Confessor: Selected Writings, trans. George Berthold (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1985), 33-98.
Sherwood, Polycarp, St. Maximus the Confessor: The Ascetic Life; The Four Centuries on Charity (ACW 21)
(Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1955), 136-267.
Chapters on Knowledge
Maximus Confessor: Selected Writings, trans. George Berthold (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1985), 127-180.
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Questions and Doubts (Quaestiones et dubia)

Corpus Christianorum Series Graeca, 10, ed. Jos H. Declerck (Turhout: Brepols, 1982)
Prassas, Despina Denise, St. Maximos the Confessors Questions and Doubts: Translation and Commentary
(Ph.D.diss.: The Catholic University of America, 2003), 95-270.
The Ascetic Life (Liber Asceticus)
Corpus Christianorum Series Graeca, 40, ed. Peter van Deun (Turhout: Brepols, 2000)
Sherwood, Polycarp, St. Maximus the Confessor: The Ascetic Life; The Four Centuries on Charity (ACW 21)
(Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1955), 103-135.
Commentary on the Our Father
Maximus Confessor: Selected Writings, trans. George Berthold (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1985), 99-125.
Questions to Thalassius (Quaestiones ad Thalassium)
Corpus Christianorum Series Graeca, 7 (Qq. 1-55), 22 (Qq. 56-65), ed. Carl Laga and Carlos Steel (Turhout:
Brepols, 1980, 1990)
Questions Thalassios, trans. Emmanuel Ponsoye (Paris: Les Editions de lAncre, 1992).
Disputation with Pyrrhus
The Disputation with Pyrrhus of Our Father among the Saints, Maximus the Confessor, trans. Joseph P.
Farrell (South Canaan, PA: St. Tikhon, 1990).
Life of Maximus
Vitam Maximi Confessoris Illustrantia una cum latina interpretation Anastasii Bibliothecarii iuxta posita, ed.
Pauline Allen and Bronwen Neil, Corpus Christianorum Series Graeca, 39 (Turnhout: Brepols, 1999).
The Trial of Maximus, in Maximus Confessor: Selected Writings, trans. George Berthold (Mahwah, NJ:
Paulist Press, 1985), 15-31.

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