On the Divine Names and the Mystical Theology — trans. C. E. Rolt
The translator’s English as printed (C. E. Rolt). The original-language text is not held; names are romanised as the translator printed them.
The first mention of “Dionysius” (to give him by courtesy the name he takes upon himself) is in the year 533, when, at a council held in Constantinople, Severus, Patriarch of Antioch, appealed to the writings in support of Monophysite teaching. In spite of this unpromising beginning they soon acquired a great reputation; indeed, they presumably possessed some authority already when this first recorded appeal to them was made. They were widely read in the Eastern Church, being elucidated by the Commentary of St. Maximus in the seventh century and the Paraphrase of the learned Greek scholar, Pachymeres, in the thirteenth or fourteenth. Through Erigena’s Latin translation in the ninth century they penetrated to the Western Church, and were so eagerly welcomed in this country that (in the words of the old chronicler), “The Mystical Divinity ran across England like deer.” They are often quoted with reverence by St. Thomas Aquinas, and were, indeed, the chief of the literary forces moulding the mystical theology of Christendom. Ruysbroeck slaked his thirst at their deep well, and so they provided a far greater than their author with stimulus and an articulate philosophy. Were this their only service they would have the highest claims on our gratitude.
The first mention of “Dionysius” (to give him, by courtesy, the name he assumes) is in the year 533, when, at a council held in Constantinople, Severus, Patriarch of Antioch, appealed to the writings in support of Monophysite teaching. Despite this unpromising beginning they soon gained a great reputation; indeed, they presumably already carried some authority when this first recorded appeal to them was made. They were widely read in the Eastern Church, and were explained in the Commentary of St. Maximus in the seventh century and in the Paraphrase of the learned Greek scholar Pachymeres in the thirteenth or fourteenth.
Through Erigena's Latin translation in the ninth century they reached the Western Church, and were welcomed so eagerly in this country that, in the words of the old chronicler, “The Mystical Divinity ran across England like deer.” St. Thomas Aquinas often quotes them with reverence, and they were in fact the chief of the literary forces that shaped the mystical theology of Christendom. Ruysbroeck slaked his thirst at their deep well, and so they gave a far greater man than their author both stimulus and an articulate philosophy. Were this their only service, they would have the highest claim on our gratitude.