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 principle of this classification is quite simple. It lies in the fact that Being is the most universal of the Emanations or Forms, and that all things therefore exist only in so far as they possess Form. Hence the want of all “form” is non-entity and makes things which are without any form to be non-existent; that want of proper “form” which we call evil is a tendency to non-entity and makes evil things to be so far non-existent ; the want of complete substantial or spiritual “form” makes merely existent things (i.e. lifeless things) to be “un-existent”; and the transcendence of all “Form” makes the Super-Essence to be in a special sense “Non-Existent.”
The theory of evil, as given above, is worked out in a manner sufficiently startling.
We naturally divide existent things into good and bad and do not think of non-existent things as being things at all. Dionysius, with apparent perversity, says all things are good, and then proceeds to divide them into “Existent and’“(Nen-Eeastent”!. Tie reason is this: All things have two sides to their being: the one in the Super-Essence and the other in themselves. In the Super-Essence they are eternally good, even before their creation. But in themselves (i.e. in their created essence) they were wholly non-existent before their temporal creation, and after it are partially non-existent in so far as they are tainted with evil.
The principle of this classification is quite simple. It lies in the fact that Being is the most universal of the Emanations or Forms, and that all things therefore exist only in so far as they possess Form. Hence the lack of all “form” is non-entity, and makes things that are without any form non-existent; the lack of proper “form” that we call evil is a tendency towards non-entity, and makes evil things to that extent non-existent; the lack of complete substantial or spiritual “form” makes merely existent things (i.e. lifeless things) “un-existent”; and the transcendence of all “Form” makes the Super-Essence “Non-Existent” in a special sense.
The theory of evil set out above is worked out in a quite startling way.
We naturally divide existing things into good and bad, and do not think of non-existent things as things at all. Dionysius, with apparent perversity, says that all things are good, and then goes on to divide them into “Existent and Non-Existent”1. The reason is this. All things have two sides to their being: one in the Super-Essence and the other in themselves. In the Super-Essence they are eternally good, even before their creation. But in themselves (i.e. in their created essence) they were wholly non-existent before their creation in time, and after it they are partially non-existent in so far as they are tainted with evil.