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.
Now all the boldest statements of Dionysius about the ultimate glory for which the human soul is destined are obviously true of Christ, and as applied to Him, they would be a mere commentary on the words “I and the Father are One.” Therefore if Christ came to impart His Life to us so that the things which are His by Nature should be ours by Grace, it follows that the teaching of Dionysius is in harmony with Scripture so long as it is made to rest on the Person and Work of Christ. And, though Dionysius does not emphasize the Cross as much as could be wished, yet he certainly holds that Christ is the Channel through which the power of attainment is communicated to us. It must not be forgotten that he is writing as a Christian to Christians, and so assumes the Work of Christ as a revealed and experienced Fact. And since he holds that every individual person and thing has its pre-existent limits ordained in the Super-Essence, therefore he holds that the Human Soul of Christ has Its preexistent place there as the Head of the whole creation. That is what he means by the phrase “Super-Essential Jesus,” and that is what is taught in the quotation from Hierotheus already alluded to. No doubt the lost works of Dionysius dealt more fully with this subject, as indeed he hints himself. And if, through this scanty sense of the incredible evil which darkens and pollutes the world, he does not in the present treatise lay much emphasis upon the Saviour’s Cross, yet he gives us definite teaching on the kindred Mystery of the Incarnation.
ly Deed tite Vile, 12: 2 Summa, Pars I. Q. XLV. Art. vii. AG: 1 9: 22 Cor eue 25
5 1 Cor. xv. 25. 6 New Testament, passim.
1 John ii. 2.
Now all the boldest statements of Dionysius about the ultimate glory for which the human soul is destined are plainly true of Christ, and as applied to Him they would be a mere commentary on the words “I and the Father are One.” Therefore, if Christ came to impart His Life to us so that the things which are His by Nature should be ours by Grace, it follows that the teaching of Dionysius is in harmony with Scripture so long as it is made to rest on the Person and Work of Christ. And though Dionysius does not emphasize the Cross as much as could be wished, he certainly holds that Christ is the Channel through which the power of attainment is communicated to us. It must not be forgotten that he is writing as a Christian to Christians, and so assumes the Work of Christ as a revealed and experienced Fact.
And since he holds that every individual person and thing has its pre-existent limits ordained in the Super-Essence, he therefore holds that the Human Soul of Christ has Its pre-existent place there as the Head of the whole creation. That is what he means by the phrase “Super-Essential Jesus,” and that is what is taught in the quotation from Hierotheus already referred to. No doubt the lost works of Dionysius dealt more fully with this subject, as indeed he himself hints. And if, through this scanty sense of the incredible evil which darkens and pollutes the world, he does not in the present treatise lay much emphasis on the Saviour’s Cross, he nevertheless gives us definite teaching on the kindred Mystery of the Incarnation.
ly Deed tite Vile, 12: 2 Summa, Pars I. Q. XLV. Art. vii. AG: 1 9: 22 Cor eue 25
5 1 Cor. xv. 25. 6 New Testament, passim.
1 John ii. 2.