46

And to say of him that at the very time of the saving passion he was with Apollophanes in Heliopolis, observing and philosophizing together about the solar eclipse, as it had occurred then not according to nature 14Ε_192 nor according to custom, and to say that he was also present with the apostles at the carrying forth of the divine relics of the holy Theotokos Mary, and that he cited passages of Hierotheus his own teacher from the funeral orations for her, and that letters and orations were fabricated as if delivered to the disciples of the apostles, of what great absurdity and condemnation even for any ordinary person, let alone for a man so elevated in both character and knowledge, and in transcending all things of sense, and being united to the intelligible beauties, and through them, as far as is possible, to God!

Now, of exegetical commentaries, the most detailed possible were needed for the interpretation of his great learning; however, more in summary fashion, as the book allowed, through scholia, I have, trusting in God, set forth what appeared to me in accordance with the following discourses lying before us, which have so far happened to come into my hands.

It should be known that some of the pagan philosophers, and especially Proclus, have often used the theorems of the blessed Dionysius, and indeed his bare words; and from this one can get the suspicion that the older philosophers in Athens, having appropriated his treatises, as he records in the present book, concealed them, so that they themselves might appear as the fathers of his divine sayings, and that by the economy of God the present treatise has now appeared for the refutation of their vainglory and villainy. And that it is customary for them to appropriate our things, the divine Basil teaches in his work on, "In the beginning was the Word," speaking thus on this very text: 'These things I know many of those outside the Word of truth, who are proud of their worldly wisdom, both admired and dared to include in their own compositions; for the devil is a thief and babbles our things 14Ε_194 to his own prophets'. And he says this, but what Numenius the Pythagorean says openly, 'For what is Plato, but Moses speaking Attic?' no one can deny, he being not one of ours, but of our opponents, as Eusebius, the prelate of Caesarea in Palestine, also testifies, that 'Not only now, but also before the coming of Christ, it was customary for those outside wisdom to steal our things'.

ON THE CELESTIAL HIERARCHY

EXPLANATION OF THE TITLE 14Ε_198 Of Hierarchy: Since the title contains 'hierarchy', he is accustomed to call

bishops 'hierarchs'. It should be known, then, that hierarchy is the principle of the ordering itself of sacred things and, as it were, the care for them, and a hierarch is one who rules over, cares for, and provides for sacred things, not of the priests, but one who orders sacred things and their state and that of the church and the mysteries, not the high priest. And this explanation the great Dionysius himself sets forth below in the discourse On the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy.

The presbyter: Note that the name 'presbyter' also denotes the bishop, since the bishop is also a presbyter; and this is also shown in the Acts of the holy apostles, where the holy apostle Paul gives instructions to the churches of Asia.

ON CHAPTER 1

46

Τό δέ καί λέγειν αὐτόν ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ καιρῷ τοῦ σωτηρίου πάθους ἐν Ἡλιουπόλει συνόντα Ἀπολλοφάνει, θεωρεῖν καί συμφιλοσοφεῖν περί τῆς ἠλιακῆς ἐκλείψεως, ὡς οὐ κατά φύσιν 14Ε_192 οὐδέ κατά τό ἔθος τότε γεγενημένης, λέγειν δέ αὐτόν καί παρεῖναι σύν τοῖς ἀποστόλοις τῇ προκομιδῆ τοῦ λειψάνου τοῦ θείου τῆς ἁγίας θεοτόκου Μαρίας, καί χρήσεις προφέρειν Ἱεροθέου τοῦ ἰδίου διδασκάλου ἐκ τῶν εἰς αὐτήν ἐπιταφίων λόγων, πλάττεσθαι δέ καί ἐπιστολάς καί λόγους ὡς πρός τούς μαθητάς τῶν ἀποστόλων ἐκφωνηθέντας, πόσης ἀτοπίας καί καταγνώσεως καί τῷ τυχόντι ἀνθρώπῳ, μήτι γε δή ἀνδρί τοσοῦτον ἀνηγμένῳ κατά τε ἦθος καί γνῶσιν, καί τό ὑπεραίρειν τά αἰσθητά πάντα, καί τοῖς νοερεῖς συνάπτεσθαι κάλλεσι, καί δι' αὐτῶν ὡς ἐφικτόν Θεῷ!

Ἐξηγητικῶν μέν οὖν ὑπομνημάτων ὡς ὅτι μάλιστα διεξοδικωτάτων ἐδεῖτο πρός ἑρμηνείαν τῆς αὐτοῦ πολυμαθείας· πλήν κεφαλαιωδέστερον, ὡς ἡ βίβλος ἐχώρησε, διά σχολίων, τά φανέντα μοι, Θεῷ πεποιθώς, παρατέθεικα κατά τούς ἑξῆς παρακειμένους λόγους, οὕς τέως εἰς τάς ἐμάς ἐλθεῖν συμβέβηκε χεῖρας.

Ἰστέον ὥς τινες τῶν ἔξω φιλοσόφων, καί μάλιστα Πρόκλος, θεωρήμασι πολλάκις τοῦ μακαρίου ∆ιονυσίου κέχρηται, καί αὐταῖς δέ ξηραῖς ταῖς λέξεσι· καί ἔστιν ὑπόνοιαν ἐκ τούτου λαβεῖν ὡς οἱ ἐν Ἀθήναις παλαιότεροι τῶν φιλοσόφων, σφετερισάμενοι τάς αὐτοῦ πραγματείας, ὡς ἐν τῇ παρούσῃ ἀπομνημονεύει βίβλῳ, ἀπέκρυψαν, ἵνα πατέρες αὐτοί ὀφθῶσι τῶν θείων αὐτοῦ λογίων, καί κατ' οἰκονομίαν Θεοῦ νῦν ἀνεφάνη ἡ παροῦσα πραγματεία πρός ἔλεγχον τῆς αὐτῶν κενοδοξίας καί ρᾳδιουργίας. Καί ὅτι σύνηθες αὐτοῖς τά ἡμέτερα σφετερίζεσθαι, διδάσκει ὁ θεῖος Βασίλειος εἰς τό, «Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος», ἐπ' αὐτῆς τῆς λέξεως οὑτωσί λέγων· 'Ταῦτα οἶδα πολλούς τῶν ἔξω τοῦ Λόγου τῆς ἀληθείας μεγάλα φρονούντων ἐπί σοφίᾳ κοσμικῇ, καί θαυμάσαντας καί τοῖς ἑαυτῶν συντάγμασιν ἐγκαταλέξαι τολμήσαντας· κλέπτης γάρ ὁ διάβολος καί τά ἡμέτερα ἐκφερομυθῶν 14Ε_194 πρός τούς ἑαυτοῦ ὑποφήτας'. Καί οὗτος μέν οὕτω, τά δέ Νουμενίου τοῦ Πυθαγορικοῦ προφανῶς λέγοντος, 'Τί γάρ ἐστι Πλάτων, ἤ Μωσῆς ἀττικίζων;' οὐδείς ἀρνήσασθαι δύναται, οὐχ ἡμετέρου, ἀλλά τῶν ἐναντίων ὄντος, ὡς μαρτυρεῖ καί Εὐσέβιος ὁ τῶν Παλαιστίνων Καισαρείας καθηγησάμενος, ὅτι 'Οὐ νῦν μόνον, ἀλλά καί πρό τῆς Χριστοῦ παρουσίας σύνηθες τοῖς ἔξω σοφίας τά ἡμέτερα κλέπτειν'.

ΕΙΣ ΤΟ ΠΕΡΙ ΤΗΣ ΟΥΡΑΝΙΑΣ ΙΕΡΑΡΧΙΑΣ

ΕΞΗΓΗΣΗΣ ΤΗΣ ΕΠΙΓΡΑΦΗΣ 14Ε_198 Ἱεραρχίας: Ἐπειδή ἡ ἐπιγραφή ἱεραρχίαν ἔχει, καλεῖν εἴωθεν

ἱεράρχας τούς ἐπισκόπους. Ἰστέον οὖν, ὅτι ἱεραρχία μέν ἐστιν ἡ τῆς διατάξεως αὐτῆς τῶν ἱερῶν ἀρχή καί οἱονεί φροντίς, καί ἱεράρχης ὁ τῶν ἱερῶν ἄρχων καί φροντίζων καί προνοῶν, οὐ μήν τῶν ἱερέων, ἀλλά ὁ τά ἱερά καί τήν κατάστασιν αὐτῶν τε καί τῆς ἐκκλησίας καί τῶν μυστηρίων διατάσσων, οὐ μήν ὁ ἀρχιερεύς. Ταύτην δέ τήν ἐξήγησιν καί αὐτός ὁ μέγας ∆ιονύσιος κάτω παρατίθεται ἐν τῷ Περί τῆς ἐκκλησιαστικῆς ἱεραρχίας λόγῳ.

Ὁ πρεσβύτερος: Σημείωσαι, ὡς τό τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου ὄνομα καί τόν ἐπίσκοπον δηλοῖ, ἐπειδή πρεσβύτερός ἐστι καί ὁ ἐπίσκοπος· καί τοῦτο, δηλοῦται καί ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσι τῶν ἁγίων ἀποστόλων, ἔνθα ἐν Ἀσίᾳ συντάσσεται ταῖς Ἐκκλησίαις αὐτῆς ὁ ἅγιος ἀπόστολος Παῦλος.

ΕΙΣ ΤΟ ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Α'