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Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite ((ギリシア語:Διονύσιος ὁ Ἀρεοπαγίτης)), also known as Pseudo-Denys, was a Christian theologian and philosopher of the late 5th to early 6th century (writing before 532), probably Syrian, the author of the set of works commonly referred to as the ''Corpus Areopagiticum'' or ''Corpus Dionysiacum''. The author pseudonymously identifies himself in the corpus as "Dionysios", portraying himself as the figure of Dionysius the Areopagite, the Athenian convert of St. Paul mentioned in .〔Acts 17:34 “A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.” The Areopagus of Athens was an open-air law court, a site for public declamations. Various legends existed in the early surrounding the figure of Dionysius, who became emblematic of the spread of the gospel to the Greek world. A tradition quickly arose that he became the first bishop of Cyprus or of Milan, or that he was the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews; according to Eusebius, he was also said to be the first bishop of Athens. It is therefore not surprising that that author of these works would have chosen to adopt the name of this otherwise briefly mentioned figure. (See Luibheid, Pseudo-Dionysius, (1987), p22.) 〕 This false attribution to the earliest decades of Christianity resulted in the work being given great authority in subsequent theological writing in both East and West, with its influence only decreasing in the West with the fifteenth century demonstration of its later dating. In recent decades, interest has increased again in the ''Corpus Areopagiticum ''for three main reasons:'' ''in part because of a recovery of the huge impact of Dionysian thought in later Christian thought, in part because of an increasing repudiation of older criticisms that Dionysius's thought represented a fundamentally Neoplatonic and therefore non-Christian approach to theology, and finally because of interest in parallels between aspects of modern linguistic theory and Dionysius's reflections on language and negative theology. ==Dating== In attempts to identify a date ''after ''which the corpus must have been composed, a number of features have been identified in Dionysius' writing, though the latter two are subject to scholarly debate. * Firstly, and fairly certainly, it is clear that Dionysius adopted many of his ideas — including at times passages almost word for word — from Proclus, who died in 485 — thus providing at the least a late fifth century early limit to the dating of Dionysius.〔This was, in particular, due to the research of Stiglmayr and Koch in the late nineteenth century.〕 * In the ''Ecclesiastical Hierarchy'' Dionysius twice seems to allude to the recitation of the Creed in the course of the liturgy (''EH'' 3.2 and 3.III.7). It is often asserted that Peter the Fuller first mandated the inclusion of the Nicene Creed in the liturgy in 476, thus providing an earliest date for the composition of the Corpus. However, Bernard Capelle argues that it is far more likely that Timothy, patriarch of Constantinople, was responsible for this liturgical innovation, around 515 — thus suggesting a later date for the Corpus.〔Paul Rorem and John C Lamoreaux, J''ohn of Scythopolis and the Dionysian Corpus: Annotating the Areopagite'', (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998), p9. The point was first proposed by Stiglmayr.〕 * It is often suggested that because Dionysius seems to eschew divisive Christological language, he was probably writing after the ''Henoticon'' of Zeno was in effect, sometime after 482. However, it is also possible that Dionysius eschewed traditional Christological formulae in order to preserve an overall apostolic ambience for his works, rather than because of the influence of the ''Henoticon''. Also, given that the ''Henoticon'' was rescinded in 518, if Dionysius was writing after this date, he may have been untroubled by this policy.〔Paul Rorem and John C Lamoreaux, ''John of Scythopolis and the Dionysian Corpus: Annotating the Areopagite'', (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998), p9. The point was first proposed by Stiglmayr.〕 In terms of the latest date for the composition of the ''Corpus'', the earliest datable reference to Dionysius' writing comes in 528, the year in which the treatise of Severus of Antioch entitled'' Adversus apologiam Juliani'' was translated into Syriac — though it is possible the treatise may originally have been composed up to nine years earlier.〔Hathaway, ''Hierarchy and the Definition of Order in the Letters of Pseudo-Dionysius'', p. 4, supports the dating of 519 for this treatise.〕 Another widely cited latest date for Dionysius' writing comes in 532, when, in a report on a colloquy held between two groups (orthodox and monophysite) debating the decrees of the Council of Chalcedon, Severus of Antioch and his monophysite Paul Rorem and John C Lamoreaux, ''John of Scythopolis and the Dionysian Corpus: Annotating the Areopagite'', (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998), esp p11, make an extensive study of the early evidence, arguing that (1) Hypatius's apparent rejection in 532 of the works of Dionysite as monophysite is not as straightforward as often suggested, and that (2) Dionysius's writing was appealed to by just about all parties in the sixth-century Christian east, and at no point was it considered the exclusive preserve of the Monophysites. 〕 It seems likely that the writer was located in Syria, as revealed, for example, by the accounts of the sacramental rites he gives in ''The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy'', which seem only to bear resemblance to Syriac rites.〔Dionysius' description in the ''Ecclesastical Hierarchy ''corresponds well with what is known of Syriac worship from other sources, for example: (1) his account of baptism and the Eucharist is similar to the ''Homilies on Baptism and the Eucharist'' of Theodore of Mopsuetsia, which depict worship in the Church of West Syria at the beginning of the fifth century. See Louth, ''Dionysius the Areopagite'', (1987), p55; (2) Dionysius' account of the sacrament of oil in the ''Ecclesiastical Hierarchy'' is not found in most other patristic sources, except for those in the Syrian tradition. See Louth, ''Dionysius the Areopagite'', (1987), p64; (3) his understanding of monasticism. See Louth, ''Dionysius the Areopagite'', (1987), p70. Louth is certain that Dionysius/Denys was writing in Syria. See p.14 and passim.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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