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    Apophasis and Pseudonymity in Dionysius the Areopagite

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    Author(s)
    M. Stang, Charles
    Collection
    OAPEN-UK
    Language
    English
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    Abstract
    This book argues that the pseudonym, Dionysius the Areopagite, and the influence of Paul together constitute the best interpretive lens for understanding the Corpus Dionysiacum [CD]. This book demonstrates how Paul in fact animates the entire corpus, that the influence of Paul illuminates such central themes of the CD as hierarchy, theurgy, deification, Christology, affirmation (kataphasis) and negation (apophasis), dissimilar similarities, and unknowing. Most importantly, Paul serves as a fulcrum for the expression of a new theological anthropology, an “apophatic anthropology.” Dionysius figures Paul as the premier apostolic witness to this apophatic anthropology, as the ecstatic lover of the divine who confesses to the rupture of his self and the indwelling of the divine in Gal 2:20: “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” Building on this notion of apophatic anthropology, the book forwards an explanation for why this sixth‐century author chose to write under an apostolic pseudonym. It argues that the very practice of pseudonymous writing itself serves as an ecstatic devotional exercise whereby the writer becomes split in two and thereby open to the indwelling of the divine. Pseudonymity is on this interpretation integral and internal to the aims of the wider mystical enterprise. Thus this book aims to question the distinction between “theory” and “practice” by demonstrating that negative theology—often figured as a speculative and rarefied theory regarding the transcendence of God—is in fact best understood as a kind of asceticism, a devotional practice aiming for the total transformation of the Christian subject.
    URI
    http://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/33853
    Keywords
    pseudo-dionysius; dionysius the areopagite; st. paul; apophasis; mysticism; corpus dionysiacum; pseudonymity; negative theology; apophatic anthropology; Creative Commons; God; Jesus; Late antiquity; Neoplatonism; Paul the Apostle; Theurgy
    DOI
    10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199640423.001.0001
    ISBN
    9780199640423
    OCN
    1030815291
    Publisher
    Oxford University Press
    Publisher website
    https://global.oup.com/
    Publication date and place
    2012
    Grantor
    • OAPEN-UK
    Series
    THE OXFORD EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES,
    Classification
    Christianity
    History of religion
    Theology
    Mysticism
    Pages
    245
    Public remark
    Relevant Wikipedia pages: Creative Commons - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Commons; God - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God; Jesus - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus; Late antiquity - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_antiquity; Neoplatonism - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoplatonism; Paul the Apostle - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_the_Apostle; Theurgy - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theurgy
    Rights
    https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
    • Imported or submitted locally

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    License

    • If not noted otherwise all contents are available under Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

    Credits

    • logo EU
    • This project received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 683680, 810640, 871069 and 964352.

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