Corpus Areopagiticum Research Articles

Переложение — пересказ — перевод: судьба Ареопагитик в Slavia Оrthodoxa

The article undertakes a conceptual analysis of the challenges associated with translating works from the Corpus Areopagiticum, a collection of theological treatises attributed to Dio­nysius the Areopagite from the 1st century. However, these works are unequivocally associat­ed with early medieval Eastern Christian mystical-theological thought, presumably from the turn of the 5th—6th centuries. These texts first appeared in the Slavic Orthodox area in 1370, and subsequent translations emerged at the end of the 17th century, in the 18th and 19th centuries, and, most recently, in contemporary times. The authors introduce a set of criteria that facilitate the differentiation of the analyzed texts into distinct types of text transmission, namely transposition, retelling, and translation. These criteria are founded on factors such as the dominant translation strategy, the approach to the source language, and the textual tradi­tion. The primary research methodology involves a diachronic analysis of linguistic material, employing comparative, stylistic, and textual analysis within the theolinguistic paradigm. The hypothesis posited in the article is substantiated based on empirical evidence. Moreover, the article draws conclusions regarding the impact of general linguistic changes on the nature of translations. This includes shifts in the role and status of the Church Slavonic language, the conditions contributing to the formation of a new literary language, and the inevitable influence of broader cultural and civilizational factors. The paper also explores the tradition of translating otherness, a practice that persists in contemporary times.

Christian theology and the archetypal in religion: A reconciliation experience for the stances

The term “archetype” became ingrained in modern humanities. This was greatly due to the works of the founder of analytical psychology, C. G. Jung. Jung himself linked the idea of archetypes with the collective unconscious, the concept of which took shape in his mind under the influence of E. Durkheim and L. Levy-Bruhl’s works. Since, in the mind of the author and his closest followers, the term “archetype” had a connection with the spiritual and cultural heritage accumulated by humankind, it resulted in attempts to analyze pieces of artistic creativity in order to identify archetypal models and plots in them and to explain the logic of the creating and social functioning for works of art, primarily the verbal one (M. Bodkin, E. M. Meletinsky, A. Y. Bolshakova). Another focus of research is the application of the theory of archetypes to the problems of mythology and religious studies (E. Neumann, K. Kerenyi, J. Campbell, M. Eliade). The facts observed by researchers of different areas require serious reflection based on the stances of Orthodox theology. This can be done only based on a centuries-old church tradition. The Christian spiritual heritage includes, in particular, the texts of the Holy Fathers (Corpus Areopagiticum, St. Irenaeus of Lyon, Rev. St. John of Damascus, St. Augustine), who use both the term “archetype” alongside with the terms close to it in meaning (“prototypes”, “predestinations”, “predeterminations”). All of them correlate with the doctrine of God’s original plan for the world.

Концепция различия Божественной сущности и действий в древнерусской переводной книжности

The author examines the Old Russian reception of the Byzantine translated works that contain the famous doctrine of the essence-energy distinction in God including some aspects of participation to God. I divide works considered in the study into two main groups according to the chronology of translations (pre-Palamite translations (X–XIII centuries) and translations of the Palamite era (XIV century)). The selected and examined texts include the Catechetical Lectures of Cyril of Jerusalem, «Theology» and «Dialectic» of John of Damascus, «On the Free Will» of Methodius of Olympus, the sholia of Nicetas of Heraclea on Gregory Nanzianzus’s 45 Oration, Corpus Areopagiticum with sholia, «On how not to fall into the Heresy of Barlaam and Akindynos» of David Dishypatos. The author shows that the Old Russian readers could be acquainted with the almost complete doctrine of essence-energy distinction in God in such aspects as Divine unity and distinction, the participated and unparticipated sides of God, the creating the Divine names through the contemplating of His energies, the hierarchy of being and its participation in Good, and etc. Damascene’s «Dialectic» introduced the reader to the technical philosophical notion and definitions of action/energy as the one of the nine accidents of essence, following Aristotle and his commentators. The author notices that the most of examined works in this paper were clearly influenced by Pseudo-Dionysius. This fact together with the substantial influence of the Slavonic translation of Dionysius allows me to conclude on the prevalence of Dionysius’s neoplatonic version of essence-energy dsictinction in the Medieval Russia. The Palamite version of considered teaching (except for the writings of David Dishypatos) was very little known in Medieval Russia and could not be fully understood.

Концепция различия Божественной сущности и действий в древнерусской переводной книжности

The author examines the Old Russian reception of the Byzantine translated works that contain the famous doctrine of the essence-energy distinction in God including some aspects of participation to God. I divide works considered in the study into two main groups according to the chronology of translations (pre-Palamite translations (X–XIII centuries) and translations of the Palamite era (XIV century)). The selected and examined texts include the Catechetical Lectures of Cyril of Jerusalem, «Theology» and «Dialectic» of John of Damascus, «On the Free Will» of Methodius of Olympus, the sholia of Nicetas of Heraclea on Gregory Nanzianzus’s 45 Oration, Corpus Areopagiticum with sholia, «On how not to fall into the Heresy of Barlaam and Akindynos» of David Dishypatos. The author shows that the Old Russian readers could be acquainted with the almost complete doctrine of essence-energy distinction in God in such aspects as Divine unity and distinction, the participated and unparticipated sides of God, the creating the Divine names through the contemplating of His energies, the hierarchy of being and its participation in Good, and etc. Damascene’s «Dialectic» introduced the reader to the technical philosophical notion and definitions of action/energy as the one of the nine accidents of essence, following Aristotle and his commentators. The author notices that the most of examined works in this paper were clearly influenced by Pseudo-Dionysius. This fact together with the substantial influence of the Slavonic translation of Dionysius allows me to conclude on the prevalence of Dionysius’s neoplatonic version of essence-energy dsictinction in the Medieval Russia. The Palamite version of considered teaching (except for the writings of David Dishypatos) was very little known in Medieval Russia and could not be fully understood.

Естественные добродетели, «истинный разум» и степени познания в мистико-аскетическом учении старца Артемия Троицкого

In the present article I study a few fundamental aspects of mystical and ascetical teaching of starets Artemius of the Trinity contained in his 14 extant letters. Examination of these aspects is followed by the new identified sources of Artemius’s texts. I also pay an attention to the Slavonic translation of patristics (especcialy, to the ascetic genre) in order to show the intellectual context of Artemius working and to clarify some unclear moments of his views. The first aspect is his teaching on natural virtues, wich I consider for the first time. Artemius believes that human essence includes such virtues among the other properties of essence and, thereof, considers them to be put in essence originaly by the Creator. The corruption of the virtues is a consequence of the fall and the following replacement of virtues by non-essential passions. The second aspect is Artemius teaching on istinnyi razum (true knowledge, comprehension, reason), wich had been studying by scholars for a long time. I distinguish the philosophical (knowledge of beings), mystical (knowledge and contemplation through the exercise in virtues, love and faith) and Christological (knowledge and union with Christ) way of understanding of the istinnyi razum. The especial focus on the Christological way allows us to reveal the new sources of Artemius understending of istinnyi razum such as Corpus Areopagiticum and Gregory the Sinaite’s works and not to restrict them to the treatises of Isaac the Syrian. Finally, the third aspect is the hierarchy of the three states (grades) of man (flesh, state of soul and spiritual) from the point of view of the spiritual, incorporeal comprehension. I explain that flesh state is the beast-like state, as Artemius puts it; state of the soul is the grade, which indicate a Christian making the spiritual journey from wich he can stray. If we speak on hightest, spiritiual knowledge we should focus on the transtion from the comprehension of intelligible entities (the angels and the paradigms in the mind of the God) through bodily symbols to the direct comprehension of the spiritual world, which is belong to the such grade, as Artemius believe.

Существительные с суффиксом -ость в переводе Ареопагитик Моисеем Гумилевским (XVIII век)

The aim of the research is to identify the composition, word-formation and lexical features of the nouns ending in -ость in the first translation of the Corpus Areopagiticum of the XVIII century from the viewpoint of the Russian language system and in their relation to the correspondences of the original (Greek) text. The scientific novelty of the research lies in studying the translation that has not received enough attention from specialists so far, despite the fact that this text is of clear scientific interest, being the first Russian translation in the textological history of the Slavic-and-Russian Corpus Areopagiticum. The nouns ending in -ость represent the semantic core of the treatise “On the Heavenly Hierarchy”, translated by M. Gumilevsky, since it describes the abstract properties of celestial entities. The paper analyses these nouns through the lens of word-formation, in terms of their relationship with the Greek original and in the functional aspect. Using the example of the nouns of this word-formation type, the fundamental differences between the new translation and the Church Slavonic tradition are shown. As a result, the researchers come to a conclusion about the role of the nouns of this word-formation characteristic (abstract meaning, stylistic neutrality) for the emerging scientific style in general and about the peculiarities of the translator’s individual style and his mastery of the art of translation in particular.

Именуемость Бога: апофатический и антиномический подходы

The article explores the issues of the naming of God: is it possible to name God, how the name and the Named are connected, does God have his own name, is the formula "the name of God is God" acceptable for the Christian worldview? The answers to these questions are given in the article using two methods: apophatic and antinomic. The objectives of the study are: firstly, to clarify the church's view of the phenomenon of the name of God, and secondly, to compare the two ways of this clarification, designated as apophatic and antinomic. The basis for understanding apophatic theology in the work is the writings of the Corpus Areopagiticum, where apophatic can be considered as a condition of spiritual vision and mystical theology, as well an intellectual cognitive path. The result of the apophatic approach in the article is called the principle of the unconfusedly and indivisible unity of the name and the Named. This principle, applied by Russian religious philosophers to express the connection of God and His name, is found in the priest Pavel Florensky, but his philosophy is associated by researchers primarily with the antinomic method. The unconfusedly and indivisible of the name and the Named in the antinomic reading acquires the paradoxical character of two mutually exclusive statements about the Divinity and non-divinity of the name of God. Also antinomy are statements taken at the same time and in the same relation, about the presence and absence of God's own name. The study concludes with the formulation of conclusions, among which the theological acceptability of the statement that «the name of God is God» is noted.

“THE SERMON ΟΝ LAW AND GRACE”: A MODEL OF REFUTATIONAL - PROBATIVE ARGUMENTATION

The author of the paper analyzed the models of refutational and probative argumentation in an outstanding piece of Kyivan Rus’ literature of the 11th century — “The Sermon on Law and Grace” by metropolitan Hilarion of Kyiv. Although certain aspects of the work have already been properly analyzed, the formal rhetorical principles of polemical argumentation in “The Sermon on Law and Grace” remain little studied. The construction of the argument itself and compositional regularities of its structural organization still need due consideration. Throughout the entire reflection, moving from one topic to another, the author of “The Sermon…” maintains the same principle of literary presentation — dialectical oratio. This model is based on a special dialectical reasoning rooted in the principle of antinomies and originated in ancient judicial rhetoric. In “The Sermon on Law and Grace”, the dialectical oratio is built according to the ‘refutation + proof’ scheme. That is, the author initially refutes something and then proves something. Τhis rhetorical tendency is used throughout the work. Hilarion constantly tries to expose and devalue something characterized as outdated, related to Old Testament, Jewish or pagan, and glorify the new, evangelical, and Christian. However, denying one thing and affirming the other do not exhaust the author’s goal. Such dialectical unity of the negative and the affirmative in characterization of one object not only goes back to the traditions of ancient judicial rhetoric but also reflects the Eastern Christian theological tradition. Something similar can be seen in the treatises by Dionysius the Areopagite. In the works “On Mystical Theology”, “On Divine Names”, and “On the Heavenly Hierarchy”, Dionysius the Areopagite derives a complex antinomic system of symbolic designations of the Divine Essence, qualifying a part of them as apophatic (dissimilar) and the other part as kataphatic (similar). Perhaps, the reasoning model of refutatio + probatio in ancient rhetoric, the apophatic-cataphatic principle of determining the names of God in the “Corpus Areopagiticum”, and refutational-probative argumentation in “The Sermon on Law and Grace” are formal links of a general rhetorical oratory chain. However, this issue requires a more thorough study based on a wide range of literary material, including ancient, biblical, medieval, etc.

Mystical theology of Pavel Florensky in the context of Corpus Areopagiticum

Mystical theology of Pavel Florensky in the context of Corpus Areopagiticum

Dio come ἀκαλλής. Conseguenze e implicazioni concettuali dell’apofatismo nel Corpus Areopagiticum

Abstract Within the Neoplatonic tradition, the absolute transcendence of the First Principle—the One-Good, from which the whole reality in its various articulations derives—plays a crucial role. This philosophical perspective implies, particularly in Plotinus and Proclus, some fundamental philosophical consequences, above all the transcendence of the Principle with respect to being and thought as well. This necessarily implies that the One-Good must be conceived of as beyond the intelligible Beauty itself. In this paper I aim to examine the theoretical implications and consequences of this perspective with specific reference to the conception of God’s absolute transcendence outlined within two texts of the Corpus Areopagiticum, overall characterized by the reworking of some fundamental Neoplatonic concepts in the context of Christian theology: the De divinis nominibus and the De mystica theologia. Indeed, in the De divinis nominibus it is shown that the names/predicates attributed to God in the Sacred Scriptures must be understood only in an allegorical-symbolic meaning, because God is above any possible definition. Not even the character of Beauty can be attributed to him, since he radically transcends it: in fact, God constitutes the absolute foundation and the very first source of Beauty itself. Therefore, God must be understood as ἀκαλλής, that is, “devoid of the connotation of Beauty”, precisely because he completely transcends it. In line with this theological and theoretical perspective, in the De mystica theologia a form of radical and absolute apophatism is developed, which in turn must ultimately lead to its own overcoming for the sake of the henosis, the mystical union with God.

Corpus Areopagiticum: питання про залежність від Прокла, гіпотеза про авторство Синезія і філософська термінологія слов'янських перекладів

The study of the peculiarities that the reception of such an essential concept of the philosophical Corpus Dionysiacum Areopagiticum as ὑπερούσιος in ancient Slavic translations has is promising. It allows not only to understand better the internal perspective of the development of philosophical terminology in Rus’-Ukraine, where in the 15th–17th centuries, there existed a significant number of manuscripts of the corpus, but also to strengthen the argument in favor of its dating precisely in the 5th century.
 According to the conceptual features that are present in the Greek text of De divinis nominibus and are confirmed in the studies of Slavic translations of the Corpus Areopagiticum, this work, preserved also in other languages, could belong to an author, who uniquely combined his Christian views and a philosophical vision of the world that was inspired by his Neoplatonic education at the Alexandrian School of Philosophy under the guidance of the eminent Neoplatonic thinker and mathematician Hypatia, who was well acquainted with the ideas of Plotinus and the whole Alexandrian intellectual tradition. It is possible that this author, who used the ideas of Plotinus and Porphyry and for the first time unfolded the idea of the Christian God as the Hyperousios in the aspect of the Christian Triad in his philosophical hymns and treatises, could be Synesius of Cyrene, Bishop of Ptolemais.

THE NEWLY DISCOVERED MONUMENTS OF THE OLD PERMIAN LANGUAGE AND SCRIPT

The paper for the first time publishes monuments of the Old Permian language written with Abur, or the script of St. Stephen of Perm; these sources are previously unknown or have not been introduced into academic circulation. They are published here as fac-similes, with transliteration, transcription, and Russian translation. Perhaps the oldest of these inscriptions (from the 1460s — the early 1470s?) is the postscript written in a mixture of Old Permian and Russian at the end of the Church Slavonic Homilae by St. Gregory the Great: it was copied in the Ferapontov Monastery, in the White Lake area, perhaps by the hand of St. Martinianus of White Lake (Belozersky). The next earliest of the Old Permian documents — and the earliest to be dated precisely — is scribal mar-ginalia on a manuscript book with the spiritual homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian in a Church Slavonic translation; it was copied in Ust-Vym (the Komi area) in 1486 by Gabriel (Gavrila) the Deacon (Ki̮ldaś). Other Old Permian postscripts were made at the court of the archbishop of Novgorod the Great in the early 1490s in two volumes with the new Church Slavonic translations from the Vulgate; they were prepared in the circle of Archbishop Gennady of Novgorod and Pskov. Finally, the last word of the late 15th — early 16th century inscription in the Church Slavonic Corpus Areopagiticum has been re-attributed as Old Permian rather than Slavic cryptog-raphy in Abur; this book was donated to the Annunciation Church of Ust-Vym by St. Pitirim, bishop of Perm. The total number of new texts is 37 word-forms, including lexemes that were not previously recorded for this period — this is significant for the Old Permian corpus of the 15th — early 16th centuries. Although from the graphic, phonetic, grammatical, and lexical points of view, these texts basically represent the same linguistic system found in previously known Old Permian monu-ments, they demonstrate, on the one hand, the inclusion of Old Permian scribes into the activities of professional Old Russian scrip-toria and, on the other, they testify to the emergence of interest on the part of East Slavic bookmen in “indigenous” languages. Knowing these languages could be a sign of belonging to a special intellectual stratum that included both the creators of the first Church Slavonic complete biblical collection (the Gennady Bible) and members of the so-called heresy of the Judaizers.

ВЛИЯНИЕ ВИЗАНТИЙСКОГО НЕОПЛАТОНИЗМА И ПАЛАМИЗМА НА СТАНОВЛЕНИЕ РУССКОЙ РЕЛИГИОЗНО-ФИЛОСОФСКОЙ АНТРОПОЛОГИИ

The article looks at how translations from the Byzantine Neoplatonists influenced the early Russian theology. In particular, enormous impact of the Corpus Areopagiticum has been discovered. Scholars disagree as to how much Neoplatonism was instrumental in forming the early Russian theological thought. The article distinguishes two varieties of Neoplatonism in Russian Theology School philosophy. The works by F. Golybinsky, Archbishop Innokenty (Borisov), Archbishop Nikanor (Brovkovich) and Father P. Florensky considered the formation of Orthodox theism as a transition from the ontology of Christian Platonism to Christian Neoplatonism. We can also assert that the orientation towards Plato was laid precisely through the Eastern Fathers, and not through the Latin influence.

Аргументы в сочинении «О сотворении мира» Иоанна Филопона, свидетельствующие о вероятной принадлежности ему «Ареопагитик»

Сравнение сочинений выдающегося византийского мыслителя Иоанна Филопона (или Грамматика) (~490-575) с Ареопагитским корпусом является непростой задачей. Значение последнего для византийской богословско-философской и поздней средневековой мысли трудно переоценить. Нелегко вкратце изложить всё богатство идейного содержания упомянутых многогранных произведений. На это указывает и обилие комментариев, созданных к ним в разное время. В настоящем исследовании разбирается главным образом сходство богословско-философских концепций Иоанна Филопона и «Ареопагитик» и его следы в трактате «О сотворении мира» («De opificio mundi»). Также отчасти затрагиваются отразившиеся там христологические споры. Выясняется возможность принадлежности корпуса «Ареопагитик» Филопону путём выборочного анализа сочинения «О сотворении мира». В указанных творениях рассматриваются элементы, наиболее близкие к неоплатонической философии (особенно к воззрениям Прокла). Показано, что именно через это проявляется наибольшее сходство. Comparing the works of the outstanding Byzantine thinker John Philoponus (or Grammaticus) (~490-575) with the Areopagite corpus is not an easy task. The significance of the latter for Byzantine theological-philosophical and late medieval thought is difficult to overestimate. It is not easy to summarize all the richness of the ideological content of these multi-faceted works. This is also indicated by the abundance of comments created for them at different times. This study examines mainly the similarity of the theological and philosophical concepts of John Philoponus and the «Areopagiticus» and its traces in the treatise «De opificio mundi». The Christological controversies reflected there are also partly affected. It turns out that the corpus «Areopagiticus» belongs to Philoponus by selective analysis of the work «De opificio mundi». These works deal with elements that are closest to neo-Platonic philosophy (especially the views of Proclus). It is shown that it is through this that the greatest similarity is manifested.

Parmenides e In Parmenidem. La recepción del diálogo platónico y la de sus intérpretes tardoantiguos en la doctrina cusana de la negación

The purpose of the paper is to locate Nicholas of Cusa as part of the exegetical tradition of Plato’s Parmenides dialogue. His first access to the topic of negation in Platonic dialogue was indirect, through the corpus Areopagiticum and Proclus’ Commentary in the Latin version done by William of Moerbeke. After reading the Commentary, he asked the famous Aristotelian George of Trebisonda to make a Latin version of the whole dialogue. He read this translation before writing De non aliud and it proved decisive for the writing of that work because it reformulates the vocabulary related to otherness as a mode of negation. The originality of this Cusan text consists in the presentation of a double negative formula, inspired by the dialogue Parmenides and its Dionysian and Proclean interpretations. Thus “non aliud” is not understood as opposed to “aliud” but rather as the opposition of the opposites without opposition.

Le fonti del lessico teologico del De Mystica Theologia dello Pseudo-Dionigi Areopagita

What reveals the language of the Corpus Areopagiticum that we can use to determine its origin? Is it possible to detect specific words or lexical clusters which help situate the Sitz im Leben of the corpus within a specific theological school or movement? This study investigates these questions: through an analysis of pseudo-Dionysius' vocabulary and syntagmata it will trace the theological sources that shaped and nurtured pseudo-Dionysius' thought.

The Strategy of Ontological Negativity in Meister Eckhart’s Metaphysics and in Philosophical Traditions of India

In this article, the authors investigate ontological strategies in Meister Eckhart’s metaphysics, which remounts Neoplatonism and the Corpus Areopagiticum, and in two schools of Indian philosophical tradition, the Advaita Vedanta and Early Buddhism. Along with differences in the anthropology, epistemology, and soteriology of these traditions, we can find similar strategies of ontological negativity and mystical experience in both traditions: detachment from the world of images and forms as the highest blessing; non-association of oneself with corporality, feelings, cognitive ability and reason; interiorizing the intentionality of consciousness, and termination of its representative function. Practically all systems of Indian philosophy were projects of liberation or personal transformation from subjugation and suffering into being free and blissful. The idea of spiritual release is also the cornerstone of Christian salvation as with the renouncement of sin and entering blissful unity with God. The apophatic doctrine of Christian neo-platonic mystics about the concealment, non-comprehensiveness, and inexpressibleness of God as the One and Nothingness, and also the idea of comprehension of God by means of detachment from the created world and one’s own ego, gives us the opportunity for such comparative analysis.

Старое вино в новые мехи: понятия древнегреческой культуры в христианском контексте Ареопагитик

Старое вино в новые мехи: понятия древнегреческой культуры в христианском контексте Ареопагитик

The Corpus Areopagiticum as a Crypto-Pagan Project

Summing up current discussion this article presents a detailed critique of Carlo Maria Mazzucchi’s suggestion that Damascius, the last head of the pagan Neoplatonist school of Athens, was the author of the enigmatic Pseudo-Dionysian corpus. Mazzuchi’s approach grasps better the probable context of the emergence of the Dionysian Corpus than mainstream interpretation, which accepts the author’s overt claim of Christianity, resorts too easily to rather twisted theories of pseudonymic writing and overrates the autonomy of the Corpus Areopagiticum in relation to Proclus. Contrary to the opinions that dismiss speculation about the identity of the writer as meaningless in the absence of new data this article considers such attempts necessary and useful. The article agrees with Carlo Maria Mazzucchi’s general thesis that the Corpus was a creation of pagan philosophers in the Neoplatonic academy of Athens after Proclus. However, it argues that Mazzucchi misjudged the perspective regarding the future that prevailed in the Athenian school and in particular Damascius’ willingness to accept a compromise with Christianity at the cost of polytheism as articulated in Proclus’ theology of the classes of the gods. As a result a more credible version of the crypto-pagan hypothesis could be developed, namely to see the Corpus Dionysiacum as a purely instrumental stratagem aiming to protect Proclus’ works in order to resurrect more easily the polytheistic religion in better times, which according to the Neoplatonists’ cyclic view of history were destined to return one day.

Отрывок из Корпуса Ареопагитик в переводах X–XI и XIV веков

Отрывок из Корпуса Ареопагитик в переводах X–XI и XIV веков