Skip to main content
Contribution to Book
Rethinking the Dionysian Legacy in Medieval Architecture: East and West
Dionysius the Areopagite between Orthodoxy and Heresy (2011)
  • Jelena Bogdanović, Iowa State University
Abstract

Indeed, everyone who attempted to read the still controversial Corpus Areopagiticum either in the original Greek or in any translation, even if supplemented by abundant annotations, would have to acknowledge numerous interpretative questions these texts raise. Namely, the Corpus blends seemingly irreconcilable pagan and Christian thoughts. On the one hand, the Corpus stems from philosophical Neoplatonic writings attributed to Dionysius the Areopagite—an Athenian convert under Paul, the “first intellectual” Apostle who himself was concerned mostly with debatable questions about what it means to be Christian (Acts 17:16 34). other hand, the corpus includes numerous sixth-century and later theological Christian collations which tended to streamline the controversies derived from recognition of certain elements in Dionysius’ work common to pagan and Jewish understanding of God. Thus, by its definition, this contentious corpus is far from being an easy, straightforward text. At the same time its attractive philosophical tone is extraordinarily open and flexible to various, even contradictory interpretations.

Publication Date
2011
Editor
Filip Ivanović
Publisher
Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN
978-1-4438-3348-6
Publisher Statement
Copyright 2011 by Filip Ivanović and contributors.
Citation Information
Jelena Bogdanović. "Rethinking the Dionysian Legacy in Medieval Architecture: East and West" Newcastle upon Tyne, United KingdomDionysius the Areopagite between Orthodoxy and Heresy (2011)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/jelena_bogdanovic/8/