Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores Dionysius' concept of God as Unity and Trinity respectively, dwelling especially on how his theories of God in the Divine Names relate to Platonic interpretations of the One as described in commentaries on the Parmenides. It discusses aspects of theurgy, the Platonist ritual of tapping into the divine as it exists in matter, as represented in Dionysius' sacramental theology. The book relates Dionysius' mysticism with the doctrines of mystical return found in the Neoplatonists, and in particular in the thought of Damascius. 'Dionysius the Areopagite' is arguably one of the most mysterious and intriguing figures to emerge from the late antique world. The Mystical Theology is Dionysius' shortest work, consisting of five chapters which address God as ineffable, transcendent, and reachable only by the absolute abandonment of everything.