(Pseudo) Dionysius the Areopagite (late fifth century), The Divine Names and Mystical Theology

St. Gregory Palamas described Dionysius as “the most prominent of the theologians after the apostles.” St. Thomas Aquinas explicitly cites Dionysius nearly 2,100 times. He only cites the Bible, Aristotle, and Augustine more frequently. Both St. Gregory and St. Thomas regarded the writings of Dionysius as fully compatible with Christianity although they often gave conflicting interpretations of his writings. In contrast to both Palamas and Aquinas, Martin Luther had a quite different assessment: “Dionysius is most pernicious; he platonizes more than he Christianizes.”