Zachary Guiliano - Crucifixion in Dionysius the Areopagite: the Nadir and Pinnacle of Revelation

The cross occupies an ambiguous place in the Corpus Dionysiacum. There are many reasons for this ambiguity, two of which are particularly important. First, the incarnate Christ himself does not seem necessarily or peculiarly revelatory, given Dionysius’ exposition of the revelatory character of all existence. Second, the supremely kataphatic nature of the crucifixion (where one asserts not only that God is human but also that God has died) does not seem to accord well with the astringent aphophaticism of much of the CD. But this paper will argue that the place of the cross is actually a key to understanding the CD, unlocking Dionysian conceptions of creation, being, knowledge, and naming. For example, it is well-known that the Neoplatonic scheme of “procession and  return” recur throughout the CD.  Most notably, the Thearchy processes out from simplicity and descends into multiplicity when it causes creation to be and when it subsequently reveals itself to existence. But, in the CD, the ‘productive excess of the Thearchy’ does not end with either creation or revelation in themselves. I will argue that it continues on into the descent and Incarnation of the ‘Thearchic Ray’, Jesus. God also descends in person to the very bottom of created being, where the  unity of God is separated by death and the ineffable takes on the lowest of names, ‘Worm’. From here, divinity ascends. Knowledge of this event, of the Godhead becoming the lowest of beings, is then what is taught to the highest celestial order and constitutes the highest knowledge, knowledge of how the Thearchy becomes “outside of itself while remaining in itself” and takes on humanity without surrendering divinity in an act of philanathropia. The cross becomes simultaneously the lowest point of all being and the highest, most revelatory knowledge. To undertake this argument, my paper will focus on a tight exegesis of Celestial Hierarchy 7.3 in light of its patristic and Neoplatonic antecedents, before commenting on the implications of the Dionysian vision of the Cross for the CD’s discussion of being, knowledge, and naming.