Whenever you see “Pseudo-“ in front of a name like this, it means we don’t really know who the person was. This Church father wrote under the name of Dionysius the Areopagite, a convert of St. Paul mentioned in the book of Acts. But the documents attributed to him were written hundreds of years later. Nevertheless, this unknown pseudonymous author was hugely influential for some of the most important fathers and doctors of the Church. The medieval scholastics and mystics found these writings especially inspiring.
Links
To listen to Mike Aquilina’s episode on other anonymous Church fathers: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-6-whats-in-name-anonymous-texts-from-early-church/
To go deeper into the case of Dionysius the Areopagite, with some more cautions about this author’s theology and its use throughout history, see the New Advent article: https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05013a.htm
To read Pseudo-Dionysius’ treatise, The Divine Names: https://ccel.org/ccel/rolt/dionysius/dionysius.iv.ii.html
To read Pseudo-Dionysius’ treatise, The Mystical Theology: https://ccel.org/ccel/rolt/dionysius/dionysius.v.html
For more general information on the historical context of the early Church, see the book: Reading the Church Fathers: A History of the Early Church and the Development of Doctrine: https://sophiainstitute.com/product/reading-the-church-fathers/
SIGN UP for Catholic Culture’s Newsletter: https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters/
DONATE at: http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio
To connect with Dr. James Papandrea, On YouTube - The Original Church: https://www.youtube.com/@TheOriginalChurch
Join the conversation in the Original Church Community on Locals: https://theoriginalchurch.locals.com/
Dr. Papandrea’s Homepage: http://www.jimpapandrea.com
Theme Music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed: https://www.ccwatershed.org/