As a residential painter by profession, I often have to do tedious, solitary work for hours on end. Thankfully, I’m able to have my AirPods in and listen to whatever I want—such as 1/5 (still 3+ hours long) of John Scottus Eriugena’s Periphyseon. About halfway through the audiobook—as I was painting a seemingly receding angle that I just barely reached from my ladder—I was blessed to hear the Greek translation of St. Dionysius’ divine names (with some additions by Eriugena) and the manner in which the divine essence surpasses them. “Super-sophia” (more-than-wisdom) is perhaps my favourite divine name: immediate S tier.
Some brief thoughts before sharing the quote in full:
The divine essence surpasses every divine name because every name is “of” the essence (with the exception of those which uniquely denote the three divine hypostases). Being, life, joy, rest, etc. are not universal forms which the divine essence conforms to or participates in, but ways of expressing the infinitely determinate actus purus of the divine life. The divine names are “possessed” by God, not the other way around. As such, He “in Himself” eternally transcends His names/energies/operations.
Secondly, I think Eriugena’s formulations here have implications for a critique of Hegel and dialectics. Far from God being caught in any sort of dialectical tension,
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to telosbound to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.