"God is not good": Pseudo-Dionysius

How can a Christian thinker claim that "God is not good"? What is the "divine darkness" beyond the rational light of our understanding mind? We approach these questions through the work of the influential Christian author known as Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (5th-6th c. CE).
This is part one in a four-part series on Christian mysticism:
1. "God is not good": Pseudo-Dionysius ( • "God is not good": Pse... )
2. God beyond God: Meister Eckhart ( • God beyond God: Meiste... )
3. Chambers of the soul: Teresa of Avila ( • Chambers of the soul: ... )
4. Nothing, nothing, nothing: John of the Cross ( • Nothing, nothing, noth... )

[@derekpoole7922]

This is an accessible and inspiring introduction to Christian Mysticism: taught by one who knows how to teach. Blessings from Ireland.

[@CarolineHuang-o9y]

Your expositions and readings of Pseudo-Dionysius are so precise and succinct; your facial expression is so proportional, remarkably coolish, yet intimate your audiences (talks like bosom friends) regarding a subject of such immensity of depth, subtlety, passion, a topic beyond human conceptions and language. It takes a great deal of grace and gift to do so. And you did it! The western Christian tradition, namely, the marriage of the Biblical revelation and Greek philosophy and thoughts, cannot sleep on her past centuries' achievements and get self-infatuated and self-glandadized. Instead, she must move beyond as she is rightly called to be so and return to her original Love - the origin of faith. And negative theology is much demanded in furthering our understanding of faith and therefore self, and return to the love of God and our love to our neighbours in a world of polarity and hostility like ours. Thank you!

[@PoorKidOne]

I find your presentations to be exceedingly well done. Please keep them coming.

[@wilfredobenitez7275]

A wonderful entry way into the deeper mysteries of divine evolution for those on the never ending quest beyond duality. Thank you!

[@TomPrior16]

Interestingly and clearly taught, thank you :)

[@elizabethraper3963]

Thank you for your articulate depth.

[@theresamiller6178]

All the "things" that God "is not" must also be said concerning people.

[@joshbeierschmitt4820]

Thank you for clarifying darkness as a lack of knowledge rather than an evil or pejorative thing.

[@nickcammarata1233]

these videos are so good thanks so much for making them

[@_VISION.]

The Tao Te Ching explains this Negative Theology the best imo, or one of the best I've read.

[@13SZ]

Thank you for all the videos. Your channel has quickly become one of my favorites.

[@jamessheffield4173]

examines all of Valla’s arguments about the pseudepigraphic nature of the corpus in his Collatio Novi Testamenti and Encomion S. Thomae Aquinatis. The third part turns to Erasmus’s extensive writings on the Corpus Dionysiacum and ancient forgeries. It discusses Erasmus’ knowledge and publication of Valla’s writings as well as Erasmus’ own arguments that the corpus was the deliberate forgery of a deceitful impostor. This section also evaluates all known evidence for William Grocyn’s reported doubts about the authenticity of the Corpus Dionysiacum. Valla and Erasmus on the Dionysian Question Denis J.-J. Robichaud

[@keithoyoung34]

New listener and subscriber. I love these conversations.

[@byunim]

Very understandable and excellent summary thanks

[@mcnallyaar]

10/10 Best of the Best of the Internet

[@oerantia9126]

How I would frame God is the following. It is based on my own DIRECT experience that happened a few years ago: Reality (God) is an essence that cannot be described. When one “sees” Reality or “feels” Reality, there is really nothing to be seen or felt, yet those two verbs come closest to describing how enlightenment is known/seen/felt. This Reality is - during enlightenment- seen/felt/known to be the ONE ESSENCE that permeates everything. Yet the essence is and remains indescribable. So all forms are in Reality also truly and only indescribable. We merely pretend in the physical and mental realm there to be describable forms. This Reality Essence can take up any form it wishes, but there is no wishing going on. It is an effortless EXPRESSION. The whole universe with all its so called dead matter and living beings is an expression, an image, something that can be EXPERIENCED, that can be expressed in words, because it is also an expression in EMOTIONS, in MENTAL states. God or Reality can express anything. It is therefore OMNIPOTENT. God has no favor for peace or war. It is all equal to God/Reality because when you are enlightened (in the enlightened state), you see that the essence of Reality/God is indestructible. So what would there be to favor? War or Peace are just expressions, experiences, emotional states that come and go. And all that comes and goes is an illusion. Only one thing is ever the same, the essence of Reality/God. This and many other things is what is suddenly known during enlightenment, which can happen to anybody and which will happen to anybody, one day, one life.

[@africandawahrevival]

Great explanation

[@CarolineHuang-o9y]

The title given is so inticing, disruptive, and strategically-laden, drawing both believers and yet-to- believers of all kinds to give an ear to hear attentively and intentionally.

[@AndrewWhite-w5g]

Nice Work!👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@ravissary79]

I've never heard negative theology described as the contradiction to positive theology before. I'm not sure that's helpful.

[@gk10101]

the contradiction is necessary because it invalidates knowledge altogether. contradictions are impossible. and so we find God beyond the bounds of knowledge. but we don't find God. Only God can make Himself known. And He does so through Christ by His Spirit according to His Word.

[@Raymond-d2l7n]

How does the One relate to the Trinity?

[@hermanhale9258]

It doesn't.

[@christopherkelly9985]

Augustine would not have read Psuedo-Dionysus as Augustine lived and died before he was Psuedo-Dionysius was born

[@jonbornholdt1790]

Nice lecture, but "Augustine would have certainly read him" (3:28): nope, Augustine died in 430.

[@labyrinthsideas]

Ah yes - good catch! Very helpful. That is indeed an error here: Augustine wouldn’t have read Pseudo-Dionysius, whose writings so far as we can tell were written after Augustine. Thank you!

[@ravissary79]

​​@@labyrinthsideasregardless of whether he was pseudo and therfore probably post-augustine, or not, if he was Dionysus, he was Greek, and one of Augustine's main academic limits, and why he accidentally skewed original sin from Romans 5, is because he couldn't read Greek, but only available Latin translations of Plato, Manny, and the Bible... and his Latin translation at the time was inaccurate in a few key ways he wasn't aware of. As such he wouldn't have had access to Dionysus unless he'd been translated into Latin at that time, and if his works were extant at all, he wasn't popular until the 6th century, so probably not.

[@robertnowak732]

Dionysius is just a name?

[@kmastanz]

makes me think of Isaiah 55:8-9 kjv

[@chriskenney4377]

"Quarried in the West", where man digs and creates structural members to raise new structures? Not just past effort?

[@youbetyourwrasse]

The Loch Ness Monster is real. Nessie has been loved for hundreds of years and will be loved for hundreds more. While I on the otherhand, will be forgotten in a day. If Nessie is NOT real, what does that say about me? Why do people have to TOUCH something with their grubby hands, to believe it?

[@Joeonline26]

What was the point of this comment? Did you watch the video?

[@youbetyourwrasse]

@@Joeonline26 Mysticism my friend. The Red Lion eats the Green Sun. A White Dragon will become an Eagle. A Golden Age for Mankind. As above, so below .. ∞

[@raffacasting]

Gnostics?

[@archaeopteryx91]

A lot of this sounds to me profoundly Gnostic.

[@hermanhale9258]

Satanic.

[@halo22121]

profound or not, labels are good for boxing things up. not much else.

[@mariakatariina8751]

Pseudo-Dionysos is tslking about the black sun.

[@hermanhale9258]

What has this got to do with Jesus Christ?

[@Andrew-yw6kt]

EVERYTHING!!!

[@Joeonline26]

​@@Andrew-yw6kttell me how. I've been wanting to know how one gets from the God of the neoplatonists to the person of Christ (presumably via the Trinity?) for a long time. If someone can show me how or recommend something to read on this that would be tremendously helpful for my faith journey.

[@UniteAgainstEvil]

​@@Joeonline26look up Jay Dyer 🙏🙏🙏

[@jacobgray676]

KZbin Nathan Jacobs. You're welcome.

[@jacobgray676]

​@@Joeonline26Nathan Jacobs

[@rufinaliamin]

I liked the idea how to define God through defining what God is Not😅 it seem like another side of a coin…. Then it’s so simple God is everything, good and bad and we don’t even know what good or bad is.

[@hermanhale9258]

It works out to be the same as Satanism.

[@pinecone9045]

Major i.e. he copied his work from Greek philosophy hence the 'Pseudo'.

[@shaundisch2020]

Thanks for this. Your speech is very easy to listen to. This negative approach is the same in Hinduism. "Not this, not this." Known as Neti Neti, not not. Many Hindus actually know and love Meister Eckhart more than Christians do. I do love Jesus and the Christian saints and mystics, but if Christianity is grade school, Hinduism is university. Sounds degrading, but it is true. Hinduism is very scientific, much more than this guy or Eckhart, but at least these 2 think much more like Hindus than most.

[@labyrinthsideas]

Thanks also here - and indeed, one of the best engagements with Eckhart I've read is from D. T. Suzuki in his book Mysticism: Christian and Buddhist. Always I've hoped that more Christians might dig deeper into this tradition within their own faith. It is very rich.

[@jamesstevenson7725]

Hindus fo not love Eckhart. Eckhart was no where equal to Sanatana Dharma

[@jamesstevenson7725]

​@@labyrinthsideaschristians should dig deeper into all traditions. Also. Echart belongs to the world not just christianity

[@shaundisch2020]

@jamesstevenson7725 Completely different then Eckhart. Finding God, relinquishing the ego, are the only thing that matter.

[@shaundisch2020]

@@jamesstevenson7725 You speak for all Hindus? 😆 They are the least homogeneous group in the world.

[@frank.sophia]

If the being is not Good why call it God? What do you mean by Good? Good is the echo of union into the world. It is certainly true that the Jewish tradition fails to do this. The entire premise here is that it's superior to all else. That is why Judaism is not Good. Most religions are not, because most favor the authors attributes. The philosophers wanted genuine truth. They went to all religions and cut out the stupid shit. Still the stupid shit persists.

[@hermanhale9258]

When you get beyond good, you are into Satanism or no God at all.

[@frank.sophia]

@@hermanhale9258 For me the God of Israel is the greatest evil in human history... and all Satan did according to tradition is refuse to worship men because he loved God too much... this is basically every Abrahamic believers position.