Who Was Saint Dionysius the Areopagite? Pt. 1 - Archbishop Alexander Golitzin

In this episode Archbishop Alexander Golitzin discusses the great Church Father known as Saint Dionysius the Areopagite, whose theology has been the subject of much of his Eminence's academic work (he is one of the world's foremost scholars of St. Dionysius and his writings).
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This is the fourth episode from my interview with His Eminence Archbishop Alexander, formerly Professor of #Patristics at Marquette University, and currently the OCA's Archbishop of Dallas, the South, and the Bulgarian Diocese.
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[@ProtectingVeil]

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[@evangelosnikitopoulos]

Well Saint Maximus certainly thought they were genuine, and I respect his opinion. There are many writings of the 1st century and 2nd century fathers which disappeared for centuries or only survived in one mamnuscript, such as Saint Athenagoras of Athens, Saint Hippolitus of Rome, and Aristides of Athens. Even recently, a lost commentary of Saint John Chrysostom on Proverbs was discovered.

[@WoodchuckNorris.8o]

Looks like you've tackled this issue! Just watched you on Craig Truglias channel

[@sophrapsune]

That ended with a cliff-hanger! Thanks very much for the interview.

[@ProtectingVeil]

Thanks to God! I actually had to wait to release this episode because of the cliff-hanger(!) I was able to get the rest of the story during my second interview with H.E.! :-)

[@tekzadok8413]

Oh how time has changed.

[@ChurchClown7]

Very informative and helpful in my bible study today. Thanks

[@Thedisciplemike]

We only started calling him "pseudo" in the 15th century. I still don't understand exactly why we cant place him prior to Proclus. Is it not fathomable that Proclus takes Dionysius' idea and not the other way around?

[@joshf2218]

It is not only fathomable but likely!

[@mavisemberson8737]

Excellent.

[@ProtectingVeil]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@j.thomasphillips2418]

Dr. Middelton, For some unexplainable reason, I am unable to open "Who Was Saint Dionysius the Areopagite?" Therefore would you kindly let me know when Part 2 will be available for viewing? I am familiar with much of his earlier work while he was Professor of Theology at Marquette University. Again my thanks,. Also, Part 1 was of course outstanding!

[@RandyMerrill-vv1ut]

In my Bible, Paul speaks with keen insight of the culture and with power on Mars Hill in Acts 17, not 19. Dionysius, a believer, appears in 17:34. When the Gospel is preached, it changes lives.

[@69Jackjones69]

According to some Dionysius the Areopagite was a neoplatonist who realized that Christianity was soon to sweep away the intellectual achievements of the classical world and so he dressed up Platonic philosophy in Christian terms and posed as Dionysius the convert of St Paul in order to covertly insert Platonism into Christianity so as to save the Western mystery tradition... I'm not saying that I believe this but I simply don't know. I'm a Christian

[@S0l40]

Read the christocentric cosmology of st Maximus the confessor. Scholarly work, but it's not Neoplatonism.

[@Thedisciplemike]

That doesnt account for the already traditioned Platonism in the likes of the Church Fathers like St Augustine, St Justin Martyr, the Cappodocians, etc etc. To say he wanted to preserve Plato and Neo Platonist ideas is like saying Villenevue wanted to preserve the Dune series with his new movies. The books arent going anywhere. What these theorists who posit the idea have to say, was that Dionysius wrote a specifically 1 to 1 correspondence of the neo platonist school at the time. Not simply a genuine thinker in his own right, but rather was doing a project to combine Chrisrian and Neo Platonic thought, doing a diservice to both Neo Platonism and Christianity out of fear. This theory is based on nothing more than conjecture and comes out of the Renaissance and Christian Critics.

[@brotheraugustine]

Didn’t St. Ignatius of Antioch use the word “hierarchy” in his letters? I could be wrong but I thought that he did.

[@aenesidemus8819]

Was this in an English translation of his work, or a Greek critical edition?

[@hasniabali8233]

I am a RC believer,can I convert to Orcthodox..? 2. Is the Orcthodox pray Mary?

[@jaredemry170]

Yes, you can convert to Orthodoxy. Yes, we do have Mary.

[@samuel0851]

@@jaredemry170 Oh, you have Tarkovsky's Stalker as your profile picture!

[@ninasaabiyeh926]

With all my respect to his eminence, is the bishop's language difficult or is it just me that can hardly understand what he means?

[@ploopploop9569]

I find him to be rather clear. Maybe give it another listen.

[@ninasaabiyeh926]

@@ploopploop9569 : maybe because I am not a native English speaker, and KZbin captions are not precise. It should be heard twice.

[@FreshDonuts]

He employs a structured and methodical approach - signposting his main points with expert clarity.

[@ProtectingVeil]

He definitely uses richer English than your average American...which is a good thing...but it can make it difficult to understand for some...

[@ninasaabiyeh926]

@@ProtectingVeil after watching a second time, things are clear now :)

[@ninasaabiyeh926]

i think it would be nice if you upload sermons besides episodes

[@ProtectingVeil]

I'll see what I can do...thanks for the suggestion!

[@spiffkipper9636]

Hierarchy, in principle, is very ancient and has a parallel in autocratic governance. Just a thought.

[@sof553]

Not to mention Platos’ ladder of love in The Symposium. From physical expressions of love to the recognition of beauty in nature and ideas to the final Form of beauty

[@jaredbaker7685]

This is the 17th chapter of Acts. Acts 17:34, not the 19th chapter.

[@dylangarrett8133]

St Dennis

[@mariakatariina8751]

Jos pakottaa ketään luostarielämään, rikkoo aina Taivaan valtakuntaa vastaan. INRIX

[@paulineletters5590]

That’s how a monk thinks about this great man

[@charlesvandenburgh5295]

Almost fell asleep.

[@mariakatariina8751]

Ketään ei voi pakottaa - edes periaatteessakaan - luostarielämään rikkomatta Taivaan valtakuntaa vastaan. INRIX