Number DOI: http://doi.org/10.33209/2519-4348-2707-9627-2020-8-85

VB. – № 8, 2020. – P. 271-295.

Summary

The prominent theological question of the union and distinction between the divine essence, the divine Persons and the divine energies, as well as other divine self-founding conditions, has caused the interest of the Byzantine Christian thinkers, who attempted through specialized theoretical approaches to analyze, form synthetic judgments and express interpretive extensions in clear methodological and conceptual frames. In this study, I attempt to present some aspects of the way in which George Pachymeres (c.1242-1310) structures this theory in his Paraphrasis of De divinis nominibus of Dionysius the Areopagite. Specifically, I investigate in what way the Byzantine thinker associates the concepts of “union” and “distinction” with the divine essence and the divine Persons, that is to say, with the self-founding way in which the divine reality exists, and how the two concepts are explained with respect to the demiurgic divine providences and processions, that is to say, the divine self-founding conditions. The most important conclusion drawn is that Pachymeres presents the divine way of existing in total, both per se and as ad extra demiurgic economy, but without causing any confusion or contradiction. In this context, I discuss both the names that describe the Trinity as a whole and those which relate to every divine hypostasis in particular and distinctively from the rest, with circumincession being the foundation of any approach performed. The monistic model arisen is extremely dynamocratic.

Key words: George Pachymeres, union, distinction, divine essence, divine Persons.

References:

1. Corsini, E. (1962). Il trattato “De divinis nominibus” dello Pseudo-Dionigi e i commenti neoplatonici  al Parmenide. Torino: Publicazioni della Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia.
2. Garda, Th. A., Honea, S. M., Stinger, P. M., Unholtz, G. (Ed.). (1989). Υπόμνημα εις τον Παρμενίδην Πλάτωνος. Ανωνύμου συνέχεια του Υπομνήματος Πρόκλου. Athens: Academy of Athens.
3. Gersh, S. (1978). From Iamblichus to Eriugena: An investigation of the prehistory and evolution of the pseudo-Dionysian tradition. Leiden: E. J. Brill. 
4. Hoch, R. F., O’Neil, E. N. (Ed.). The Chreia and ancient Rhetoric: Classroom Exercises. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature.
5. Lossky, Vl. (1973). Η μυστική θεολογία της Ανατολικής Εκκλησίας [The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church]. (Στ. Κ. Πλευράκη, Trans.). Thessaloniki. 
6. Petridou, L. (2019). Aspects of the theory on ‘ideas’, ‘eide’ and ‘logoi’ of beings in George Pachymeres. Perichoresis, 17/4, 23-40.
7. Roques, R. (1954). L’univers dionysien, Structure hiérarchique du monde selon le Pseudo-Denys. Paris: Montaigne.
8. Saffrey, H. D., Westerink, L. G. (1987). Proclus. Théologie Platonicienne, v. V. Paris: Les Belles Lettres.
9. Scazzoso, P. (1975). La teologia antinomica dello pseudo-Dionigi. Aevum, 49, 6, 1-35.
10. Schürmann, R. (1982). L’hénologie comme dépassement de la métaphysique. Les etudes philosophiques, 3, 331-350.
11. Semmelroth, O. (1952). Die Θεολογία συμβολική des Ps. Dionysius Areopagita. Scholastik, 27, 1-11. 
12. Terezis, Ch., Petridou, L. (2017). The question on the divine distinction and the divine energies in Gregory Palamas. Philotheos: International Journal for Philosophy and Theology, 17, 72-83. 
13. Terezis, Ch., Petridou, L. (2017). The theory on ‘unions – distinctions’ as a paradigm of Gr. Palamas’ methodology. ΣΧΟΛΗ: Ancient Philosophy and the Classical Tradition, 11/1, 117-132. 
14. Terezis, Ch., Petridou, L. (2018). Aspects of the theory on unions and distinctions in Gregory Palamas: The relation between the divine essence and the divine energies. Church studies, 15, 313-327. 
15. Terezis, Ch., Petridou, L. (2019). Divine essence, divine persons and divine energies in Gregorius Palamas: A methodological approach. Analogia: The Pemptousia Journal for Theological Studies, 6/4, 67-82.
16. Terezis, Ch., Tzouramani, Ev. (2000). The theory on unions – distinctions according to Ps-Dionysius, G. Pachymeres and Albert the Great. Archiv für mittelalterliche Philosophie und Kultur, VI, 43-54
17. Trouillard, J. (1965). Proclos, Eléments de Théologie. Paris. 
18. Trouillard, J. (1972). L’Un et l’âme selon Proclos. Paris: Les Belles Lettres.  
19. Ζήσης, Θ. (1997). Η Σωτηρία του ανθρώπου και του κόσμου κατά τον Άγιον Ιωάννην Χρυσόστομον [The salvation of human being and the world according to St. John Chrysostom]. Thessaloniki: Πατριαρχικόν Ίδρυμα Πατερικών Μελετών. 
20. Ματσούκας, N. (2003). Δογματική και Συμβολική Θεολογία [Dogmatic and Symbolic Theology], v. Β΄. Thessaloniki: Π. Πουρναράς.
21. Τερέζης, Χρ. (1990). Είδος και Ύλη κατά τον Νικόλαο Μεθώνης και τον Παχυμέρη. Ελληνική Φιλοσοφική Επιθεώρηση, 7, 151-164.
22. Τερέζης, Χρ. (1993). Η θεολογική γνωσιολογία της Ορθόδοξης Ανατολής [The Theological Gneoseology of Orthodox Christianity]. Athens: Γρηγόρης.
23. Τερέζης, Χρ. (2010). Όψεις των όρων «Ένωσις» και «Διάκρισις» στον Μάξιμο τον Ομολογητή ως μία αντιπανθεϊστική πρόταση [Aspects of the terms “Union” and “Distinction” as an antipantheistic proposal. Επιστημονική Επιθεώρηση του Μεταπτυχιακού Προγράμματος «Σπουδές στην Ορθόδοξη Θεολογία», v. Α΄. Patras: Hellenic Open University, 261-283.