Editing Apophatic theology (section)

===Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite===
Apophatic theology found its most influential expression in the works of [[Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite]] (late 5th to early 6th century), a student of [[Proclus]] (412–485) who combined a Christian worldview with Neo-Platonic ideas.<ref name="Berthold1985_p9">{{harvnb|Berthold|1985|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5757JPqL6lIC&dq=%22Pseudo-Dionysius+the+Areopagite%22%22Maximus+Confessor%22%22apophatic+theology%22&pg=PA9 9]}}</ref> He is a constant factor in the contemplative tradition of the eastern Orthodox Churches, and from the 9th century onwards his writings also had a strong impact on western mysticism.{{sfn|MacCulloch|2010|p=439}}

Dionysius the Areopagite was a pseudonym, taken from [[Acts of the Apostles]] chapter 17, in which [[Paul of Tarsus|Paul]] gives a [[Areopagus sermon|missionary speech to the court of the Areopagus]] in Athens.{{sfn|Stang|2011|p=12}} In Acts 17:23<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|17:23|KJV}}</ref> Paul makes a reference to an altar-inscription, dedicated to the [[Unknown God]], "a safety measure honoring foreign gods still unknown to the Hellenistic world."{{sfn|Stang|2011|p=12}} For Paul, Jesus Christ is this unknown God, and as a result of Paul's speech Dionysius the Areopagite converts to Christianity.{{sfn|Stang|2011|p=13}} Yet, according to Stang, for Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite Athens is also the place of Neo-Platonic wisdom, and the term "unknown God" is a reversal of Paul's preaching toward an integration of Christianity with Neo-Platonism, and the union with the "unknown God."{{sfn|Stang|2011|p=13}}

[[Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite|Pseudo-Dionysius]] further explored apophasis within the context of [[Christian philosophy|Christian Philosophy]], to him, that which is the [[Unmoved mover|transcendent cause]] in a stricter sense, does not possess all the positive attributes of the universe as it succeeds them all, wherein there ought to be no contradiction between affirmation and denial of such inasmuch as it precedes and surpasses all deprivation, being wholly beyond all positive (kataphic) and negative distinctions.<ref>[https://hoye.de/theo/denistxt.pdf The Mystical Theology, p, 2.]</ref> In this sense, the One, that we may arise by unknowing is the realization that none can fully know the Infinite One, and therefore is only to be approached by ''[[agnosia]]'' or by that which is beyond and above all knowledge.<ref>[https://esoteric.msu.edu/VolumeII/MysticalTheology.html The Mystical Theology Ch. 1.]</ref>

According to Corrigan and Harrington, "Dionysius' central concern is how a triune God{{nbsp}}[...] who is utterly unknowable, unrestricted being, beyond individual substances, beyond even goodness, can become manifest to, in, and through the whole of creation in order to bring back all things to the hidden darkness of their source."{{sfn|Corrigan|Harrington|2014}} Drawing on Neo-Platonism, Pseudo-Dionysius described human [[Theosis (Eastern Orthodox theology)|ascent to divinity]] as a process of purgation, illumination and union.{{sfn|MacCulloch|2010|p=439}} Another Neo-Platonic influence was his description of the cosmos as a series of hierarchies, which overcome the distance between God and humans.{{sfn|MacCulloch|2010|p=439}}
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