Editing Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (section)

===Dating===
* In the ''Ecclesiastical Hierarchy'' Dionysius twice seems to allude to the recitation of the Creed in the course of the liturgy (''EH'' 3.2 and 3.III.7). It is often asserted that [[Peter the Fuller]] first mandated the inclusion of the [[Nicene Creed]] in the liturgy in 476, thus providing an earliest date for the composition of the Corpus. Bernard Capelle argues that it is far more likely that [[Timothy I of Constantinople|Timothy, patriarch of Constantinople]], was responsible for this liturgical innovation, around 515—thus suggesting a later date for the Corpus.<ref name="John C Lamoreaux 1998 p9">Paul Rorem and John C. Lamoreaux, ''John of Scythopolis and the Dionysian Corpus: Annotating the Areopagite'', (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998), p. 9. The point was first proposed by Stiglmayr.</ref>
* It is often suggested that because Dionysius seems to eschew divisive [[Christology|Christological]] language, he was probably writing after the ''[[Henotikon|Henoticon]]'' of [[Zeno (emperor)|Zeno]] was in effect, sometime after 482. It is also possible that Dionysius eschewed traditional Christological formulae in order to preserve an overall apostolic ambience for his works, rather than because of the influence of the ''Henoticon''. Also, given that the ''Henoticon'' was rescinded in 518, if Dionysius was writing after this date, he may have been untroubled by this policy.<ref name="John C Lamoreaux 1998 p9"/>
In terms of the latest date for the composition of the ''Corpus'', the earliest datable reference to Dionysius' writing comes in 528, the year in which the treatise of [[Severus of Antioch]] entitled ''Adversus apologiam Juliani'' was translated into [[Syriac language|Syriac]]—though it is possible the treatise may originally have been composed up to nine years earlier.<ref>Hathaway, ''Hierarchy and the Definition of Order in the Letters of Pseudo-Dionysius'', p. 4, supports the dating of 519 for this treatise.</ref>

Another widely cited latest date for Dionysius' writing comes in 532, when, in a report on a colloquy held between two groups ([[Dyophysitism|dyophysite]] and [[Miaphysitism|miaphysite]]) debating the decrees of the [[Council of Chalcedon]], [[Severus of Antioch]] and his miaphysite supporters cited Dionysius' Fourth Letter in defence of their view.<ref>Andrew Louth, ''Dionysius the Areopagite'' (1987), reissued by Continuum Press, London & New York, 2001, under the title ''Denys the Areopagite''.</ref> It is possible that pseudo-Dionysius was himself a member of this group, though debate continues over whether his writings do in fact reveal a miaphysite understanding of Christ.<ref>See Louth, ''Dionysius the Areopagite'' (1987), p. 14, who suggests that, although ambiguous, Dionysius is not miaphysite (he also points out that Severus and his supporters misquote Dionysius's Fourth Epistle to back up their view). Paul Rorem and John C. Lamoreaux, ''John of Scythopolis and the Dionysian Corpus: Annotating the Areopagite'', (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998), esp. p. 11, make an extensive study of the early evidence, arguing that (1) Hypatius's apparent rejection in 532 of the works of Dionysite as miaphysite is not as straightforward as often suggested, and that (2) Dionysius's writing was appealed to by just about all parties in the sixth-century Christian east, and at no point was it considered the exclusive preserve of the Miaphysites.
</ref> It seems likely that the writer was located in Syria, as revealed, for example, by the accounts of the sacramental rites he gives in ''The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy'', which seem only to bear resemblance to Syriac rites.<ref>Dionysius' description in the ''Ecclesiastical Hierarchy'' corresponds well with what is known of Syriac worship from other sources, for example: (1) his account of baptism and the Eucharist is similar to the ''Homilies on Baptism and the Eucharist'' of Theodore of Mopsuetsia, which depict worship in the Church of West Syria at the beginning of the fifth century. See Louth, ''Dionysius the Areopagite'' (1987), p. 55; (2) Dionysius' account of the sacrament of oil in the ''Ecclesiastical Hierarchy'' is not found in most other patristic sources, except for those in the Syrian tradition. See Louth, ''Dionysius the Areopagite'' (1987), p. 64; (3) his understanding of monasticism. See Louth, ''Dionysius the Areopagite'' (1987), p. 70. Louth is certain that Dionysius/Denys was writing in Syria. See p.14 and passim.</ref>