Author:
NIE Jiansong, Associated Professor, College of Marxism, Shanxi Normal University.
Abstract:
Johannes Scotus Eriugena was the most outstanding philosopher and translator of the Western Latin Church in the 9th century. In the Periphyseon , one of his most significant works, Eriugena explored the Patristic issues with the Hexameron. He agreed with Augustine's ideas on creation rather than those of Basil Magus, i.e., that the world was created by God in a moment. At the same time, he quoted the Celestial Hierarchy of Pseudo-Dionysius to fill in the missing gaps in Augustine's theory concerning angelology. However, Eriugena's quotations do not accurately represent authorial intent. This is due to his ignorance of the inner integrity of the Corpus Dionysiacum and of the historical relationship between Pseudo-Dionysius and Gregory of Nyssa. According to PseudoDionysius' arrangement, this treatise is a metaphysical exposition of ecclesiastical liturgy, not a work on the Hexaemeron. Moreover, given the theoretical relationship between Pseudo-Dionysius and Gregory, the real Dionysian viewpoint on the six days of creation is actually closer to Basil Magus' than Augustine's. Although Eriugena did not know the historical Dionysius, he was still the first and foremost to introduce the Corpus Dionysiacum into the Western Latin Church, and thus initiated the process of Latinizing the works of Pseudo-Dionysius.
Keywords:
Johannes Scotus Eriugena, Periphyseon , Pseudo-Dionysius, Hexameron, Gregory of Nyssa
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