Ar·e·op·a·gite

(ăr′ē-ŏp′ə-jīt′, -gīt′)

A member of the council of the Areopagus.

Ar′e·op·a·git′ic (-jĭt′ĭk, -gīt′-) adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Areopagite

(ˌærɪˈɒpədʒaɪt)

1. (Historical Terms) a member of the Areopagus, a judicial council of ancient Athens that met on the hill of that name

2. (Law) a member of the Areopagus, a judicial council of ancient Athens that met on the hill of that name

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Ar•e•op•a•gite

(ˌær iˈɒp əˌdʒaɪt, -ˌgaɪt)

n.

a member of the council of the Areopagus in ancient Athens.

[< Latin Arēopagītēs < Greek Areiopagitēs; see -ite¹]

Ar`e•op`a•git′ic (-ˈdʒɪt ɪk) adj.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

Areopagite - a member of the council of the Areopagus

Areopagus - the highest governmental assembly in ancient Athens (later a judicial court)

fellow member, member - one of the persons who compose a social group (especially individuals who have joined and participate in a group organization); "only members will be admitted"; "a member of the faculty"; "she was introduced to all the members of his family"

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Both Ephialtes and Pericles abridged the power of the Areopagites, the latter of whom introduced the method of paying those who attended the courts of justice: and thus every one who aimed at being popular proceeded increasing the power of the people to what we now see it.

View in context

John was influenced heavily by the 6th-century mystic and philosopher Dionysius, the Areopagite who also studied the esoteric traditions of alchemy, Hermeticism, Kabbalah and other mystery schools that also describe the dark night as the alchemical transformation of spiritual forces.

Beyond the dark night of our collective soul

Its interesting and profound analysis can be found in the work by the modern Greek philosopher and theologian Christos Yannaras titled On the Absence and Unknowability of God: Heidegger and the Areopagite. According to Yannaras, Eastern Christianity is characterized by apophaticism of personality, not that of the essence (Aristotelianism).

ON THE POSSIBILITY OF CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHY

I will focus on the antecedent thought of Gregory of Nyssa (fourth century) and Dionysius the Areopagite (an author of the fifth or sixth century not to be confused with the eponymous associate of St.

Moses's Dark Cloud, Teresa's Dark Night, and the Soul's Entrance into the Divine Presence

The final chapter examines the view of Dionysius the Areopagite and of John Chrysostom that reason breaks down when confronted with the overwhelming mystery of God, a view also found in various existentialist writers such as Martin Buber and Gabriel Marcel (whom Wainwright does not mention).

WAINWRIGHT, William J., Reason, Revelation, and Devotion: Inference and Argument in Religion

Among their topics are the daimon and the choice of life in Plotinus' thought, demons and angels in the Chaldaean Oracles, daimones in Porphyry's On the Cave of the Nymphs, evil demons in De Mysteriis: assessing the Iamblichean critique of Porphyry's demonology, the angels in Proclus: messengers of the gods, and Dionysius the Areopagite on angels: self-constitution versus constituting gifts.

Neoplatonic Demons and Angels

(4) See for example the work of Christos Yannaras (On the Absence and Unknowability of Cod: Heidegger and the Areopagite), John Zizioulas (Being as Communion), or Nikos Nissiotis (Existentialism and Christian Faith).

Theology and Politics in Contemporary Greece: A Missed Opportunity for the Greek Theology of the 1960s

The idea about the Great Chain was adopted by the church in the age of Enlightenment directly from Plotinus via Origen and Pseudo-Dionysus the Areopagite; it was embraced also by numerous other authors like Addison, Pope, Thomson, Akenside, Buffon, Goldsmith, Diderot, Kant, Herder, Schiller, etc.

Edmund Spenser and the mystic universe

(9) MOCT here refers to Dionvsius the Areopagite, De divinis nominibus 11:5.

Pondering "The Mission of the Orthodox Church in Today's World": A Protestant Missiological Reflection

It also seems to have led to his being given access to the work of St Denis the Areopagite and other classical authors:

Celtic metaphysics and consciousness

(58) A few conversions are mentioned: Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman called Damaris, and others (Acts 17.34).

St Paul's encounter with Athenian Stoics and Epicureans