Filled with the Visible Theophany of the Lord: Reading Dionysius East and West
Presenter(s):
Abstract:
In Divine Names I.4, Dionysius the Areopagite writes that in the next life, we will be “filled with the visible theophany” of the Lord “which shall illumine us…as the disciples were in that most divine transfiguration” (PG 3 592C). This text provides an excellent focal point (i) for contrasting readings of Dionysius in the Eastern Orthodox and Latin Scholastic traditions and (ii) for exploring the question about the manner in which we can see God in and through our bodies in this life and the next. To these ends, I’ll consider relevant texts by St. Albert the Great, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Gregory Palamas, among others
