Metaphysics

This work, by Vladimir Lossky, is very introductory. It essentially just serves as an introduction to Dionysius. Lossky holds that the Dionysian corpus is pseudepigraphal. He is wrong. If you seek prove of such, email me. My email is available in the info button on the main page.

This was written by me (Christian Dionysius). I include it only to provide context to the person of Plato and advocate for his system in a modernist world which rejects his philosophy.

Not everything Plato says is to be accepted. Nonetheless, his idea of the world of forms (the world of logoi) is thoroughly accepted and true. Philo of Alexandria, whom St. John quotes in his Gospel, was explicitly attempting to combine Platonism and Judaism. Saint Justin Martyr said, "Just as the Torah came to prepare the Jews, Philosophy came to prepare the Gentiles." Saint Numenius said "What is Plato but Moses speaking Attic Greek?"

As I just said, John's Logos is essentially a continuation of Philo's work. Again, not everything Philo says is to be accepted, but more of Philo's thought is true than of Plato's. Philo particularly speaks of the Logos in "On the Confusion of Tongues" and his works on Genesis.

This work was written by Justinian, the builder of the Hagia Sophia. It is against Monophysitism.

This is actually a video by Gryphon (aka. Galahad Eridanus). It is the most simple yet undistelled version of the explanation of the Logos I have found in video form. I cannot recommend it enough. Gryphon as a whole is right about most things, though his thought is somewhat advanced and not for the uninitiated. It was about people like Gryphon that St. Nikitas Stithatos said, "Those who have attained spiritual maturity can also analyze the impulsions and proclivities of the soul, and can guide and guard their inner state, on the basis of dreams. For bodily impulsions and the images in our intellect depend upon our inner disposition and preoccupations" (On the Inner Nature of Things, 60). I would not recommend him, nor, for that matter, would I recommend anything on this list, to a half-hearted convert or someone without the time (so I hear often claimed) to faithfully consider these things.

Maximos the Confessor's two volume work "Ambigua" or "Difficulties in the Church Fathers" is, in my opinion, one of the best works of all time. In it, he responds to letters asking him questions about certain passages in the works of Gregory Nazianzus and Dionysius the Areopagite. The reason I have included it prior to those is simply because those works are very difficult, and this work (though longer) functions as an introduction to those works. Gregory and Dionysius write probably the most important works for understanding metaphysics.

Part two of the above work.

This work is also by Maximos, and essentially serves the same purpose.

These works begin the explanation of metaphysics by Gregory of Nazianzus and also provide information about his life.

These are also by the same Gregory, and are the primary texts from him on this subject.

This work, by St. Justin Popovich, is primarily an epistemological work. Against purely rational or abstract theories of knowledge, Popovich presents true knowledge as inseparable from purification, faith, humility, and union with God.

This work is by Metr. Hierotheos Vlachos of Nafpatkos. He is, in my opinion, the greatest living author. This work essentially takes everything before this point and makes it immediately applicable.

This work is by St. Dumitru Staniloae. It is an Orthodox explanation of the Holy Trinity.

This article is by me (Christian Dionysius). I include it because in it I seek to simplify a lot of what the Fathers have said on the issue. I try my best not to have new ideas, so I have not included it as though anything in it is novel — rather, God forbid!

This work by St. Gregory Palamas illumines the reader as to Who exactly the Spirit is, and what His role is.

Again I include an article by myself. Forgive me. The article is a dialogue wherein two fictional Neoplatonic philosophers arrive at the realities of God, the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Crucifixion (not that He was crucified in particular, but that He died), the Resurrection, and the Second Coming using deduction alone — with no references to the Scriptures or to any history whatsoever. The usefulness is thus twofold: 1) in deducing such things, necessarily one understands them better because one understands their necessity, and 2) it can be useful in proving such things to people distrustful of the Scriptures or of history.

This is the first half of what remains of the Dionysian corpus. This (and vol. 2, of course) is by far the most important work on this list. This is perhaps one of the most important Christian works in general. If you can only read one thing from this curriculum, read this. It will be tough though; it is a hard read.

Part two of the above work.

This work is by Jordan Daniel Wood, a modern scholar. He explains Maximos' view of the Incarnation, and the meaning of his statement "God wills always and in all things to accomplish the mystery of His Incarnation." For Maximos, argues Jordan D. Wood, the only way existence can exist at all, is because of the Incarnation. This work will make absolutely no sense unless you have read the two volumes of "Ambigua" further up on this list. Warning: it is a difficult read.

This work is by St. Dumitru Staniloae. It is simply the first part in a series on Orthodox dogmatic theology.

Part two of the above work.

Part three of the above work.

Part four of the above work.

Part five of the above work.

Part six of the above work.

This work, by St. Pavel Florensky, is one of the most challenging (yet also most immediately applicable) on this list. Hence it is last.