DIONYSIUS THE CARTHUSIAN. - Theologian, exegete and mystic, b. at Ryckel (Belgian Limburg) in 1402, d. at Roermond on 12 March 1471. His life, absorbed in contemplation and theological work, was simple and uniform. As a boy he was a restless shepherd; he entered the Benedictine school of St-Trond, then passed to that of Zwolle, at that time directed by the famous Giovanni Cele. He studied at the University of Cologne while its cathedral was being built; at the age of 21 (1423) he entered the charterhouse of Roermond, where he lived for 48 years.
He lived withdrawn in his cell, intent on taking inventory of the doctrinal tradition and on composing works that seemed to him to answer the needs of his time. This program of isolation was broken only three times, when he fulfilled the duties of procurator of his monastery or of rector of the new charterhouse of Boscoducale, and when, in 1451-52, he collaborated in the legation of Card. N. Cusanus in Germany. The fruit of such exemplary assiduity is a vast theological encyclopedia, of incalculable importance.
Taking up again one of the most fruitful intuitions of the chancellor Gerson (d. 1429), D. teaches that the purpose of contemplation is to govern the whole intellectual life. For him "exegesis and theology, the science of Scripture and of dogma, acquire complete development and logical crowning only in the human act par excellence (which is the end of man, here below as in heaven) called contemplation" (A. Mougel, p. 34). This thesis is developed profoundly in the prologue of the De natura aeterni et veri Dei (Op. omn., XXXIV, p. 11), where the Gospel, theology (St. Augustine), inspired mysticism (Ruysbroeck) and philosophy (Aristotle, Plato) are harmonized and fused. D. felt himself called to carry out the methodical and critical inventory of Scripture and of the entire tradition in order to feed with living substance a thought unwearyingly strained toward contemplation. Unlike Gerson, the fulfillment of this design was not interrupted for D. by any adversity. And from such continuity there results a considerable and characteristic work.
As it is known to us from the recent edition prepared by the charterhouse of Montreuil-sur-Mer (1896 to 1913), the work of D. occupies 42 vols. in 4to; vol. I contains (pp. XLIX-LXX) the complete catalogue of the treatises, commentaries, sermons and opuscules, in 187 numbers. A document (vol. XLI, p. 629) enumerates the lost works: 20 treatises properly so called, without counting many poems, letters, sermons or various consultations. The preserved work comprises commentaries on all the biblical books, on the treatises of Ps.-Dionysius, of Cassian, of St. John Climacus, of Boethius (De Consol. philos.) and on the 4 books of the Sentent., treatises or opuscules of theology or philosophy, sermons.
Distinguishing the various elements of this corpus, one obtains a total of 880 numbers. If one groups separately the 75 biblical commentaries, then the 690 Sermones (346 de tempore, of which 183 ad saeculares and 163 ad religiosos, and 344 de sanctis, of which 195 ad saeculares and 149 ad religiosos), there remain 115 works or opuscules of dogmatic, moral and spiritual theology, which sometimes reach into philosophy.
Since the Opera omnia have not been edited critically, a long discussion would be required to attempt to establish their chronology. Let it merely be observed that the initial work seems to be a De cute et essentia (lost), composed immediately after his mastership (cf. I, p. XXIX); in 1434 D. begins to write on the Psalms (I, loc. cit., p. L, n. 2); in 1457 he finishes his biblical commentaries; in 1466 he is still working on the De divinis nominibus (loc. cit., p. IV, n. 1); the entire series of sermons ad saeculares (de tempore and de sanctis) preceded the series ad religiosos (vol. XXIX, p. 5); his last book, a collection of meditations, is from 1469. A capital fact: his commentary on the 4 books of the Sent. (vols. XIX-XXV) does not stand at the beginning but, at least in part, toward the end of his career, as appears from the declaration in III Sent., d. 36, q. 1 (vol. XXIII, p. 588, where D. declares that from the writings of Ruysbroeck, whose influence he therefore underwent from the beginning, he introduced many elements into the treatise composed 34 years earlier de donis Spiritus Sancti). In this commentary, therefore, one must seek the definitive thought of D.
It is not possible to analyze in a brief space so vast and so complex a mass. It suffices to define the method, determine the sources and fix the characteristic features of the whole.
In his biblical commentaries, D. follows the sacred text chapter by chapter. When he sees nothing to explain, he contents himself with an enarratio capituli; otherwise, he proceeds to the expositio, declaratio, explanatio or the elucidatio, according to the literal sense or the various spiritual senses. At the beginning he has very frequent recourse to the scholastic authors, and thereby leads scholasticism back to its source. The further he goes, however, the more he interprets Scripture by itself. In the Gospel, he adheres to a very strict literal commentary, citing only a few Fathers.
His most original contribution is constituted by the little treatise De causa diversitatis eventuum humanorum, inspi-
drawing on Job and composed at the request of Card. Cusanus (vol. V, pp. 45-80), from the collection Epitome sive nobiliores sententiae totius Bibliae (vol. XIV, pp. 543-707), and above all from the Monopanton, seu reductio omnium epistolarum beati Pauli in unam, requested by the same cardinal, which in 73 chapters logically groups together what St. Paul wrote on each virtue (for example, ch. 7 De Caritate is composed thus: Rom. 5:5; 8:28, 35-39; 13:8-10; 12:9-11; I Cor. 6:17; 8:3, 11; 10:24; 12:31; 13:1-8, 13; 14:1; 16:14, 20, 22, 24; II Cor. 6:11-13; 8:24; 11:2; Gal. 5:13-14; Eph. 5:1; Col. 3:14; I Thess. 4:9-10; I Tim. 1:5-6; Hebr. 10:24-25; Phil. 2:4).
In theology, struck by the extreme diversity of opinions upheld before him, D. lays down the principle of the equal legitimacy of soundly probable opinions, "when they are not defended with reckless and temerarious assertion" (Enarratio in Ex., art. 40: vol. II, p. 1 A'). He therefore proposes to cite many authors and to choose freely, not without elaborating mediating theses that gather all the advantages of the authors consulted, "for from one alone of the aforesaid doctors, the truth of this question cannot be evident" (I Sent., d. 2, q. 2: vol. XX, p. 171). It is a consistent rationalism, consisting not in a demand for conformity to pure reason, but in the search for a maximum approximation to super-rational revelation.
In his Protestatio to his superiors (vol. I, p. LXXI ff.) D. enumerates his principal sources, which reflect the entire theological and philosophical tradition. D. gives prominence to Dionysius the Areopagite, "doctor meus electissimus". Elsewhere he presents "that illustrious John Cassian" as "summus noster philosophus" (Sermo I de comm. conf. non pont.: vol. XXXII, p. 648). He often cites Boethius; but he names William of Ockham only three times. He briskly lashes Durandus of St-Pourçain (cf. I Sent., d. 36, q. 1: vol. XX, p. 402). He has great respect for Alexander of Hales, "who by reason of the eminence of his knowledge deserved to be called Doctor Irrefragabilis by the alma universitas Parisiensis. Therefore his authority is not to be esteemed lightly" (I Sent., d. 2, q. 2: vol. XIX, p. 172). He strongly rejects Scotist formalism (ibid.: "Opinio... ceteris irrationabilior esse videtur, et tam philosophicis quam documentis contraria"). His fidelity to St. Thomas undergoes crises, since D. ultimately rejects the real distinction between essence and existence (I Sent., d. 8, q. 7, cited by A. Mougel, p. 15), and separates from the Master regarding the relationship existing between the Christian religion and certain cosmological theses (Enarr. in I. Ecclesiasticae, art. 1: vol. VII, p. 215).
One of the most constant sources, the deep axis of his thought, appears with the Neoplatonic notion of processio-conversio and with the thesis explicitly attributed to Proclus: "Omne causatum et manet in sua causa, et procedit ab ipsa, et convertitur ad ipsam" (De lumine christianae theoriae l. II: vol. XXXIII, p. 235).
The essential themes were systematically condensed by D. himself in his two fundamental treatises: Elementatio Philosophica (104 commented propositions, in 11 parts: vol. XXXIII, pp. 21-104) and Elementatio theologica (159 propositions, in 16 parts: vol. XXXIII, pp. 105-231).
But here is a passage that in summary expresses the whole system of metaphysical and theological optimism from which D.'s doctrine proceeds: "Since, according to Dionysius" (De cael. hier. 13, De div. nom. 4), the divine light, which by its immensity is spread over every face of nature, is pure goodness whose most proper attribute is to show mercy, to pour itself forth, to communicate its goodness, to bestow grace; when it finds a soul capable of grace and illumination, and worthy of the divine ray, inasmuch as it is free from passions and clean, zealous and eager for wisdom, it at once diffuses its goodness, sends in the light of grace, bestows wisdom. And as Christ promised, when that Spirit of truth comes, he teaches us all truth (Sermo I de comm. conf. non pont.: vol. XXXII, p. 648).
D.'s entire work proceeds from this central conviction. Characteristic of D.'s design and resources are the synthetic works: Summa fidei orthodoxae, id est medulla operum s. Thomae II. IV. A similar synthesis, with apologetic elements (ch. 6: "De Antichristo et fallaciis eius"; 7: "De probatione fidei Christianae ex Lege et Prophetis, et de Iudaeorum erroribus") is the Dialogus de fide: disputatio inter theologum et philosophum, proponente et defendente theologo quod fidei est, philosophus autem quod naturalis ratio dictat (vol. XVIII), and the De dignitate et laudibus B. V. Mariae II. IV (vol. XXXVI, pp. 17-174).
D.'s authority is asserted principally in spiritual theology. Having thoroughly examined the concrete conditions of the Christian life in all its states and the normal development of deiform Grace, thoroughly imbued both with the practical lessons of Cassian and with the classifications of Climacus and the theories of Ps.-Dionysius, in the treatises Speculum amatorum mundi, L. de fonte lucis et semitis vitae, De oratione, De Contemplatione II. tres, D. elaborated a doctrine dense with traditional substance and perfectly balanced. Adopting the tripartite division of spiritual progress, he leads the soul from the purgative way (in which meditation predominates) to the illuminative way (characterized by affirmative contemplation), then to the unitive way, in which love and negative contemplation reign.
This supreme reign of love does not prevent D. from remaining formally an intellectualist. For D. mystical theology "is identical with wisdom, which has its seat in the intellect" (St. Axters, p. 72), so that what takes place in "the summit of the will" occurs as a pure complement ("quoad complementum"). For D. divine wisdom is a possession in the mode of knowledge (Summa fidei orthodoxae, vol.: vol. XVII, p. 23).
Of this wholly supernatural and infused wisdom the two great masters are, for D., the Ps.-Areopagite and the contemplative Jan van Ruysbroeck. To the influence of the latter no one abandoned himself with such trust and fervor as D. (De distantia perfectionis divinae et humanae, art. 10: vol. XXXIV, p. 268).
The famous judgment of Alvarez de Paz is therefore not exaggerated: "Dionysius Rikelius, doctor utriusque scholae, mysticae et scholasticae, clarissimus".
Not only do all "the school" listen in the innumerable pages of D., but their methodical study is an essential requirement of the history of Christian thought at the boundary between the Middle Ages and modern times.