Dionysius the Areopagite

Biblical Record

Dionysius appears only once, in Acts 17. During Paul's second missionary journey, Paul stayed in Athens and reasoned with people in the synagogue and the marketplace. Later, at the Areopagus, he took the "unknown god" as his starting point and proclaimed God the Creator and the resurrection (Acts 17:22–31). "Areopagus" is the name of a hill in Athens and also refers to the council (a judicial and deliberative body) that took its name from it. When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said they would hear him again. Acts 17:34 records: "Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them."

Beyond his name and position, Scripture records nothing further about his life.

Significance in Scripture

The title "the Areopagite" indicates that he was an influential member of the Athenian council. For this reason, Dionysius is read as evidence that believers emerged even from among the educated elite of a city full of philosophy and idols. Luke names Dionysius, a man of high standing, alongside Damaris, a woman.

Interpretations and Issues

• Assessment of the mission in Athens: Interpreters differ over the fact that only a few ("certain men") believed. One view connects this with 1 Corinthians 2:2, where Paul in Corinth determined "not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." This view holds that the philosophical approach did not bear as much fruit as expected. Others point out that the text nowhere judges the sermon a failure. They regard the conversion of someone like Dionysius as, rather, the fruit of that sermon.
• Church tradition: Eusebius's fourth-century Ecclesiastical History cites the writings of Dionysius, the second-century bishop of Corinth. According to that account, Dionysius became the first bishop of the church in Athens. This tradition is extrabiblical. In the medieval West a legend also spread identifying him with Saint Denis (Dionysius), the martyr of Paris. Modern scholarship regards this as a conflation of separate individuals.
• The Pseudo-Dionysian writings: Around the fifth or sixth century, works such as The Celestial Hierarchy, The Divine Names, and The Mystical Theology appeared under the name "Dionysius the Areopagite." These writings greatly influenced the understanding of the hierarchy of angels, Christian mysticism, and Eastern Orthodox theology. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Lorenzo Valla, Erasmus, and others questioned their authorship. Today the prevailing view is that they were written by a later author who borrowed the name. Martin Luther and John Calvin are known to have been critical of the speculative content of these writings. The Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church commemorate Dionysius as a saint.

In the Korean Church

In the Korean church, Dionysius is more often mentioned in connection with Paul's Areopagus sermon in Acts 17 than treated as a subject in his own right. In preaching he is usually presented as an example of the gospel reaching intellectuals and leaders as well. He is also cited as an example of how even modest results can be meaningful fruit. Because the biblical text provides little information, the episcopal tradition and the Pseudo-Dionysian writings are presented as distinct from the biblical record.