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Andrew Louth, Denys the Areopagite, Outstanding Christian Thinkers Series, London: Continuum, 2002. pp. v+134. $14.95 ISBN: 0-8264-5772-X.
Simplicity and clarity are the hallmarks of erudition, and if indeed a scholar writes to be read by as broad an audience as possible, Professor Louth had that intention foremost in his mind when he produced Denys the Areopagite. While not a Sisyphean endeavor, it was, nevertheless, a Herculean task to examine the works of one of Christianity's premier intellectuals, whose theology is as complex as his obscurity is baffling, an admission the author makes plain in the first chapter. In sharing his difficulties, however, Louth presents them not as obstacles but rather as challenges that he hopes his readers will take up with him. From that point of departure, the author presents what is at hand, the Corpus Areopagiticum, the only extant and coherent collection of Denys's (Dionysius's) work. Like a seasoned guide, he proceeds to illuminate the imposing philosophical caverns in such a manner that initial apprehensions and confusion give way to a clear understanding without diminishing the integrity or elegance of the Areopagite's work. Beginning with chapter 2, Mr. Louth establishes an analytical structure parallel to the ordering of documents contained within the Corpus. For instance, chapter 2, "A Liturgical Theology" (17-32), examines the first treatise one encounters in the Corpus, "Mystical Theology." Chapter 3, "The Angelic Choirs" (33-51), corresponds with the succeeding work in the Corpus, "Celestial Hierarchy." With uncommon finesse, the author crystallizes the primary points of the preceding chapter in the first paragraph of its successor. This linkage maintains textual continuity and integrity, which gradually leads to a complete "revelation" of Denys's theological mosaic of eternal order via illumination from the Godhead to humankind, which influences the reader in a peculiar way. One actually comes away from the text with a sense of accomplishment, with a sense that a seemingly insurmountable...