The theurgical self: The theological anthropology of the Pseudo-Dionysius

This dissertation argues that the theological anthropology of the Pseudo-Dionysius (Denys) becomes explicit only when one attends to the interplay of eros and theurgy in his theology. I argue that Denys understands the human to be a theurgical self, and this characterization implies three things. First, because the self is constituted by its erotic drive toward union with whatever it perceives as beautiful, it bears the image of what it desires. Second, this core eros, which is properly directed toward God, has become unstable through the fall and has become directed toward the objects of the creation with the result that human subjectivity has become fragmented. Third, as an intelligent, embodied creature, the human can be restored to the image of God only if its core eros is theurgically redirected. This theurgical redirection lures the human toward divine beauty by attracting it through its senses. Through the Incarnation God has worked human redemption, but the theurgic efficacy of the Incarnation is extended to the individual being divinized through the perceptible tokens of the church because of their sympathy with the source of being. The Incarnation and its extension through the language and sacraments of the church reunifies the fragmented soul, conforming it to the image of God as it replaces the multiplicity of fallen desires with an undiluted yearning for God.