On the Division of Nature

Testimonies concerning John Scotus Eriugena.

The Archbishop likely referring to James Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh in the Preface to the Irish Epistles, notes that many Irishmen (or Scot-Irish) became known to the literate world during the times of Charlemagne, Charles the Bald, Alfred, and thereafter; yet it is recognized that to none of them was this name, "Eriugena," attributed as a family name. For they are all heard of as either Irish, or Scots, and Scot-Irish. original: "Erigena" - derived from Greek and Old Irish meaning 'born of Ireland'. At this time, 'Scotus' referred to the Gaelic people of both Ireland and Scotland.

I come now to reviewing the writings of Scotus Eriugena. I place in the first rank those short works of the man about which no ambiguity is found among the ancients. That John therefore published:

1. One book On the Eucharist.
2. Four books of translations of Dionysius the Areopagite. Dionysius was a 5th-century theologian mistakenly identified in the Middle Ages with a convert of St. Paul.

3. One book On Predestination against Gottschalk. Gottschalk of Orbais was a monk whose views on "double predestination" caused significant theological controversy in the 9th century.
4. Translations of St. Maximus on the Ambiguities of St. Dionysius and Gregory the Theologian.
5. A Treatise On the Vision of God.
6. Five books On the Division of Nature. Eriugena's masterpiece, "Periphyseon," which attempted to synthesize Neoplatonism with Christian doctrine.
7. Letters.
8. Verses.

The following, noted below, are also attributed to him:

9. Commentaries on Martianus Capella. A late antique author of a standard textbook on the seven liberal arts.
10. Excerpts from Macrobius.
11. One book On the Discipline of Scholars.
12. A certain Disputation with Theodore the Studite.
13. A translation of the Ethics of Aristotle.
14. A translation of Aristotle's book on the Government of Princes.
15. Commentaries on Aristotle's Categories.
16. The Doctrines of the Philosophers.
17. Homilies.
18. On the Faith against the Barbarians.
19. Paraphrastic Volumes, or Commentaries on Dionysius the Areopagite.

1. Some think the first of these short works has perished; others maintain it still exists under the name of Bertram, or Ratramnus. Ratramnus of Corbie wrote a famous treatise on the Eucharist that was often confused with Eriugena's lost work. Among others, Pierre de Marca may be consulted on this matter in Luc d'Achery’s Spicilegium, Volume 2, and the most learned man Jean Mabillon in the Preface to the 2nd part of the 4th century of the Acts of the Benedictines.

2. The translations of Dionysius survive in manuscript codices, several of which I have seen, dating from the very century in which John Scotus lived, as far as conjecture allows one to reach. Regarding these, see Anastasius the Librarian, and Philippe Labbe in Anastasius the Librarian. They also exist in printed form. Some observe that it was on account of this translation that John first came under suspicion of having an unsound faith.

3. The third writing, On Predestination, was published in print at Paris in the year of our salvation 1650; you may find it in the works of the Royal Councilor Gilbert Mauguin among the writers of the 9th century, along with various judgments and censures of the ancients concerning that book.

4. St. Maximus wrote an exposition of certain Ambiguities original: "Ambiguorum" - referring to difficult or obscure passages in Greek patristic texts. of several passages which occur in the books of St. Dionysius and Gregory Nazianzen. These Ambiguities