Das Verhältnis zwischen Neuplatonismus und Christentum nach Werner Beierwaltes am Beispiel seiner Auslegung des Dionysius Areopagitas

The present essay aims first at clarifying Werner Beierwaltes’ understanding of\r\nNeoplatonism at large as the accomplishment of Greek philosophy pursued by\r\nPlotinus and coherently developed by Proclus. It seeks secondly to locate Beierwaltes’\r\nremarkable effort to trace the “Wirkungsgeschichte” of Neoplatonism. Focus has been\r\nplaced, thirdly on his understanding of Dionysius Areopagita as the effective mediator\r\nof Neoplatonic issues in the Latin philosophical tradition long before the rediscovery\r\nof Proclus in the 13. century. Beierwaltes’ understanding of Dionysius’ “Christian\r\nNeoplatonism” as a lucky instance of “Hellenization of Christianity” is finally compared\r\nwith different exegesis provided by Ivánka and Balthasar in the years immediately\r\npreceding Beierwaltes’ remarkable Proclus-monography of 1965.