In the vast, often shadowed landscape of the ninth century, a period historically dismissed as an era of intellectual stagnation, one figure stood as a blazing beacon of philosophical brilliance: John Scottus Eriugena. Born in Ireland around 815 AD, Eriugena emerged from the monastic traditions of the "Isle of Saints and Scholars" to become the most significant thinker in the Latin West between Augustine of Hippo and Anselm of Canterbury. His journey took him from the mist-covered shores of Ireland to the vibrant court of Charles the Bald in France, where the Carolingian Renaissance was attempting to revive the lost wisdom of antiquity. Unlike his contemporaries, who were largely restricted to Latin texts, Eriugena possessed a rare and dangerous gift: a mastery of Greek. This linguistic ability allowed him to unlock the mystical theology of the Greek Fathers, particularly the works of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, fusing them with Latin tradition to create a grand, daring synthesis of Neoplatonism and Christianity that was centuries ahead of its time.
Eriugena’s life was defined by a fearless commitment to reason and a radical vision of the universe as a divine unfolding. He was not merely a theologian repeating dogmas; he was a speculative philosopher who viewed the entire cosmos as a "theophany," a visible manifestation of the invisible God. His magnum opus, the *Periphyseon* (On the Division of Nature), presented a system so complex and bordering on pantheism that it would eventually face condemnation by the Church, yet his influence persisted underground, feeding the roots of Western mysticism and idealism. He lived in a time of Vikings and political fragmentation, yet his mind dwelled in the eternal, contemplating the procession of all things from the One and their inevitable, harmonious return. His existence challenges the very concept of the "Dark Ages," proving that even in tumultuous times, the human spirit is capable of constructing cathedrals of thought that touch the edges of the divine.
The essence of Eriugena’s philosophy lies in his dialectical method and his unwavering belief that true religion and true philosophy are identical. He walked a razor's edge, balancing the authority of Scripture with the dictates of rationality, famously asserting that authority proceeds from true reason, not the other way around. This intellectual audacity made him a solitary giant, a man who engaged in a dialogue with the infinite while surrounded by a world focused on survival. To understand Eriugena is to understand the bridge between the ancient Greek metaphysical tradition and the scholasticism of the high Middle Ages; he represents the moment when the West began to think for itself again, using the tools of logic to dissect the mysteries of faith.
50 Popular Quotes from John Scottus Eriugena
The Four Divisions of Nature
"Nature is the general name, as we said, for all things, for those that are and those that are not."
This foundational statement from the opening of the *Periphyseon* establishes the immense scope of Eriugena's inquiry. He redefines "Nature" not merely as the physical world, but as the totality of reality, encompassing both the created universe and the divine essence. By including "those that are not," he incorporates God, who transcends being, and the unformed potential of the cosmos. It sets the stage for his fourfold division of all reality.
"The first division of Nature is that which creates and is not created."
Here, Eriugena identifies the first form of nature as God in His primordial source. This is the uncaused cause, the Alpha, the origin from which all existence flows yet which remains distinct from the created order. It highlights the absolute sovereignty and independence of the Divine principle before any manifestation occurs.
"The second division is that which is created and creates."
This refers to the realm of the "Primordial Causes" or Platonic ideas, such as Goodness, Being, and Life. Eriugena posits that these archetypes are created by God but serve as the creative patterns for the physical world. This concept bridges the gap between the infinite Creator and the finite universe, acting as the divine blueprint for reality.
"The third division is that which is created and does not create."
This category encompasses the known universe, the world of space, time, and sensory experience. It includes humans, animals, plants, and inanimate objects—entities that are effects of the Primordial Causes but do not possess the power to generate new essences. It represents the furthest point of the divine procession into multiplicity and matter.
"The fourth division is that which neither creates nor is created."
In a stunning dialectical twist, Eriugena identifies this final division as God again, but viewed as the End or Omega. This is the state of the universe after the final return, where all things are reabsorbed into the Divine, finding their rest. It signifies that God is the goal of all creation, the stillness where the creative act ceases because perfection has been re-attained.
"God is the beginning, middle, and end of the universe."
This quote encapsulates the cyclical nature of Eriugena’s cosmology, derived from Neoplatonic thought. God is the source (beginning), the sustaining power within creation (middle), and the final destination (end). It suggests a dynamic universe that is a divine journey out from unity into diversity and back to unity.
"The universe is a great theophany, a manifestation of God."
Eriugena challenges the strict dualism between Creator and creation by suggesting the world is God making Himself visible. Every rock, tree, and star is a sign or symbol of the divine nature, allowing the invisible to be known through the visible. This idea borders on pantheism but is carefully nuanced as a form of panentheism—God is in all things, but also beyond them.
"Just as the intellect is not the mind itself, but the movement of the mind, so the creation is the movement of God."
This analogy helps explain the relationship between the static essence of God and the dynamic reality of the world. Creation is not a separate object manufactured by God, but rather His active thinking or willing. The universe is the divine mind in motion, expressing itself through time and space.
"There is nothing in the visible and material world that does not signify something invisible and immaterial."
Eriugena views the physical world as a vast book of symbols, where every material object points to a higher spiritual reality. This sacramental view of nature implies that studying the natural world is a way of decoding divine mysteries. It elevates the study of physics and nature to a theological discipline.
"The return of all things to God is not the destruction of their nature, but their elevation to a higher state."
Addressing the fear that reabsorption into God means annihilation, Eriugena argues for a transformation rather than destruction. Just as air illuminated by the sun does not cease to be air but becomes full of light, the soul returning to God retains its identity while being wholly suffused with divinity. It offers a hopeful eschatology of restoration.
The Ineffability of God and Negative Theology
"God is not a 'what', but a 'that'."
This distinction emphasizes that while we can know *that* God exists, we can never define *what* God is. To define God is to limit Him, placing Him within a category of being, whereas God is the source of all categories. This supports the apophatic tradition, which asserts that God is beyond all human comprehension and definition.
"We do not know what God is. God Himself does not know what He is because He is not any 'what'."
This is perhaps Eriugena’s most provocative statement, suggesting that God transcends the category of "essence" or "quiddity." If God knew "what" He was, He would be defined and limited by that definition; therefore, His infinite nature means He is undefined even to Himself. It underscores the absolute, boundless freedom of the Divine.
"God is called 'Nothing' because of His excellence."
Eriugena uses the term "Nothing" (Nihil) not to denote a lack of existence, but a transcendence of existence. God is "No-thing" because He is beyond all things that can be grasped by the intellect or senses. This "divine nothingness" is actually a super-abundance of being, too bright for the human mind to perceive.
"Every affirmation regarding God is actually a negation."
When we say "God is Good," we are actually saying "God is not not-good," but His goodness is infinitely beyond our concept of goodness. Eriugena teaches that affirmative theology (saying what God is) must always be corrected by negative theology (saying what God is not). This dialectic prevents idolatry of concepts.
"God is the Super-Essential, the Super-Living, the Super-Wise."
To speak of God, Eriugena employs the prefix "super" (or "hyper" in Greek) to indicate that God possesses these qualities in a way that transcends our understanding. He is not merely "being" but "more-than-being." This linguistic strategy attempts to point toward the infinite without limiting it.
"The divine nature is the shadow of the truth."
This poetic paradox suggests that what we perceive as the "truth" in this world is merely a shadow cast by the blinding reality of God. Alternatively, it implies that our theological concepts are merely shadows compared to the direct experience of the Divine. It calls for humility in all theological and philosophical discourse.
"God is the essence of all things."
This statement was often cited by his critics as evidence of pantheism, but Eriugena meant it in a causal sense. God is the sustaining reality that keeps things in existence; without His presence, they would vanish into nothingness. He is the "being" of all beings, the fundamental ground of reality.
"To be created is to be known by God."
Eriugena links ontology (being) with epistemology (knowing). A thing exists only insofar as it exists in the mind of God; His knowledge is the cause of its existence. Therefore, we are thoughts in the divine mind, given substance by His will.
"God moves and is moved."
This challenges the Aristotelian notion of the "Unmoved Mover." For Eriugena, God "moves" in the sense that He goes out into creation through His energies, and He is "moved" in the sense that He attracts all things back to Himself as the object of their desire. It depicts a God of dynamic love rather than static isolation.
"The divine ignorance is truer than human wisdom."
Acknowledging that we cannot comprehend God is the highest form of wisdom. The moment we think we have grasped God, we have lost Him; true theology ends in silence and awe. This "learned ignorance" is the pinnacle of Eriugena's mystical path.
Reason, Authority, and the Human Mind
"Authority proceeds from true reason, but reason certainly does not proceed from authority."
This is Eriugena’s declaration of independence for philosophy, a revolutionary stance in the 9th century. He argues that authority (scripture/tradition) is merely the truth discovered by reason in the past and written down. Therefore, reason is the primary tool for uncovering truth, and authority must be interpreted through the lens of reason.
"True religion is true philosophy, and true philosophy is true religion."
Eriugena refuses to separate faith and intellect into two different compartments. He believes the search for wisdom (philosophy) and the worship of God (religion) are the same path. This synthesis anticipates the scholastic efforts of Aquinas but relies more heavily on Platonic illumination than Aristotelian logic.
"Reason is the eye of the soul."
Just as the eye needs light to see, the reason needs divine illumination to understand, but it remains the essential organ of perception. Without reason, the soul is blind to the spiritual realities hidden within the text of Scripture and the book of Nature. It elevates the status of human intellect as a divine gift.
"We must not be afraid to follow reason wherever it leads."
This quote showcases Eriugena’s intellectual courage and lack of dogmatic fear. He believed that since all truth comes from God, honest rational inquiry could never lead away from God, even if it led to conclusions that contradicted popular opinion. It is a rallying cry for free thinkers throughout history.
"Scripture is a forest where we can find infinite meanings."
Eriugena approached biblical exegesis with a poetic and allegorical mindset. He believed the text was dense and multi-layered, capable of yielding different truths to different minds according to their capacity. This rejects a strictly literalist interpretation in favor of a spiritual reading.
"The human mind is the image of the Trinity."
Following Augustine, Eriugena sees the structure of the human mind—being, wisdom, and life—as a mirror of the Divine Trinity. By understanding ourselves, we can begin to understand the nature of God. This introspection is a key method in his philosophical anthropology.
"Man is a certain intellectual concept formed eternally in the mind of God."
This defines human identity not by our biological existence but by our eternal idea within the Creator. Our true self is the one that exists in God's mind, and our earthly life is a journey to realize that archetype. It gives human dignity a metaphysical foundation.
"Understanding is the movement of the rational creature around its Creator."
The act of thinking and understanding is described as a liturgical dance. The mind orbits God, seeking to comprehend the center of all things. Intellectual activity is thus portrayed as a form of worship and cosmic alignment.
"Nothing is more hidden than God, yet nothing is more manifest."
This paradox highlights the dialectic of visibility. God is hidden in His essence but manifest in His creation. The wise man sees God everywhere, while the fool sees Him nowhere. It suggests that perception depends on the state of the observer's soul.
"The literal sense of Scripture is the body; the spiritual sense is the soul."
Eriugena prioritizes the allegorical and mystical interpretation of the Bible. Just as the soul is more important than the body, the spiritual meaning of the text is superior to the historical or literal details. This allows him to reconcile difficult biblical passages with his philosophical system.
Creation as Theophany and Procession
"Creation is the manifestation of the hidden."
The act of creating is the process of bringing what is hidden in the divine mind into the light of existence. The universe is God turning "inside out," revealing His inner treasures. This implies that the world is a revelation as sacred as Scripture.
"Everything that is, is a light."
Drawing on the metaphysics of light, Eriugena suggests that existence itself is a form of illumination. Every creature radiates the fact of its existence, testifying to the Light from which it came. This creates a vision of a luminous universe where matter is essentially trapped light.
"God creates all things out of nothing, that is, out of His own super-essentiality."
Eriugena reinterprets the doctrine of *creatio ex nihilo*. The "nothing" from which God creates is not a void, but God Himself, who is "No-thing." Thus, creation is God giving of Himself to establish the other.
"The primordial causes are the beginning of all things."
These causes (Goodness, Essence, Life, Reason) serve as the intermediaries between the One and the Many. They are the primary colors from which the complex painting of the universe is mixed. Understanding these causes is the key to understanding the structure of reality.
"Matter is nothing else but a composition of accidents."
Anticipating modern physics in a strange way, Eriugena argues that "matter" has no substantial reality of its own. It is merely a bundle of qualities (color, shape, weight) held together. If you strip away the qualities, no "stuff" remains, suggesting the physical world is more mental or spiritual than it appears.
"Space and time are not realities in themselves, but conditions of potentiality."
Eriugena views space and time as definitions or limits placed upon created things, not absolute containers. They exist only for the finite; in the mind of God, all is simultaneous and present. This relativizes the physical dimensions of the universe.
"Man is the workshop of all creation."
Humanity holds a central place in Eriugena’s cosmos. Man contains within himself the mineral, vegetable, animal, and angelic natures. We are the microcosm where the universe becomes conscious of itself.
"In man, the universe is summed up."
Because humans bridge the gap between the material (body) and the spiritual (mind), we are the nexus of the cosmos. The redemption of man therefore implies the redemption of the entire physical universe. We are the priests of nature.
"Evil has no substance; it is merely the absence of good."
Following the Neoplatonic tradition, Eriugena denies that evil is a real force or created thing. It is a deprivation, a hole in the fabric of reality, a mistake of the will. This ontology of evil prevents dualism and maintains the goodness of the Creator.
"The diversity of things is the beauty of the universe."
While unity is the source, diversity is the aesthetic expression of God's glory. The vast array of different creatures creates a harmony, like different notes in a song. Eriugena values the multiplicity of the world as a necessary expression of the infinite.
The Return (Reditus) and Universal Salvation
"The end of all motion is rest."
All things in the universe are in motion because they desire their source. Once they return to their source (God), motion ceases and they find eternal rest. This physics of desire explains the trajectory of all life.
"All things proceed from the One and return to the One."
This is the fundamental heartbeat of Eriugena’s system: Procession (exitus) and Return (reditus). History is a great circle. The end is the beginning, but enriched by the journey through existence.
"Hell is not a place, but a state of the will."
Eriugena psychologizes the concept of hell. It is not a physical torture chamber, but the torment of a will that refuses to accept the truth. It is the friction between a perverse desire and the reality of God's love.
"The punishment of the wicked is the inability to sin."
In the final return, God will be all in all. The wicked will be restrained by the overwhelming presence of Truth, unable to exercise their perverse will. Their torment is the frustration of their desire to be separate from God.
"Salvation is the restoration of the image of God."
Sin obscured the divine image in man; salvation is the polishing of the mirror so it reflects God clearly again. It is a return to our true nature, not the addition of something foreign. To be saved is to become fully human.
"There will be no sex in the resurrected body, only humanity."
Eriugena believed the division of sexes was a result of the Fall or a provision for it. In the perfect state, we will transcend biological gender and exist as pure, unified humanity, similar to the angels. This highlights his focus on spiritual unity over physical differentiation.
"The whole human race will eventually be saved."
While controversial, Eriugena leans heavily toward *apocatastasis*—universal reconciliation. He argues that since evil is not substantial, it cannot last forever. Eventually, only God (the Good) will remain, implying a hope that all will return to the source.
"Deification is the destiny of man."
The goal of human life is *theosis*—becoming God. This does not mean we become the Creator by nature, but we participate fully in His life, just as iron in the fire takes on the properties of fire. We become by grace what God is by nature.
"The physical body will be transformed into a spiritual body."
Matter itself will be spiritualized in the final return. The heaviness and mortality of the body will be exchanged for lightness and immortality. The material world is destined to become spirit.
"Let us therefore return to the One, for in Him we find our peace."
This final exhortation summarizes the ethical and spiritual drive of Eriugena’s work. The intellectual journey is ultimately a spiritual pilgrimage. Peace is found only in the reintegration of the fragmented self into the unity of God.
Conclusion
John Scottus Eriugena stands as a monumental figure who dared to illuminate the corridors of the medieval mind with the torch of Greek metaphysics. In an age often characterized by the preservation of the past, Eriugena was a visionary of the future, constructing a cathedral of thought that sought to harmonize the disparate worlds of faith and reason, nature and divinity. His work, the *Periphyseon*, remains one of the most ambitious philosophical achievements of the Middle Ages, offering a vision of the cosmos where every atom is a theophany and every intellect is a participant in the divine drama.
His legacy is complex; though his works were later condemned for their perceived pantheism and radicalism, his influence percolated through the centuries, touching the minds of mystics like Meister Eckhart and idealist philosophers like Hegel. Eriugena reminds us that the human mind is created for the infinite, and that true piety does not fear the questions of reason. Today, as we navigate the conflicts between science and spirituality, Eriugena’s insistence that the book of nature and the book of scripture are authored by the same hand offers a profound path toward integration. He teaches us that we are not strangers in the universe, but expressions of a divine mind on a journey of return to our source.
**What do you think? Is Eriugena’s view of the universe as a "manifestation of God" compatible with modern science? Does his reliance on reason over authority resonate with your own spiritual or philosophical journey? Let us know in the comments below!**
Recommendations
If you enjoyed the mystical and intellectual depth of John Scottus Eriugena, you will find great value in these similar authors on Quotyzen.com:
* Plotinus: The founder of Neoplatonism, whose concept of "The One" and the emanation of the cosmos provided the architectural blueprint for Eriugena’s philosophy.
* Saint Augustine: The giant of Latin theology whose works on the nature of the soul, time, and the Trinity formed the bedrock upon which Eriugena built his synthesis.
* Meister Eckhart: A later medieval mystic whose radical sermons on the "ground of the soul" and the detachment required to know God echo Eriugena’s boldest speculations.