The Celestial Hierarchy

The Celestial Hierarchy is a primary text traditionally attributed to Dionysius the Areopagite mentioned in the New Testament, but modern scholarship has established it was actually written considerably later by an unknown author working in the Neoplatonic tradition, which is why the atlas lists the author as Pseudo-Dionysius, the standard scholarly convention marking that the traditional attribution is not accepted as historical. As primary scripture within the Christian mystical tradition it is hugely influential, shaping later ideas about angels and mystical ascent. Its limit is exactly that authorship uncertainty, its claims of apostolic era authority are not historically accurate, so it is best read as a highly influential later Christian Neoplatonist text rather than as evidence for first century apostolic teaching.