Apophaticism

Um texto enigmático encontra-se em meio aos escritos selecionados que compõem Contra la historia, uma coleção de aforismos e ensaios editada por Esther Seligson com o propósito de difundir os escritos de Cioran no mundo hispanófono quando seus livros estavam começando a ver a luz da tradução espanhola.

This study focuses on the exegesis of Gregory of Nyssa, a 4th century exegete, a Church Father, and one of the three Cappadocian Fathers. The main primary source of my thesis is Gregory’s treatise The Life of Moses, an intriguing example of Patristic exegesis based on the Exodus narrative. The main purpose of Gregory’s treatise is not to make a historical presentation of the journey of Moses and the Israelites, but to elevate the reader into a higher state of consciousness in order to perceive the spiritual meaning of the narrative. The kind of exegesis that Gregory applies is often defined as allegorical interpretation or allegorical exegesis, rich on symbols and enigmas, which was at first neglected in scholarly discussion. Fortunately, there has been a growing interest in Biblical interpretation of the Church Fathers since the mid-20th century. The main objective of my thesis is to focus on Gregory’s interpretations of topographical imagery presented in the Exodus narrative. Greg...

This course examines the religious dimension of human experience; that is, some of the "big questions" that many do not want or even dare to ask before they absolutely have to. It focuses on the issues of God's existence, possibility of knowing and saying anything about God, compatibility of the notions of a loving God and evil in the world, and the understanding of God in major world religions. Course Goals: By the end of this course students should be motivated to think about the God-question with the seriousness it deserves, express their convictions clearly, fairly, and astutely, and respect those who have a different understanding of God.

Not only the question, but the reality of selfhood is basic to all thought and action. Patristic, theological anthropology addresses both the question and the reality by framing man not only in terms of his divine origin through the inbreathing of the spirit of life by God, but also and especially as the one who ontologically bears God's image. According to this anthropology, to bear God's image is what it means for man to be man, and so no profound anthropological knowledge of man can be obtained apart from this revealed theological truth. In the Patris-tic, Orthodox theology of the East, however, the apophatic dimension of God's essence is preeminently emphasized , and as such the supra-rational mystery of God is highlighted, 50 Joshua Schooping a mystery not only in the sense of exceeding gnoseological or epistemological limits but mystery of an ontological nature. Yet what is arguably underdiscussed is the impact this emphasis on apophaticism has on anthropology, specifically as regards man's experience of God in terms of man's own mysterious, divinely apophatic, albeit created, nature. Since man is made in God's image, and God is ultimately and essentially mysterious, then in a very profound sense the imago dei that is man must also bear the image of this apophatic mystery as a fundamental dimension of his own being. Looking primarily at the work of two Twentieth Century Orthodox theologians, the present research attempts to demonstrate the consequence of divine apophaticism on theological anthropology, not only with an eye towards its dogmatic logicality, but with reference to the necessary bond of theology, spiritual life, and spiritual practice, specifically hesychasm and nepsis.

In Clement of Alexandria, the three ways of knowing God appear implicitly in the form: the way of analogy, the way of negation (in the mathematical version) and the way of eminence. A basic aspect of the negation appears as an expression of Clementine criticism on antropomorphism. The Platonic traditional model of via negativa is related to the mathematical theory of abstraction and is defined as a denial of the material things in order to reach the contemplation of God through pure mind: “we start by abstracting the surface, and we are left with the line; we abstract the line, and we are left with the point; we abstract the point, or strictly speaking the monad, and we are then precipitated into the greatness of Christ” (Stromateis V.11.71.2). Clement of Alexandria is, also, one of the authors who emphasize silence and prayer as having great importance in the knowledge process. The cessation of the activity of the senses leads to the supreme state of contemplation with pure mind. Silence becomes, in this way, a symbol of God, and knowledge – not a matter of speaking, but of being.

Keywords: Clement of Alexandria, Platonic Tradition, knowledge of God, abstractive way, analysis, aphairesis, silence.

http://dx.doi.org/10.21697/2016.52.2.04

Some theorists argue that religion relates to politics in one of two ways: either it asserts its authority over the public sphere or it withdraws from the world in preference for spiritual concerns. In response, this special issue offers an expanded vision of what political theology can contribute to public reflection. Against those who appropriate divine authority in support of a given regime, Jewish and Christian negative theology argues that God is radically elusive. Where resistance movements sometimes struggle to transition from opposition to governance, negative theology models a critique that allows for robust affirmation. Although the tradition does not directly address democratic politics, it demonstrates that a commitment to radical transformation does not rule out the compromise required to enact concrete policies. In this way, negative theology offers resources for addressing the crises that currently threaten democratic politics in the West.

I present and discuss recent work in analytic philosophy of religion on apophaticism and divine ineffability. I focus on three questions: how can we call God ineffable without contradicting ourselves? How can we refer to an ineffable God? What is the point of talking about an ineffable God?

In Berdyaev’s notion of freedom the borders between theology and philosophy seem to fall down. The same existential concern for spiritual freedom is at the heart of both theology and philosophy. From the point of view of existential philosophy as Berdyaev understands it, only a theologically informed account of freedom, could do justice to the concept of freedom. But a freedom determined by God is not what Berdyaev had in mind as representing authentic freedom. It was necessary for him to reinterpret Jakob Boehme’s concept of Ungrund to arrive at a notion of uncreated freedom that both God and man share. But the articulation of this freedom, and an account of it within our fallen world could only be done as a philosophical pursuit. To arrive at the authentic understanding of spiritual freedom, that is theologically informed, Berdyaev believes that a philosophical rejection of erroneous views of freedom should take place. The articulation of the notion of freedom that does justice to the complexity of the existential situation of both God and man is not for Berdyaev a purpose in itself. The purpose is the arrival at a non-objectified knowledge of freedom that would inform a theologically committed existential attitude.

Apophaticism - the view that God is both indescribable and inconceivable - is one of the great medieval traditions of philosophical thought about God, but it is largely overlooked by analytic philosophers of religion. This paper attempts to rehabilitate apophaticism as a serious philosophical option. We provide a clear formulation of the position, examine what could appropriately be said and thought about God if apophaticism is true, and consider ways to address the charge that apophaticism is self-defeating. In so doing we draw on recent work in the philosophy of language, touching on issues such as the nature of negation, category mistakes, fictionalism, and reductionism.

In this chapter, we examine a few potential problems when inquiring into the ethics of medieval Christian and Islamic mystical traditions: First, there are terminological and methodological worries about defining mysticism and doing comparative philosophy in general. Second, assuming that the Divine represents the highest Good in such traditions, and given the apophaticism on the part of many mystics in both religions, there is a question of whether or not such traditions can provide a coherent theory of value. Finally, the antinomian tendencies and emphasis on passivity of some mystics might lead one to wonder whether their prescriptive exhortations can constitute a coherent theory of right action. We tackle each of these concerns in turn and discuss how they might be addressed, in an attempt to show how medieval mysticism, as a fundamentally practical enterprise, deserves more attention from practical and moral philosophy than it has thus far received.

Negative theology developed by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite is hardly considered as a consistent doctrine. The aim of this paper is to provide a coherent and extensive interpretation of its claims. I shall argue that the theory of negative theology consist in four theses concerning God’s positive and negative properties and his unknowability. Afterwards I will propose and discuss three consistent logical interpretations of that theory.  Only one of these interpretations covers all the theses of negative theology and therefore is a preferable one.

The Author proposes to describe the possible foundations of a Trinitarian theism that may be a philosophically adequate translation of the Johannine declaration: " God is love " , introduced by some contemporary thinkers as a key to resolving some aporias within classic theism. This is done by way of analysis of Trinitarian ontology and relational ontology, for which there is an attempt to provide a shareable phenomenological basis. The paper then goes on to questions of epistemology (hyperphatic theology) linked to the ability of human reason and human language to express the categories introduced in this analysis, categories that are nothing else but a renewed philosophical appreciation of the terminology proper to Trinitarian speculation.

Sommario: L'autore si propone di descrivere i possibili fondamenti di un teismo trinitario che sia una traduzione filosoficamente adeguata dell'affermazione giovannea " Dio è amore " , introdotta da alcuni pensatori contemporanei come chiave di volta per risolvere alcune aporie interne al teismo classico. Il percorso descritto passa attraverso l'analisi dell'ontologia trinitaria e dell'ontologia relazionale, alle quali si tenta di fornire una base fenomenologica condivisibile. Per poi spostarsi su questioni di epistemologia (teologia iperfatica) legate alla capacità della nostra ragione e del nostro linguaggio di esprimere le categorie introdotte nell'analisi, le quali non sono altro che la rivalutazione filosofica della terminologia propria della speculazione trinitaria.

The words we determine for God; form the God determined by words: Dare we speak of God? The possibility and potency of this question, lies not only in what can be said of God, but how it can be spoken; whether through positive terms of affirmation, or through finding a way beyond words by negating their defining ability. These two approaches positive/negative, kataphatic/apophatic, not only cut through the use of theological language, but down to the very heart of who we say God is (not). Religion prides itself on the positive pronouncements it can make on God, however in the postmodern return to religion a resurgence of interest among thinkers has opened up toward negative theology, seeking to find what religion cannot say. Works such as Caputo's The Mystical Element in Heidegger's Thought, Rollins's How (Not) to Speak of God, and Keller's Cloud of the Impossible, have all incorporated aspects of negative theology with philosophy in a postsecular context. This creative flirtation between philosophy and negative theology has helped spark a colour and a play between both these disciplines of thought. However, on the whole, an eastern apophatic tradition has remained largely foreign and little grasped, even by western theologians let alone continental philosophers. It is these different traditions of negative theology, east and west, that I want to briefly explore in this article: how they differ in approach, their distinctive features, and the types of problems encountered in apophatic theology. Moreover, is there perhaps something in negative theology that, if we are not careful, instead of returning us to the hidden depth of God, only reinforces our dependence on dogmatism?

Although mendicant poverty has been critiqued both practically and theologically in recent years, it captures an insight into ontological reality as contingent beings that Francis of Assisi aimed to capture in his Canticle of the Creatures, and one that should be explored more deeply. Through a reading of the Franciscans Bonaventure and Angela of Foligno and the Dominican Meister Eckhart, this essay explores the evocative power of radical poverty as a spiritual practice and theological symbol. Indeed, I will argue that the theological significance of the " symbol " of poverty emerges properly only through the embodied practice of evangelical poverty itself. In this light, the theoretical critiques of poverty remain just and only that – anemic theoretical dismissals without a lived sense of practice. If Paul Ricoeur has rightly argued that " the symbol gives rise to thought, " we might add, in this case, practice gives rise to symbol.

What cannot be said about God, and how can we speak about God by negating what we say? Travelling across prominent negators, denialists, ineffectualists, paradoxographers, naysayers, ignorance-pretenders, unknowers, I-don’t-knowers, and taciturns, Unsaying God: Negative Theology in Medieval Islam delves into the negative theological movements that flourished in the first seven centuries of Islam.

Kars argues that there were multiple and often competing strategies for self-negating speech in the vast field of theology. By focusing on Arabic and Persian textual sources, the book defines four distinct yet interconnected paths of negative speech formation on the nature of God that circulated in medieval the Islamic world. Expanding its scope to Jewish intellectuals, Unsaying God also demonstrates that religious boundaries were easily transgressed as scholars from diverse sectarian or religious backgrounds could adopt similar paths of negative speech on God.

This is the first book-length study of negative theology in Islam. As an introductory work, it aims to encompass vast fields of scholarship, and diverse intellectual schools and figures. Throughout, Kars demonstrates how seemingly different genres should be read in a more connected way in light of the cultural and intellectual history of Islam instead of considering them as different opposing sets of orthodoxies and heterodoxies.

The article looks at the influences on Gregory of Nyssa's apophatic theology, and shows how the polemics with the neo-Arian Eunomius and later also with Origen influenced his notions of God's infinity and the infinity of human spiritual progress. It focuses on the relationship between revelation in words and in silence, between participatory knowledge of God and participatory unknowing of God, the kind of darkness that, according to Gregory leads towards restoration, and thus carries on the graced human journey of deification.

In this paper I present the particular proposition of Maximus the Confessor (c. 580-662) for the relation between History and Ontology. I claim that the point of departure is an apophatic Theology, in which God (in-Himself) is beyond not only essence but also being in general. The other side of this apophatic Theology is a cosmology in which created being is presented as lacking ontology, as it is perpetually threatened by non-being. Consequently, in the Maximian Christian perspective, the locus of ontology is Christology, since Christ unites God who is beyond being with created existence which is not “yet” being. This Christological Ontology cannot but be eschatological in character, since it is in the eschaton that created existence, which is not “yet” being, finally acquires an ontological character through the full manifestation of the consequences of the hypostatical union. But Christology is equally the locus of union between Ontology and History. In Maximian thought, this is formulated through a “dromic” metaphysic, where we witness the passage of “being” from potentiality to eschatological full actualization. We shall witness how this passage leaves room for historical contingency and surprise through the antinomic notions of “potentiality” (δύναμις), “habit” (ἕξις), “actualization” (ἐνέργεια), “inoperativity” (ἀργία) and “repose” (στάσις). We will conclude by pointing that this itinerary of ontological accomplishment is ecclesiological, i.e. a common way, as in the etymology of the word syn-od.

A direct experience of God’s presence, identified as “uncreated light” is found in the theophanic experiences. In this “mystical realism”  of the divine-human communion, God is manifesting Himself as absolutely transcendent and immanent at the same time.  This theological description of the light of Christ’s Face, consisting in different views of God, is a theology of facts. Such an “aesthetics of apophaticism” (the beauty of the body, participating in the light of grace) “visible” in the bodies of ascetics, a theology of “brightness”, may explain, also, the spirituality of light founded in the contemporary monastic theology (Seraphim of Sarov, Siluan the Athonite, Sophrony Sakharov or Paisios the Athonite). Anthropo-phanie as “aesthetics of apophaticism”, i.e. theophanic experience of the past and present “Holy Fathers”, is also reflected in mystical theology of Father Stăniloae by: 1) “intermediary apophaticism” 2) “transfiguration” of the heart 3) “blazing face” of man 4) “Face of Christ” (divine energies, irradiated in His human face).

ABSTRACT. The “shining face” theology as luminous metamorphosis of a visionary has experienced three great challenges: the anthropomorphic controversy, iconoclastic debate and the hesychast dispute. This study attempts to make a mystagogical connection between those three theological developments which are standing all together in God’s holy fire with the ‘unveiled face’. I have imposed myself a line of research into the contemplative spirituality field, which in fact represents a hermeneutical trajectory: Glory in the NT (hidden-revealed or being-energies) – Glory in the NT (theosis as Christification) – pre-nicene  Christology (eikonic and apophatic Light / glory) – Desert  Fathers (“shining face” christology) – Efrem the Syrian (clothing metaphore) – Dionysius the Areopagite (veils of theurgic rays and Christ’s Presence as immanent transcendence or as tension between transcendent hiddenness and revelation) – Palamas hesychasm (christology of the uncreated light). I am the first who calls the light from the "Shining Faces" of the Desert Fathers as an uncreated light and a discovery of a Hidden pre-Nicene (apophatic) Christology. I have to emphasize that because these two aspects of my ‘disclosure’ (meaning ‘uncreated’  light and ‘hidden christology’ to the Desert Fathers) were inspired to me by the readings in the field of palamite theology which consider that this light of the ascet’s glowing face to be an uncreated light experienced by the body (aesthetically), an inner presence of Christ who identifies himself with His light (apophatic), He Himself being the deifying light as uncreated divine gift. All studies in the late antiquity ignore this visionary experience, reducing it to the level of a simple metaphor of light (completing the ascetic quest for “real self”), a metaphor in which the saint’s life is hagiographically (mystifying!) described. A second reason for this ‘blindness’ was a restraint coming from the Evagrian theology that draws attention to the danger of seeking visionary experiences, because in that light there is the risk of an illusory or deceitful demonic appearance. Another reason represints the fact that the hesychast controversy and the theology of the uncreated light as divine energy of the Saint Gregory Palamas’ theology (which in Western media has long been discredited as heretical) have played a negative role in accepting the nature of uncreated light into the “shining face” Christology of the Desert Fathers.

This is a paper for those for whom prayer has become a problem. Part of growing up is learning how to work in this world. Work is the effort and skill put to the service of applying means to some end. Almost anything we do in life can be conceived of in terms of work, it is natural then that one's life of prayer might be thought of thusly as well. However, this is a mistake that will guarantee that the spiritual lifeblood of one's prayer life will soon run out. Prayer does not work. I conclude that "living" is a better metaphor for what happens in prayer. To get there I utilize the framework of Paul Tillich and suggest that Centering Prayer can be a practice suitable to reconnecting the surface of life, ecstatically, with its depths.

Abstract: In this study we will try to present the iconographic tradition as a form of visual theology, though it is difficult to conceptualize what it used to be like in the immediate presence of God. The Transfiguration is one of the keys that can unlock the mystery of our eschatological fate, glorified body and the participation in the energies of God. All the ascetics who had the experience of the uncreated light or were transfigures themselves describe it in very similar way and connect it with the Transfiguration of Christ. It is only in later hesychasm that we are assured theologically that these experiences were in the body. Within this context, liturgical art and aesthetics differ from secular aesthetics, as being beyond the five senses and beyond the art itself. The Fathers, from Origen to John of Damascus, refer to Christ as the visible image and consubstantial icon of the Father. Icons were anything more than vessels of the grace of God and suggest the real presence of the grace of the depicted person. In the Old Testament, God denied the wish of anyone who asked to see him directly. The desire to see God was impossible before the Incarnation of Christ. The mosaic of the Transfiguration in St Catherine Monastery on Mount Sinai shows a completely glorified Christ with eight rays emanating from his body and introduces the luminous mandorla, a symbol that symbolizes the glory of God. The mandorla of the Sinai mosaic is oval, whereas the mandorla of the Rabbula Gospels is round. These two types express the glory of God in different way, highlighting the correspondence between theological concepts and the visual language. Mandorla expresses visually the Jewish concept of kabod, that connoted a more physical, concrete presence than the abstract meaning of δόξα. Certain scholars separate two main meanings of kabod: shekinah (from shakan, “to live in a tent” or simply “to dwell”) and yeqara (from yqr, the sensory splendor of light), in order to express this visual manifestation of the two natures of Christ. So, the oval mandorla corresponds with the luminous characterists of the kabod as yeqara. Here, the three concentric oval layers, increasingly dark, represent the depiction of the excessive divine light as the darkness of the incognoscibility of God, even in revelation. The round mandorla, on the other hand, represents the manifestation of the kabod-glory of God as shekinah/tabernacle. Here, the emphasis on the spatial rather than luminous nature of mandorla described the glimpse of the Trinity, as opposed to a less-historicized reading that emphasized the continuous splendor of Christ. The Transfiguration enjoyed a renewed interest in fourteenth-century theology, and, at the same time, a mysterious complex mandorla made its appearance, the so-called “hesychastic” mandorla (first appears in the churches of Mistras and in manuscripts of the ex-emperor and hesychastic monk, John Cantacuzenos). It consists of a geometric design as two superimposed concave squares (actually a square and a rhombus) inside a circle. These three shapes circle-square-rhombus superimposed on top of each other indicate the Trinity. This ties with Gregory Palamas’s attempt to harmonize the days of the Gospel narratives: “six” (six figures who are visible) and “eight” (adds the two who were invisible but certainly present, the Father and the Holy Spirit). Therefore, in our study we analyze how the icon of the Transfiguration encapsulates the ascetic ascent to deification.

Examining Christos Yannaras’ work has not been the easiest of tasks for non-Greek speaking researchers, mainly because of (a) the absence of translations for the whole spectrum of his contributions –most English translations are quite recent- and (b) the focus on the theological aspects of his work and not on the philosophical ones, due to the research interests of western researchers.

In this paper, I will attempt to summarise Yannaras’ work with help from his recent philosophical autobiography; namely the ‘Six Philosophical Paintings’ (Ἕξι φιλοσοφικὲς ζωγραφιές). Thus, I will try to (a) explain the understanding of apophaticism not as a ‘negative theology’ but as an all-encompassing communal epistemology (a communal justification of apophatic knowledge) which leads to a consistent ‘critical ontology’; (b) to sketch the acknowledgement of the person (πρόσωπον) and of radical relationalism (σχέσις in the sense of ἔρως) as leading to a ‘relational ontology’, an ontology of the person; and (c) to trace the path to this stance towards philosophy and theology as the historical experience of the orthodox East.

Other contributions of Christos Yannaras e.g. the contrasting distinction between ‘ecclesia’ and religion, the freedom of morality, a ‘political theology’ etc. are hereby seen as stemming from the above prioritisation.

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This essay provides a critical approach to the corpus of writings of the late fifth or early sixth-century author who called himself "Dionysius the Areopagite" by emphasising various aspects that would be of interest to modern psychology and theology. One is that Dionysius carefully follows the notion of tradition and historical past developed by his possible readers to make his account more persuasive as a pseudonymous author. This practice is not merely a tendency to share in the identity of the ancient figure he pretended to be. It is also the result of his conscious affiliation with the Christian collective identity of his own time. Another aspect is that he employed several beliefs about angels of his time to educate his readers about God and to provide them with a model for their own life and social behavior as a Christian community. He also provided them with an important exposition of the sacraments and analyzed them in a way that clarifies their role for the spiritual growth of a human being within that religious framework. A further aspect of interest is the theory of knowledge that he outlines within the same framework. The community is responsible for both the initiation of those who wish to become members of it and the development of its initiates by making use of religious texts and hymns. They are used in a way that takes into account the individual needs of humans. The same is true of the sensible symbols which consider that humans are composed of both body and soul. These elements suggest a kind of theological pedagogy provided by the community. A final aspect is that the initiates to this body use the means provided by it to approach the transcendent God, before whom they become aware of their existential limits.

This essay points out the relevance of the psychological or theological interpretation of the pseudonym of the Dionysian author and examines selected elements from each of his works that are remarkable in the context of the history of psychology and also of the Christian religion.

Link to the encyclopedia: https://link.springer.com/referencework/10.1007/978-3-030-24348-7

This contribution examines neo-Platonic philosophy embedded in the Dionysian legacy not through the linear study of the dispersion and reception of Dionysian texts and ideas, but through its potency within religious, spiritual and creative practices, with a focus on medieval architecture and monumental decoration. By pointing to a number of selected medieval churches (12th to 14th centuries), the essay highlights important Dionysian themes, which are seldom mentioned in relation to medieval architecture – hierarchy, symbolism, and apophaticism. The concept of hierarchy, that historically Dionysius introduced in philosophical texts first, is here examined through the hierarchical organization of monumental church programs and structural design of the church buildings themselves. Dionysian legacy in the symbolism of churches reveals at least two elements critical for the theory of architecture: the type and its derivatives archetype and antitype; and the use of veils and screens. Both are crucial philosophical terms from the Dionysian Corpus, here linked with an architectural “taxonomy” that includes its physical aspects. The examination of the apophaticism points to a participatory approach in design, which underlines the use of architecture to complement the material with the immaterial world as was done within the liturgy.

This study focuses on the exegesis of Gregory of Nyssa, a 4th century exegete, a Church Father, and one of the three Cappadocian Fathers. The main primary source of my thesis is Gregory’s treatise The Life of Moses, an intriguing example of Patristic exegesis based on the Exodus narrative. The main purpose of Gregory’s treatise is not to make a historical presentation of the journey of Moses and the Israelites, but to elevate the reader into a higher state of consciousness in order to perceive the spiritual meaning of the narrative. The kind of
exegesis that Gregory applies is often defined as allegorical interpretation or allegorical exegesis, rich on symbols and enigmas, which was at first neglected in scholarly discussion.
Fortunately, there has been a growing interest in Biblical interpretation of the Church Fathers since the mid-20th century. The main objective of my thesis is to focus on Gregory’s interpretations of topographical
imagery presented in the Exodus narrative. Gregory gives symbolical interpretations to topographical locations: the city, the river, the sea, the desert and the mountain. My intention is to show that Gregory was not thinking of the various symbolical interpretations as independent units but he was seeking for a logical coherent sequence. One of the main objectives of modern research has been the reassessment of Gregory’s
sources. In order to understand Gregory’s exegetical and philosophical concepts and terminology, one must be aware of the rich and profound tradition already established in classical antiquity. Gregory makes moral, ascetical, philosophical and mystical interpretations in relation to each topographical detail. These figurative interpretations are by
no means based on his original ideas but are rooted in the rich tradition of Greek classical culture, as well as in the exegetical tradition of his Jewish and Christian predecessors. My purpose is to provide a systematic analysis of each term Gregory is applying and present an
overall model of Gregory’s exegetical method. The final aim of my thesis is to present an analysis of Gregory’s pattern of topographical
symbols as a whole. Gregory connects the topographical details with his threefold pattern of illumination, purification and participation in a fascinating way. For Gregory, the exodus narrative is a journey of a soul being liberated from the bondage of passions, temptations and
materialism towards an ever-increasing awareness of God’s presence.

The tradition of negative theology has very deep roots which go back to the Late Greek Antiquity and the Early Christian period. Although Dionysius is usually regarded as “the Father” of negative theology, yet he has not initiated a revolution in the religious philosophy, but rather brought together various elements of thinking regarding the knowledge of God and built a system which is a synthesis of Platonic, neo-Platonic and Christian ideas. The aim of this article is to illustrate the views of some more modern theologians on the nature, types and levels of apophaticism in the Greek Patristic tradition, trying to establish the role that negation can play in facilitating man’s attaining to the knowledge of God.

Keywords: negative theology, apophaticism, cataphaticism, mystical experience, transcendence

http://dx.doi.org/10.24204/ejpr.v10i2

There has been a new reception and revival of interest in the Pseudo-Dionysius in recent times both in popular and academic circles which has also impacted on Thomistic scholarship. Scholars roughly from the time of Vatican II onwards have stressed the importance of Pseudo-Dionysius to Thomistic thought in reaction to a previous emphasis on the "Aristotelian" and analytic aspects of Thomistic thought and also as a corrective to the metaphysical move towards univocity made by influential scholastics such as Cajatan, Scotus and Ockham after Thomas himself. Whilst this approach uncovered a largely neglected area,

Vladimir Lossky (1903–58) and Sergii Bulgakov (1871–1944) are normally taken as polar opposites in modern Orthodox theology. Lossky's theology is portrayed as being based on a close exegesis of the Greek Fathers with an emphasis on theosis, the Trinity and the apophatic way of mystical union with God. Bulgakov's ‘sophiology’, in contrast, if it is remembered at all, is said to be a theology which wished to ‘go beyond the Fathers’, was based on German Idealism and the quasi-pantheist and gnostic idea of ‘sophia’ which is a form of the ‘Eternal Feminine’ of Romanticism. In short, Lossky's theological approach is what people normally think of when they speak of Orthodox theology: a form of ‘neo-patristic synthesis’ (Georges Florovsky). Bulgakov's theological approach is said to be typical of the exotic dead end of the inter-war émigré ‘Paris School’ (Alexander Schmemann) or ‘Russian Religious Renaissance’ (Nicolas Zernov). Lossky, we are reminded, was instrumental in the 1935 condemnation, by Metropolitan Sergii Stragorodskii of the Moscow Patriarchate, of Bulgakov's theology as ‘alien’ to the Orthodox Christian faith. Counter to this widely held ‘standard narrative’ of contemporary Orthodox theology, the article argues that the origins of Vladimir Lossky's apophaticism, which he characterised as ‘antinomic theology’, are found within the theological methodology of the sophiology of Sergii Bulgakov: ‘antinomism’. By antinomism is understood that with any theological truth one has two equally necessary affirmations (thesis and antithesis) which are nevertheless logically contradictory. In the face of their conflict, we are forced to hold both thesis and antithesis together through faith. A detailed discussion of Lossky's apophaticism is followed by its comparison to Bulgakov's ‘sophiological antinomism’. Lossky at first appears to be masking the influence of Bulgakov and even goes so far as to read his own form of theological antinomism into the Fathers. Nevertheless, he may well have been consciously appropriating the ‘positive intuitions’ of Bulgakov's thought in order to ‘Orthodoxise’ a thinker he believed was in error but still regarded as the greatest Orthodox theologian of the twentieth century. Despite major differences between the two thinkers (e.g. differing understandings of reason, the use of philosophy and the uncreated/created distinction), it is suggested that Lossky and Bulgakov have more in common than normally is believed to be the case. A critical knowledge of Bulgakov's sophiology is said to be the ‘skeleton key’ for modern Orthodox theology which can help unlock its past, present and future.

This paper traces the seminal notion of khora from the Platonic Timaeus to Derrida's apophatic theology. John Caputo's and Richard Kearney's criticism of the latter are presented and discussed. The essay concludes with an "excursus" to the enigmatic frescos and mosaics of the Monastery of Chora.

This article studies three advocates of the 'apophatic turn' in recent trinitarian theology: Karen Kilby, Sarah Coakley, and Katherine Sonderegger. I evaluate particular uses to which they put apophaticism in relation to the doctrine of the Trinity, dialogically building a case for an integrative approach. I conclude by sketching several constructive implications of this approach.

In this article, I investigate Jean-Luc Marion’s early interpretation of Christian apophaticism with special reference to his reading of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. I observe that the most remarkable, but rarely noted, aspect of this interpretation is Marion’s avoidance of the typical derivation of Dionysius’ negative theology from the Platonic tradition. Instead, he places him in the tradition of the critique of idols in the Old Testament. I argue that this intuition should not be lightly dismissed as early Christian apophaticism was at least partly developed in the context of Christian polemic against pagan idolatry. If Christian apophaticism is understood against this background, Marion’s claim that it foreshadows the modern and postmodern critique of theism appears more plausible than his detractors have been willing to admit.

This chapter identifies a typically late antique phenomenon: the emergence of a pervasive “poetics of silence”, involving a metaliterary problematization of language and representation. This phenomenon, reminiscent of the postmodern “linguistic turn”, is not restricted to the field of literature, but can be defined as omnipresent in late antique culture, underlying Augustine’s semiotics, Evagrius Ponticus’ hesychasm, Gregory of Nyssa’s apophatic theology or Pseudo-Dionysius’ negative mysticism. The chapter focuses on the different ways in which this problem (embodied in the metaphor of silence) is tackled by several authors: Sidonius Apollinaris, Fulgentius, Augustine of Hippo, Ausonius, Rutilus Namatianus and the anonymous writer of the Peruigilium Veneris. At times, silence is depicted as the haven of tranquillity which enables literary creation; at other times, it is a threat of dissolution hovering over the fragility of the poet’s work; most often, it is the deep, ultimately unknowable reality beyond the murmuring of words. Despite this variety, there is something common to all these authors: their problematizing approach to human language and their inner distrust of the classical idea of representation, teetering on the brink of collapse amidst the crisis of certainties that shook the very foundations of late antique society.

" To thinking there remains only the simplest saying of the plainest image in purest reticence. " 1 These words of Heidegger in the Beiträge zur Philosophie (Vom Ereignis) ostensibly coincide with a major tenet of the apophaticism that informed the history of philosophy from Late Antiquity. In this essay, I will reflect on the impact of negative theology on Heidegger's later thinking from the specific vantagepoint of the overcoming of onto-theology as preparation for the appearance of the last god. 2 I will not delineate the textual or historical influences on Heidegger, although, of course, special mention should be made of Meister Eckhart whose mystical thought, including his penchant for the apophatic, surely impressed Heidegger in a significant way, as various scholars have noted. 3 For Heidegger, as he enunciates with more clarity after the

Rowan Williams' attempt to speak for the common good and rein in the extremes of liberal individualism is at the core of his Hegelian co-ordination of ecclesiology and political theology. His is a managerial approach which co-ordinates his Anglican ecclesiology with a Hegelian political theology. Behind the approach of Rowan Williams lies a common liberal Anglican tradition of absorbing large tracts of Hegel's work to forge a political theology that is wedded to a liberal establishment ideology of managing not only the established Church of England and the global Anglican provinces, but also alternately co-opting and marginalising other more orthodox Christian theologies and churches. This paper aims to show how Williams' political thinking was secular from his first publication on politics, a paper on Welsh devolution based on an address given in 1979. This secular approach is rooted in a theological approach that advocates divine retreat from the world. I then analyse critically Williams' reading of Hegel in the three papers he wrote in the 1990s as he climbed the Anglican episcopal ladder. Reading Hegel enables Williams to theologise his secular post-Kantian political theory. I argue that Williams strives to read Hegel in a non-esoteric style, evading the hints towards Hegel's esoteric and pagan roots found in Gillian Rose and Andrew Shanks, to whom he is indebted for his reading of Hegel. Subsequently I show how all this has been incorporated into a managerial approach to types of theology, with an apophatic method peculiar to Williams being employed to manage more kataphatic and orthodox types. The doctrines of eschatology and creation constitute the outer poles of this method. This was the framework for Williams' discussion of the Islamic community in England and modern Palestine in his 2008 speech 'Islam in English Law'. The twin focus on England and Palestine, and on the definitions of religious community appropriated from J. N. Figgis and Gillian Rose, may account for the ambivalence towards the idea of the use of violence by the community in the speech.

Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2015 (in contract, forthcoming).

This volume is an attempt to thoroughly inquire into a subject that has been hinted at, but hitherto never thoroughly researched: namely, the relationship between Ludwig Wittgenstein’s ‘analytic stance’ towards philosophy and the inherently apophatic nature of his epistemology. In using the term ‘apophaticism’ we are not referring to the theological ‘via negativa’ or to tendencies towards mysticism, but rather to a comprehensive epistemological stance that “refuses to identify truth with its formulation and to identify the understanding of the signifier with the knowledge of its signified reality”, to use Christos Yannaras’ definition. Ludwig Wittgenstein’s work can be approached as a particularly efflorescent case of the implementation of an implicitly apophatic epistemology: one of the questions that arise is which ontological proposal could be seen as corresponding to such an epistemology, and what would be the contribution of Wittgenstein’s thought to this ontological proposal. The present volume’s contribution is the attempt to systematically shed more light on this aspect of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s philosophy.