Apophatic Theology

AbstractApophatic theology derives its name from the Greek wordapophanai, meaning “to say no.” Though regularly contrasted with “kataphatic theology,” which seeks to make positive statements about God, apophatic theology cannot be completely equated with negative theology, as is often done. While negating concepts that might be applied to God, apophatic theology affirms that the truth of who God is lies beyond both affirmations and negations about God. It does not, however, imply theological agnosticism. Rather, it leads one to the attitude of wonder and praise of the transcendent God and to knowledge of God by means of a union with God. Hence, it is understandable that the idea of apophatic theology is often allied with mysticism, which, by means of emptying the mind of ideas of God, seeks an individual experience of God which lies beyond such descriptions.