apophatic
1
9.9
- adjective
- /ˌæpəˈfætɪk/
- Formal
:
apofático
- Many religious scholars believe that apophatic theology helps to express the ineffable nature of God by focusing on what cannot be said.
- apophatic theology
- apophatic way
- apophatic experience
Examples
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In an apophatic framework, believers often acknowledge that human language falls short of fully describing God.
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The integration of both the apophatic way and the cataphatic way is the best method of attaining the true vision of the divine light.
Academic text (2015) -
However, according to the claim of the apophatic way, "God is light" more than darkness.
Academic text (2015) -
A completely apophatic approach to mystery would put theology out of business.
Academic text (2007) -
We aspire to, and may eventually enjoy, the apophatic experience.
Academic text (1990) -
The apophatic method is the negation of all material concepts from the inner life or essence of God.
Academic text (2015) -
To arrive at the inconceivable nature of God, humans need to follow the apophatic way of mystical theology.
Academic text (2015) -
Their theology is apophatic, a series of negatives that ultimately lead to communion with divine grace, a supreme positive.
Academic text (2015) -
According to the apophatic theology common to all the Western religious traditions, the Godhead is unknowable and indescribable.
Academic text (1999) -
The apophatic approach emphasizes silence and contemplation over verbal definitions of the divine.
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Apophatic comes from Greek parts apo- ('away from') and phainein ('to show' or 'to speak'), so a helpful way to remember it is that apophatic language talks about God by saying what God is not, rather than what God is.