Apophaticisim

Apophaticisim
- On apophatic theology

It is the practice of studying something by negating characteristics that do not apply to it.

e.g. Apophatic Theology used by Greeks, contrasted with Cataphatic Theology which studies what God is.

On apophatic theology

According to Gregory of Nyssa according to the answer by Anonymous to "What are some examples of the apophatic nature of Orthodox theology" on Quora:

My favorite apophatic theologian is Gregory of Nyssa, the often-overlooked younger brother of Basil the Great.

Gregory's central argument is that God, as an infinite being, cannot actually be comprehended by us finite humans. God is not a dude with a long white beard who sits on a cloud and grants wishes and wants your sports team to win. God is something transcendent and alien whose thoughts we cannot properly grasp or explain.

Imagine a sheer, steep crag, of reddish appearance below, extending into eternity; on top there is this ridge which looks down over a projecting rim into a bottomless chasm. Now imagine what a person would probably experience if he put his foot on the edge of this ridge which overlooks the chasm and found no solid footing nor anything to hold on to. This is what I think the soul experiences when it goes beyond its footing in material things, in its quest for that which has no dimension and which exists from all eternity. For here there is nothing it can take hold of, neither place nor time, neither measure nor anything else; it does not allow our minds to approach. And thus the soul, slipping at every point from what cannot be grasped, becomes dizzy and perplexed and returns once again to what is connatural to it, content now to know merely this about the Transcendent: that it is completely different from the nature of the things that the soul knows.

We know some things that God is not, but we are incapable of understanding what God is. However, we can observe God's "energies" projected into the material world, by God's creation of the universe and God's grace or love entering it.

It is just as in human works of art, where the mind can in a sense see the author if the ordered structure that is before it, inasmuch as he has left his artistry in his work. But notice that what we see here is merely the artistic skill that he has impressed in his work, not the substance of the craftsman. So too, when we consider the order of creation, we form an image not of the substance but of the wisdom of Him Who has done all things wisely.

Much of Gregory's work is devoted to working out the consequences of the idea that we cannot know God, but we can observe God's energies working in ourselves or the universe, though he also has some beautiful mystical writings.

As an example of a practical application of Gregory's apophatic theology that I personally find inspiring, he argues that slavery and poverty are unethical. Unfortunately, I don't have a quote for this, I can't find my copy of On Compassion for the Poor. I'll fill this in if I turn it up.

The idea is that humans have a unique value that requires respect, because they alone are made "in the image of" the unknowable and unworldly God. Poverty and slavery are inconsistent with the dignity and respect due the image of God in all people.