apophatic

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἀποϕατικός (“negative”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /apə(ʊ)ˈfatɪk/

Adjective

apophatic (comparative more apophatic, superlative most apophatic)

1. Pertaining to knowledge of god obtained through negation rather than positive assertions.
   • 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin 2010, p. 488:

     For him, the assertions of Palamas ran counter to the apophatic insistence in Pseudo-Dionysius that God was unknowable in his essence.

   • 2009, Karen Armstrong, The Case for God, Vintage 2010, p. 123:

     Augustine had absorbed the underlying spirit of Greek apophatic theology, but the West did not develop a fully fledged spirituality of silence until the ninth century, when the writings of an unknown Greek author were translated into Latin and achieved near-canonical status in Europe.

Antonyms

• kataphatic