Via Negativa and Via Positiva

?
  • Created by: mariam26
  • Created on: 11-11-20 16:36
View mindmap
  • Via Negativa and Via Positiva
    • Via Negativa (or the apophatic way)
      • A way of speaking about what God is not
        • We can only state what GOD IS NOT
          • E.g. "God is not a car."
      • The words we assign to describe God are finite/too small
        • Our language implies limitations
          • By describing God as a 'shepherd' or a 'judge' we imagine an image of what we perceive to be a shepherd or judge
            • TOO LIMITED
      • Pseudo-Dionysius
        • Christian Platonist
        • Followed the via negativa method
        • Believed we cannot comprehend God using the senses or reason
          • We will only end up with an idea of God that is limited
      • Strengths of Via Negativa
        • 1) Although Aquinas believed in the opposite of via negativa he considered it a starting point
        • 2) Allows things to be said about w/o implying that the finite can grasp the infinite
      • Weaknesses of Via Negativa
        • 1) We would never be able to identify an object if we were required to talk of it in negative terms
        • 2) If we deny likening God to humanity then we lose the link of God to the world - if words are so inadequate then no will we ever speak of God
          • W.R.Inge
    • Via Positiva (or the cataphatic way)
      • A way of speaking about God where positive things are said
        • E.g. "God is good."
      • Positive things are what God is believed to be
      • Augustine, Anselm and Aquinas all supported this way of speaking about God
      • Strengths of Via Positiva
        • 1) God's importance and separation with Earth is kept sacred
        • 2) Is one of the most natural ways of talking about God. Religious believers are more inclined to take positively about God
      • Weaknesses of Via Positiva
        • 1)  Statements about God can never be assumed to be true. All experience with God is ineffable
        • 2) Univocal language used ("God is Good") seems to go beyond any human understanding of what 'good' means.

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar Religious Studies resources:

See all Religious Studies resources »See all Philosophy resources »