Via negativa/ Apophatic way

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  • Created by: Emily
  • Created on: 12-06-16 13:12

Via negativa/ Apophatic way

Advantages

  • It prevents anthropomorphic statements being made about God.
  • It can be seen as more respectful. Maimonides argued that positive statements about God are improper as they don't fully convey the idea we require.
  • It supports the view of many thinkers, especially mystics, that God is beyond description and that experience of him is ineffable.
  • It can be argued that only the via negativa adequately conveys the transcendence of God.

Disadvantages

  • It could be argued that the result is a very limited understanding of God at best. The method doesn't even work for everyday objects, let alone an all powerful, transcendent God.
  • The via negativa isn't a true reflection of how religious people speak of God. They do not talk in a negative but rather seek positive knowledge of what God is.
  • It seems contrary to the use of language in Scripture, which uses positive statements. It would be contrary to Christian belief to suggest that scripture is wrong or inaccurate.

Evaluation

Brian Davies argues that we could arrive at a mistaken understanding of God through the via negativa, or gain no understanding of God, because of limits of the process of elimination in conveying information. 

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