via negativa

• the thinker behind the Via Negativa was Pseudo Dionysuis

  • also supported by Maimonides: insisted God was not comparable to anything else - doing so reduces him
• the Via Negativa is the approach to religious language that describes God in terms of what he is not
• the Via Negativa was developed to emphasise God as completely beyond human understanding + to ensure that no language was used that could limit him
• strengths of the Via Negativa:

  • as with analogy, it avoids seeing God as a 'thing'
  • its focus on God's transcendence avoids anthropomorphism when talking about God
  • the focus of the Via Negativa is supported by the mystical tradition of the numinous + the 'wholly other'
• weaknesses of the Via Negativa:

  • most people want to say positive things about God; it is difficult for most people to worship a being referring to entirely in negatives
  • Flew's Parable of the Gardener - death by a thousand qualifications
  • Brian Davies: ship analogy - someone saying what a ship is not is just as likely to lead you to think of a wardrobe as a ship
  • is it possible to worship a God who is described entirely in negative ways?