Via Negativa Is The Best Way To Approach Religious Language Flashcards
(15 cards)
Introduction of Via negativa
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The Via Negativa (Apophatic Way) is a theological method that emphasizes only what cannot be said about God.
It stems from the belief that human language is inadequate to describe an infinite, transcendent being.
This is seen in thinkers like Pseudo-Dionysius, who argued that God is “beyond all being and knowledge,” and Maimonides, who believed that to speak positively about God leads to anthropomorphism and theological error.
The Niceness Creed
(Problem of apathetic theology)
The Nicene Creed, central to Christian belief, asserts positive claims such as:
“We believe in one God, the Father… the Almighty… the maker of heaven and earth.”
This raises a problem for apophatic theology, as such affirmations seem contradictory to the principles of the Via Negativa.
St Cyril of Jerusalem
St Cyril of Jerusalem supports apophatic humility: “We have not exact knowledge concerning Him…” while Tertullian argues that our very incapacity to comprehend God gives us insight into His nature. Maimonides adds, “we find a screen and partition between God and us.”
Aquinas
In contrast, Aquinas’ doctrine of analogy offers a more nuanced solution. While he rejects univocal (same meaning) and equivocal (completely different meaning) uses of language about God, he supports analogical language. This includes:
- Analogy of attribution – where a property belongs primarily to God and only secondarily to creation.
- Analogy of proportion – where terms have meaning in proportion to the nature of the being they’re applied to.
Aquinas also argued in Summa Theologica that God’s essence is unknown to us and that attributes like “good” or “powerful” mean something partly shared between God and creatures, but always limited by God’s timeless, simple nature.
John Millbank
John Milbank and others support the analogical method by highlighting how earthly terms like “healthy” are understood differently depending on their application (e.g. healthy person vs healthy food).
Similarly, God’s attributes are the original source of such qualities, not mere reflections.
Strengths of the Via Negativa
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Avoids anthropomorphism: By refusing to make positive claims about God, it prevents reducing God to human terms.
Encourages spiritual humility: As Maimonides and Tertullian note, it promotes awareness of the limits of human understanding.
Supports apophatic spirituality: It provides a mystical path for individuals who prefer interior, silent, or contemplative forms of worship.
Acts as a brake on naïve literalism: It protects religious belief from being undermined by overly simplistic or materialistic interpretations of scripture and doctrine.
Weaknesses of the Via Negativa
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Incompatible with traditional religious practice: As the Nicene Creed shows, major religious traditions (especially Christianity) rely heavily on positive affirmations.
Dysfunctional for communal worship: Religion, from the Latin religare (“to bind”), depends on shared language. If nothing can be said meaningfully about God, how can a community worship coherently?
Alienates believers: Maimonides’ idea of a “screen and partition” implies that God is unknowable, which could discourage faith, engagement, and spiritual development.
Leads toward deism or vague spirituality: If all attributes are stripped away, God becomes so abstract that people might lose the sense of a personal, relational deity.
The negation of all language may itself be self-defeating – saying “God is not x” still implies a conceptual framework humans have defined.
Strengths of Analogy (Aquinas)
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Balanced approach: Analogy maintains a middle ground – affirming that we can speak about God meaningfully but not literally.
Preserves transcendence and meaning: God remains beyond full comprehension, yet believers can still make sense of language like “God is love” or “God is good.”
Philosophically rigorous: Aquinas shows that analogical terms can be logically defended as referring to God in a way proportionate to our understanding.
Coheres with religious experience: Believers intuitively sense that saying “God is good” means more than just denying evil, but not in exactly the same way as saying “this cake is good.”
Ian Ramsey builds on Aquinas by suggesting qualifiers like “timelessly good” or “infinitely wise” to guide interpretation and avoid misunderstanding.
Supported by contemporary Thomists such as Gerry Hughes SJ, who argue that analogy reflects both the limitations of language and the rational structure of theological reasoning.
Ian Ramsey
Ian Ramsey builds on Aquinas by suggesting qualifiers like “timelessly good” or “infinitely wise” to guide interpretation and avoid misunderstanding.
Gerry Hughes’s
Thomists such as Gerry Hughes SJ, who argue that analogy reflects both the limitations of language and the rational structure of theological reasoning.
Weaknesses of Analogy
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Still complex: Analogical reasoning is not intuitive for many believers; requires philosophical training to grasp fully.
Limited by its own framework: Some argue it doesn’t fully escape the anthropomorphism it critiques—terms like “father” still carry baggage.
Can blur boundaries: Without clear qualifiers, people may still fall into thinking in univocal terms.
Comparative Judgments
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Compared to the Via Negativa, analogy offers a more practical and doctrinally coherent framework for religious language, especially for traditions that rely on revelation and positive theology (e.g. Christianity).
While the Via Negativa plays a useful role in reminding believers of God’s mystery and transcendence, it fails to sustain a shared religious language or make sense of theological claims that form the core of Christian doctrine.
Aquinas’ analogy respects the mystery of God, like the apophatic method does, but without sacrificing the possibility of meaningful worship, doctrine, or moral guidance.
Cataphatic theologians like Anselm and Duns Scotus would reject both the extreme negations of the Via Negativa and the cautious balancing act of analogy. They assert univocalism, where words have the same meaning applied to God and to creatures, especially to defend arguments like the Ontological Argument. However, this leads to anthropomorphic and metaphysical problems, which Aquinas avoids.
Analogy can absorb the insights of the Via Negativa (that God is beyond full human comprehension), but without collapsing into silence or obscurity.
Anselm and Duns Scotus
Cataphatic theologians like Anselm and Duns Scotus would reject both the extreme negations of the Via Negativa and the cautious balancing act of analogy.
They assert univocalism, where words have the same meaning applied to God and to creatures, especially to defend arguments like the Ontological Argument. However, this leads to anthropomorphic and metaphysical problems, which Aquinas avoids.
Conclusion (AO2 - Final Judgement)
The Via Negativa, though intellectually and spiritually valuable, is not the best approach to religious language overall.
It is useful for mystics or philosophers reflecting on God’s transcendence, but too incomplete and abstract to support a living religious tradition grounded in worship, scripture, and shared community belief.
Aquinas’ doctrine of analogy is far better suited for expressing theological truths. It treads a delicate but effective line: God remains beyond human comprehension, but not inaccessible to human understanding. Analogy allows meaningful discourse about God, safeguards doctrinal integrity, and grounds religious practice in something believers can engage with. As such, analogy is a more complete and theologically satisfying model for religious language than the Via Negativa.
