Changes

This has obvious advantages every negative statement we make of God leads to an affirmative conclusion. For example: the negative statement “God is not a material thing” leads us to the positive conclusion “God has none of the attributes associated with matter”. Furthermore it avoids the problem of misrepresenting God therefore allowing followers to know more about the true God than those who let their ignorance cloud their view of God. These individuals are at risk of misrepresenting God to the extent that what they may worship is not God at all but an arbitrary mental construct. Through the progressive removal of misconceptions and imperfections a follower of the Via Negativa gradually “locates” God through a process of elimination. As Eckhart wrote “The thing I know about God is that I do not know Him.”

This has obvious advantages every negative statement we make of God leads to an affirmative conclusion. For example: the negative statement “God is not a material thing” leads us to the positive conclusion “God has none of the attributes associated with matter”. Furthermore it avoids the problem of misrepresenting God therefore allowing followers to know more about the true God than those who let their ignorance cloud their view of God. These individuals are at risk of misrepresenting God to the extent that what they may worship is not God at all but an arbitrary mental construct. Through the progressive removal of misconceptions and imperfections a follower of the Via Negativa gradually “locates” God through a process of elimination. As Eckhart wrote “The thing I know about God is that I do not know Him.”

On the other hand, the Via Negativa appears to preclude the possibility of having a personal relationship with God even though the Bible appears to show evidence to the contrary. For example, God appears to speak directly to Moses, Saul of Tarsus (Saint Paul) and Noah thus establishing a personal relationship which should be impossible if God is unknowable. The Via Negativa is the method of religious language approved by the Vatican and traditionally used by Roman Catholics.

On the other hand, the Via Negativa appears to preclude the possibility of having a personal relationship with God even though the Bible appears to show evidence to the contrary. For example, God appears to speak directly to Moses, Saul of Tarsus (Saint Paul) and Noah thus establishing a personal relationship which should be impossible if God is unknowable. The Via Negativa is the method of religious language approved by the Vatican and traditionally used by Roman Catholics.