different between cataphatic vs apophatic

English

Alternative forms

• kataphatic

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ??????????? (kataphatikós, “affirmative”).

Adjective

cataphatic (not comparable)

1. (theology) Pertaining to the expression of God in terms of what God is, rather than in terms of what God is not (apophatic).
2. (by extension) That which actively defines a thing by describing what it is characteristic thereof.

Antonyms

• apophatic

Derived terms

• cataphatically

Related terms

• cataphatism

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ?????????? (apophatikós, “negative”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ap?(?)?fat?k/

Adjective

apophatic (comparative more apophatic, superlative most apophatic)

1. (theology) Pertaining to knowledge of God obtained through negation rather than positive assertions.
   • 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin 2010, p. 488:

     For him, the assertions of Palamas ran counter to the apophatic insistence in Pseudo-Dionysius that God was unknowable in his essence.

   • 2009, Karen Armstrong, The Case for God, Vintage 2010, p. 123:

     Augustine had absorbed the underlying spirit of Greek apophatic theology, but the West did not develop a fully fledged spirituality of silence until the ninth century, when the writings of an unknown Greek author were translated into Latin and achieved near-canonical status in Europe.

2. (by extension) That which passively defines a thing by describing what it is not characteristic thereof.

Antonyms

• cataphatic

Derived terms

• apophatically

Related terms

• apophatism

Translations