Grice's Abdication

ABDICATUM -- apophatic theology, another expression for apophaticism apophaticism Philosophy of religion Also called apophatic theology or negative theology, a doctrine rejecting our capacity to know God. It belongs mainly to Neoplatonism and eastern Christian thought. Clement of Alexandria is credited with its formulation, and its major exponents include Meister Eckhart and Moses Maimonides. Apophaticism claims that God cannot be conceptualized in any way, nor can God be an object of intellect or sense. No language provides us with real knowledge of God, for he is beyond positive human understanding. The soul can come close to God only through faith and prayer. “Apophaticism teaches us to see above all a negative meaning in the dogmas of the church; it forbids us to follow natural ways of thought and to form concepts that would usurp the place of spiritual realities.” Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church