Apophatic Theology

Apophatic theology, or the latin via negativa, is a method of religious inquiry into the nature of divinity through the use of negative statements.

The apophatic tradition often holds that God's existence is so radically different in scale and kind from that of "His" "Creation" that human imagination fails at every attempt to describe "Him." Thus, a clearer picture of God's work might be born from articulating what "He" is not.

Apophatic thought is a staple of many world religions, including Judaism, Islam, and several mystical traditions. It was typical of early Christianity, but thinkers like Augustine of Hippo, Plotinus, and Gregory of Nyssa pushed the church toward a more kataphatic approach.