Apophatic comes from the ancient Gree -- ἀπόφασις -- and means, "to deny."
Kataphatic also comes from the ancient Greek -- κατάφασις -- and means "to affirm."
Most people are most familiar with the kataphatic path, also called via positiva. In theology this is the approach of focusing on what God is -- God is good; God is loving; God is merciful; God is like a playful puppy. (That last one's mine, and I think it's a pretty good description of God -- always there, always glad to see you, always showering you with love ...) The Universalist side of the Unitarian Universalist tradition I serve has sometimes been described as having a theology that can be summed up in just three words: God Is Love. That's unquestionably an example of kataphatic theology.
In theological terms, the apophatic path, the via negativa, focuses on what God is not -- God is not evil, God is not petty, God is not a Buff Santa in a Toga. The Catholic theologian Augustine of Hippo famously said, si comprehendis non est Deus. (I wrote it in the original Latin because this is one of the few Latin phrases I actually know by heart!) "If you understand it, it's not God." This is about as apophatic as you can get -- God is so transcendent, so unknowable, so mysterious that if you think you know something about God, you're wrong.
The theologian Matthew Fox teaches that in Creation Spirituality (not to be confused with Creationism!), there are actually four spiritual paths, which are seen as stages of a journey:
- First, we travel the Via Positiva, in which we experience "awe, delight, amazement."
- Next we find ourselves on the Via Negativa, on which we find "uncertainty, darkness, suffering, letting go."
- This leads us to the Via Creativa, the path of "birthing, creativity, passion."
- Finally we travel the Via Transformativa, were our focus is on "justice, healing, celebration."
Of course, it's not as though this is a one-way trip; there is no straight thru-line. We go in circles, encounter switch backs, find ourselves in the same place but at a greater or lesser altitude, and sometimes just set up camp for a while.
Where do you find your spirit these days? Which of these paths do you think you're on? Do you think you've changed paths over the years? Remember that other terms for "Spiritual Director" are "Spiritual Guide," and "Spiritual Companion." We are all on spiritual journeys, and it can be good to travel with someone who knows something of the terrain. No one can walk anyone else's path(s), yet it can be nice to have a companion with us as we go.
Pax tecum,
RevWik
