The idea in Jewish mysticism is that there is no adequate/accurate thing you can say about God -- that God is un-predicable; no predicates are sufficient. "Lo" ("nothing") is that (God) about which nothing can be said. A similar sentiment is echoed in the Nag Hammadi Codices -- God the ineffable, the incomprehensible, etc. God is that which cannot be described or comprehended. Negative theology. Re. atheists being negative theologians, you'll have to wait until I've surfaced from salmon, turkey, Hannukias, and Christmas paper. Tis the season. Julie Krueger whose favourite time of year used to be Christmas ========Original Message======== Subj: [lit-ideas] Re: Disbelief Date: 12/20/04 11:49:43 A.M. Central Standard Time From: _aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (mailto:aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx) To: _lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (mailto:lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx) , _lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (mailto:lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx) Sent on: Many thanks for this site. Negative theology appears to be knowledge of God obtained by way of negation. This seems a contradiction in terms. If God or fairies or angels or Santa Claus don't exist for me, how can I gain knowledge of these non-entities? For purposes of negative theology, since I'm an atheist, wouldn't I have negated the concept already? Am I not practicing negative theology already? Andy Amago -----Original Message----- From: JimKandJulieB@xxxxxxx Sent: Dec 18, 2004 4:34 PM To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Disbelief Try "apophasis". Here are a couple links: _http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2342/is_3_34/ai_70396396/pg_6_ (http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2342/is_3_34/ai_70396396/pg_6) _http://www.willamette.edu/~blong/Words/Apop.html_ (http://www.willamette.edu/~blong/Words/Apop.html) _http://www.vuw.ac.nz/chaplains/issues/affneg.html_ (http://www.vuw.ac.nz/chaplains/issues/affneg.html) Actually you get better sites by googling "apophasis negative theology" because just "apophasis" gives stuff that's too general. Julie Krueger ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html