Don’t be scared of big words. We leaned into dialectical thinking in Holding Eggs, we talked about proclivities and propensities in Sex Before Marriage, and whether or not you know it you are living your entire spiritual life in Anamnesis.
<aside> Apophatic theology (from Greek "ἀποφατικός" - apophatikos, meaning "negative" or "saying no") is an approach to understanding God by describing who God is not, rather than who God is. This "way of negation" acknowledges that Divinity is ultimately beyond human concepts and descriptions, and we can better understand God by stating what cannot be said about God rather than making positive assertions.
Cataphatic theology (from Greek "καταφατικός" - kataphatikos, meaning "affirmative" or "saying yes") approaches understanding God through positive statements and analogies, describing what God is like through metaphors, attributes, and experiences. When we make declarative statements about God (like the Creed), we consider these Truths to be immutable divine revelations.
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We are entirely way too comfortable with cataphatic theology! We think that to be Christian means to know God … which is true, but what does it mean to know God? No Jesus, No Yada – Know Jesus, Know Yada
While episteme and techne serve important roles in our communal spiritual life by providing structure and shared understanding, they are ultimately just "signposts." True knowing of God comes through divine grace rather than human effort or understanding.
When asked how we experience God, we will inevitably mention people or events that we have experienced in linear time and physical space - this is not a contradiction with the fundamental existential reality that this God we are meeting is outside and not contained by Space and Time. While these personal experiences are meaningful, they have to be understood as our human attempts to make sense of something beyond our comprehension.
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The Darkness 162. What does it mean that Moses entered the darkness and then saw God in it? What is now recounted seems somehow to be contradictory to the first theophany, for then the divine was beheld in light but now He is seen in darkness. Let us not think that this is at variance with the sequence of things we have contemplated spiritually. Scripture teaches by this that religious knowledge comes at first to those who receive it as light. Therefore what is perceived to be contrary to religion is darkness; an escape from darkness comes about when one participates in the light. But as the mind progresses and, through an ever greater and more perfect diligence, comes to apprehend reality, as it approaches more nearly to contemplation, it sees more clearly that God cannot be contemplated.
For leaving behind everything that is observed, not only what sense comprehends but also what the intelligence thinks it sees, it keeps on penetrating deeper until by the intelligence’s yearning for understanding it gains access to the invisible and the incomprehensible and there it sees God. This is the true knowledge of what is sought; this is the seeing that consists in not seeing, because that which is sort transcends all knowledge, being separated on all sides by incomprehensibility as by a kind of darkness. Therefore John the sublime who penetrated into the luminous darkness, says “no one has ever seen God,” thus asserting that knowledge of the divine essence is unattainable not only by humans but also by every intelligent creature.
When, therefore, Moses grew in knowledge, he declared that he had seen God in the darkness, that is, that he had then come to know that what is divine is beyond all knowledge and comprehension, for the text says, “Moses approached the dark cloud where God was.” What God? He who “made darkness his hiding place”, as David says, who also was initiated into the mysteries in the same inner sanctuary.
When Moses arrived there, he was taught by word what he had formerly learned from darkness, so that, I think, the doctrine on this matter might be made firmer for us for being testified to by the divine voice. The divine word at the beginning forbids that the Divine be likened to any of the things known by men, since every concept which comes from comprehensible image by an approximate understanding and by guessing at the divine nature constitutes an idol of God and does not proclaim God.
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St. Augustine also captures this paradoxical nature of seeking God through apophatic theology: "Quaeramus inveniendum, quaeramus inventum" - "Let us seek Him in order to find Him, and let us seek Him even after we have found Him."
This profound statement reflects the apophatic understanding that our knowledge of God always leads us to deeper mystery. Even when we "find" God, we must continue seeking, because our finite minds can never fully comprehend the infinite Divine. The very act of finding God reveals how much more there is yet to discover beyond our current understanding.
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1 Corinthians 13 beautifully captures the apophatic nature of divine love: "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known."
This profound passage reminds us that our current understanding of God through love is always partial and indirect - like looking through a dim mirror. Complete knowledge awaits us in the eschaton when we shall see "face to face." Just as we put away childish understanding for mature wisdom, we must move beyond simplistic conceptions of God to embrace the mystery of divine love that transcends human comprehension.
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The Anaphora of the Divine Liturgy of St. Gregory tells us who God is not:
“It is fitting indeed, and right, that we praise You, bless You, serve You, worship You, and glorify You, the one, only, true God, the Lover of Mankind, ineffable, invisible, infinite, without beginning, everlasting, timeless, immeasurable, incomprehensible, unchangeable, creator of all Savior of everyone, who forgives our sins, who saves our life from corruption, who crowns us with mercy and compassion.”
It is the same God who is both beyond comprehension and still always present with us.
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Only divine grace and God's economy of salvation - freely given, never earned, never blocked by human failure - can truly bring us to Christ. We will face all kinds of suffering that come as a result of a diverse set of root causes — as a consequence of our own sins, as a consequence of the sins of others, as a consequence of environmental calamities, etc. — in all cases God’s grace is present alongside us.
We often interpret happiness and joy as divine gifts, and struggle or misfortune as divine condemnation — this may be true, but it is not always true. Jesus Himself suffered willingly with gladness at the hands of those who persecuted and crucified Him, as he had taught in the Beatitudes:
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"Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven." — Matthew 5:11-12 NKJV
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1. Organize Your Thinking: This passage concludes the Beatitudes, presenting persecution as a paradoxical blessing and connecting earthly suffering with heavenly reward. It serves as the culmination and practical application of Jesus's teachings about the Kingdom of Heaven.
2. Language Analysis:
3. Author's Context: Matthew records these words of Jesus during the Sermon on the Mount, establishing core principles of kingdom living that often contradict human expectations of blessing and suffering. Speaking with divine authority, Jesus presents a parallel to Moses receiving the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai—yet where Moses brought "thou shalt" and "thou shalt not," Jesus offers "blessed are those who." This shift from commandments to beatitudes reveals Christ himself as the model for this new way of living.
Here are several Old Testament passages that echo this theme of suffering and divine presence:
4. Early Christian Context: This teaching provided crucial encouragement to early Christians facing persecution, particularly during the Great Persecution under Emperor Diocletian (284-305 AD). This period was so significant that the Coptic Church marks 284 AD as Anno Martyrum (the Year of the Martyrs) and the beginning of their calendar. During this time, countless Christians faced martyrdom rather than renounce their faith, understanding their suffering not as divine abandonment but as confirmation of faithful discipleship in following Christ's example.
Here are several relevant New Testament passages that echo this theme of persecution and taking up one's cross:
5. Modern Application: This passage challenges our tendency to equate happiness with God's favor and suffering with divine punishment. It reminds us that God's grace remains present in all forms of suffering, and that we must look beyond simple interpretations to recognize Christ's presence in unexpected places.
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Suffering is neither good nor bad
Suffering is not something we seek but often inevitable
God shows us how to suffer in the cross
The martyrs suffered for Christ in Love not out of masochism or obligation </aside>
The middle way has saved many, and we must learn to approach complex issues with the delicacy and nuance of Holding Eggs. At one extreme, we might view suffering as an absolute negative to be avoided at all costs—this mindset appears not only in advertisements but forms the core message of the heresy of the Prosperity Gospel. At the other extreme, we risk glorifying suffering to the point of seeking it for its own sake.