#negative theology
- Apophasis — A rhetorical figure of speech whereby a speaker brings up a topic while paradoxically declaring that they will not talk about it or will pass it over in silence; a specialized form of preterition or paralipsis. In the context of negative theology, the term gains a profound conceptual meaning, denoting the path of negation through which the inability of the human mind to describe the divine essence is acknowledged.
- Apophaticism — A theological and spiritual orientation, foundational in Eastern Christianity, asserting that God is absolutely transcendent and unknowable to the human mind, and can only be known by negating all created attributes; negative theology. This mystical doctrine places direct spiritual experience and ecstasy above standard rational, dogmatic, or scholastic definitions.