Negative Theology and Philosophical Analysis: Only the Splendour of Light (Palgrave Frontiers in Philosophy of Religion)

This book is the first treatment at length of negative, or apophatic, theology within the analytic tradition. Apophatic theology holds that there is a significant sense in which we cannot say what God is. Important negative theological elements are present in a host of Christian thinkers, from Gregory of Nyssa to Aquinas, and yet apophaticism is neglected in philosophical theology as practiced within the analytic tradition. By contrast, Hewitt shows how apophatic theology is integral to how Christians have thought about God, and how it can be defended against standard attacks in the philosophical literature. Hewitt diagnoses the unease with apophaticism amongst contempory philosophical theologicans as rooted in a certain picture of how language functions, here called referentialism. Arguing that this picture is not compulsory, an account of language which sits more comfortably with negative theology, (originating from work of later Wittgenstein), is invoked, and applied to key themes in philosophical theology including divine personhood, the Trinity, the Incarnation and the afterlife. --Book cover Front Matter ....Pages i-xxiv God Beyond Words (Simon Hewitt)....Pages 1-18 Analytic Criticisms of Apophaticism (Simon Hewitt)....Pages 19-35 Analytic Apophaticisms (Simon Hewitt)....Pages 37-54 Referentialism and Religious Language (Simon Hewitt)....Pages 55-70 Grammatical Thomism (Simon Hewitt)....Pages 71-87 The Grammar of God-Talk (Simon Hewitt)....Pages 89-108 Speaking of God: Truthfully and Devotedly (Simon Hewitt)....Pages 109-125 Is God a Person? (Simon Hewitt)....Pages 127-142 Incarnation and Trinity (Simon Hewitt)....Pages 143-159 Politics, Kingdom, Beatific Vision (Simon Hewitt)....Pages 161-176 Back Matter ....Pages 177-191