Theological Term of the Week: Cataphatic Theology

 

cataphatic theology
A method of describing God by saying what he is; a positive affirmation of God. (For example: God is love. God is holy.)1

• From None Greater by Matthew Barrett:

Cataphatic theology is affirmative by design, occuring whenever we assert what God is. Nevertheless, as long as God-talk remains analogical, our cataphatic excitement must be tamed the wisdom of its older sister, apophatic theology, which describes God by what he is not.  …

All in all, there is a balance to be struck. We must carefully balance the discontinuity, lest we strip God of his infinitude and think that the image is the same as that which it images.2

• From The Christian Faith by Michael Horton:

[T]he communicable attributes are typically identified by the way of eminence (via eminentiae), by highlighting attributes in which creatures share analogically but in a qualitatively inferior manner, often identified by the “omni-” prefix (for example, omnipotent, omniscient).  …  Refusing to be an idolatrous projection of our own ideas of perfecion, God infinitely transcends all comparisons. Nevertheless, out of love for his creatures, God condescends to our finite capacity by selecting analogies that are appropriate but nevertheless fall short of his majesty.3

Learn more:

1. Theopedia: Cataphatic Theology

Related terms:

• apophatic theology
• communicable attributes
• holiness
• love
• omnipotence
• omniscience

Filed under God’s Nature and His Work

1From None Greater, page 248.

2 From None Greater, page 37-38.

3 From The Christian Faith, page 225.

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The Storm.

I

f as the windes and waters here below
                            Do flie and flow,
My sighs and tears as busy were above ;
                            Sure they would move
And much affect thee, as tempestuous times
Amaze poore mortals, and object their crimes.

 
Starres have their storms, ev’n in a high degree,
                            As well as we.
A throbbing conscience spurred by remorse
                            Hath a strange force :
It quits the earth, and mounting more and more,
Dares to assault thee, and besiege thy doore.

There it stands knocking, to thy musicks wrong,
                            And drowns the song.
Glorie and honour are set by till it
                            An answer get.
Poets have wrong’d poore storms : such dayes are best ;
They purge the aire without, within the breast.

—-George Herbert 

So far I have only one additional post to include in tomorrow’s weather report. (Thank you, Pam.) You can help make the next weather report fun and interesting by telling us what’s going on in your weather or posting a weather picture (or poem, like this one) and sending me the link.

A Thankful November: Big Savings

I’m thankful for the super-dooper low price I got on a big-ticket item today. I won’t tell you (yet) what that low-priced big-ticket item was, but I am thrilled about it. I almost purchased it earlier for much, much more, but circumstances stood in the way and I had to wait until today when everything worked out so much better. And it’s enough money saved to really make a difference in my finances.
 
I attribute all those circumstances to God’s providence, so it’s God I thank for my bargain basement deal.
 
Other thankful folk 

• Juanita is thankful for technology.
  
• Annette is thankful for many things, including her church.
• Kim is thankful for women who want to dig deep to understand theology and their faith.
• Carla is thankful for snow and all the good gifts that prepare her for it.
  
• Kim is thankful for Sunday and her worship service.
• Anne B. is thankful for her husband’s safety.
• Connie if thankful for Russians. (If that doesn’t make you curious, you’re probably dead.)
• Rosemary is thankful for healing, and the wonderful care of her husband and sons.
  

Doesn’t that list make you thankful, too? If so, why don’t you participate in being thankful with us? Here’s how:

• Mention something you’re thankful for in the comments here, and I’ll include it in one of my thanksgiving posts, or
  
• Email me to tell me what you’re thankful for and I’ll include it in one of the thankful posts, or
• You may post your thankful thought(s) on your own blog and send me the link(s), and I’ll link to your post.
• If you’ve posted something thankful and I missed it, please remind me.