In Depth:  Dr Philip Duce

Dear Sir,

In the conversation with John Lennox (en, Sept 2019, p. 15), he refers to the ‘apathetic’ (theological) tradition. I trust this is a transcription mistake: it should of course be ‘apophatic’. Apophatic theology is a method of discourse that proceeds by way of negation (via negativa), describing God by saying what He is not, e.g. He is immutable, He is incomprehensible. This is in contrast to cataphatic theology (via positiva), which describes God by saying what He is, e.g. He is love, He is holy. The intention of the apophatic tradition is to reflect the limitations of human reason when it comes to describing the nature of God. Furthermore, it has shaped some of the doctrinal language of the church.