Editing Apophatic theology (section)

===Early Church Fathers===
The [[Early Church Fathers]] were influenced by [[Philo of Alexandria|Philo]]{{sfn|Carabine|2015|p=1}} ({{c.|25 BC – 50 AD}}), who saw [[Moses]] as "the model of human virtue and Sinai as the archetype of man's ascent into the 'luminous darkness' of God."{{sfn|Buxhoeveden|Woloschak|2011|p=152}} His interpretation of Moses was followed by Clement of Alexandria, [[Origen]], the Cappadocian Fathers, Pseudo-Dionysius, and Maximus the Confessor.{{sfn|Louth|2003|p=220}}{{sfn|Lane|2007|p=67}}{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=545}}{{sfn|Boersma|2013|p=243}}

God's appearance to Moses in the [[burning bush]] was often elaborated on by the Early Church Fathers,{{sfn|Louth|2003|p=220}} especially [[Gregory of Nyssa]] ({{c.|335 – 395|lk=no}}),{{sfn|Lane|2007|p=67}}{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=545}}{{sfn|Boersma|2013|p=243}} realizing the fundamental unknowability of God;{{sfn|Louth|2003|p=220}}{{sfn|Mayes|2016|p=117}} an exegesis which continued in the medieval mystical tradition.{{sfn|Glasscoe|1992|p=57}} Their response is that, although God is unknowable, Jesus as person can be followed, since "following Christ is the human way of seeing God."{{sfn|Louth|2003|p=221}}

[[Clement of Alexandria]] ({{c.|150 – 215|lk=no}}) was an early proponent of apophatic theology.{{sfn|Hägg|2006}}{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=545}} Clement holds that God is unknowable, although God's unknowability, concerns only his essence, not his energies, or powers.{{sfn|Hägg|2006}} According to R.A. Baker, in Clement's writings the term {{transliteration|grc|theoria}} develops further from a mere intellectual "seeing" toward a spiritual form of contemplation.{{sfn|Baker|2000|p=88}} Clement's apophatic theology or philosophy is closely related to this kind of {{transliteration|grc|theoria}} and the "mystic vision of the soul."{{sfn|Baker|2000|p=88}} For Clement, God is transcendent and immanent.{{sfn|Baker|2000|p=89}} According to Baker, Clement's apophaticism is mainly driven not by Biblical texts, but by the Platonic tradition.{{sfn|Baker|2000|p=92-92}} His conception of an ineffable God is a synthesis of Plato and Philo, as seen from a Biblical perspective.{{sfn|Baker|2000|p=92}} According to Osborne, it is a synthesis in a Biblical framework; according to Baker, while the Platonic tradition accounts for the negative approach, the Biblical tradition accounts for the positive approach.{{sfn|Baker|2000|p=92-93}} {{transliteration|grc|Theoria}} and abstraction is the means to conceive of this ineffable God; it is preceded by dispassion.{{sfn|Baker|2000|p=98-103}}

According to [[Tertullian]] ({{c.|155|240|lk=no}}):

{{blockquote|[T]hat which is infinite is known only to itself.  This it is which gives some notion of God, while yet beyond all our conceptions{{spndash}}our very incapacity of fully grasping Him affords us the idea of what He really is. He is presented to our minds in His transcendent greatness, as at once known and unknown.<ref>[[Tertullian]], ''Apologeticus'', § 17.</ref>}}

Saint [[Cyril of Jerusalem]] (313–386), in his ''[[Catechesis|Catechetical]] [[Homily|Homilies]]'', states:

{{blockquote|For we explain not what God is but candidly confess that we have not exact knowledge concerning Him. For in what concerns God to confess our ignorance is the best knowledge.<ref>{{citation |last=Cyril |first=Archbishop of Jerusalem |author-link=Cyril of Jerusalem |contribution=Catechetical Homilies, VI §2 |year=c. 335 |publication-date=1994 |title=Nicene and Ante-Nicene Fathers (2nd Series) |editor-last=Schaff |editor-first=Philip |editor-link=Philip Schaff |volume=VII |page=33 |place=Peabody, Mass. |publisher=Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. |isbn= |url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf207.ii.x.html |access-date=2008-02-01}}</ref>}}

[[File:Lippi, apparizione del bambino a sant'agostino.jpg|thumb|[[Filippo Lippi]], ''Vision of St. Augustine'', {{c.|1465}}, [[tempera]], [[Hermitage Museum]], [[Saint Petersburg]]]]
[[Augustine of Hippo]] (354–430) defined God {{lang|la|aliud, aliud valde}}, meaning 'other, completely other', in ''[[Confessions (Augustine)|Confessions]]'' 7.10.16,<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Vessey |editor-first=Mark |others=With the assistance of Shelley Reid |title=A Companion to Augustine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U8JIm4U05I4C |year=2012 |publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|John Wiley & Sons]] |location=[[Hoboken, New Jersey]] |isbn=978-1-405-15946-3 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=U8JIm4U05I4C&dq=%22aliud,+aliud+valde%22%22%287.10.16%29%22+Confessions+%22other,+completely+other%22&pg=PA107 107]}}</ref> wrote {{lang|la|Si [enim] comprehendis, non est Deus}},<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20210308072158/https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.augustinus.it%2Flatino%2Fdiscorsi%2Fdiscorso_152_testo.htm+%22Sermo+117%22+%223.+5.%22%22Si+enim+comprehendis%2C+non+est+Deus%22 Latin text].</ref> meaning 'if you understand [something], it is not God', in ''Sermo 117.3.5''<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Fitzgerald |editor-first=Allan D. |title=Augustine Through the Ages. An Encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GcVhAGpvTQ0C |year=1999 |publisher=[[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company|Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing]] |location=[[Grand Rapids, Michigan]] |isbn=978-0-802-83843-8 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=GcVhAGpvTQ0C&q=%22If+you+understand+(something%5D,+it+is+not+God%22%22s.+117.3.5%22%22Si+comprehendis,+non+est+Deus%22&pg=PA389 389]}}</ref> (''[[Patrologia Latina|PL]]'' 38, 663),<ref>{{cite book |last=Bretzke |first=James T. |title=Consecrated Phrases. A Latin Theological Dictionary. Latin Expressions Commonly Found in Theological Writings |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jduLeQnA2doC |year=1998 |publisher=[[Liturgical Press]] |location=[[Saint John's Abbey, Collegeville]] |isbn=978-0-814-65880-2 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=jduLeQnA2doC&dq=%22Si+comprehendis,+non+est+Deus%22%22If+you+(fully)+comprehend,+it+is+not+God%22%22Sermo+1+17,+PL+38,+663%22&pg=PA131 131]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Migne |editor-first=Jacques Paul |editor-link=Jacques Paul Migne |title=[[Patrologia Latina]] |year=1841 |isbn=978-0-802-83843-8 |volume=38 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=_iZKAAAAcAAJ&q=%22si+enim+comprehendis,+non+est+Deus%22 663]|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans }}</ref> and a famous legend tells that, while walking along the Mediterranean shoreline meditating on the mystery of the [[Trinity]], he met a child who with a seashell (or a little pail) was trying to pour the whole sea into a small hole dug in the sand. Augustine told him that it was impossible to enclose the immensity of the sea in such a small opening, and the child replied that it was equally impossible to try to understand the infinity of God within the limited confines of the human mind.<ref>{{cite book |author=[[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]] |others=Contributor: Joseph T. Kelley |chapter=Introduction (p. XIII) |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FnnvO743FlwC&pg=PR13 |title=Selections from Confessions and Other Essential Writings. Annotated and Explained |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FnnvO743FlwC |year=2010 |publisher=[[SkyLight Paths Publishing]] |location=[[Woodstock, Vermont]] |isbn=978-1-594-73282-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Myers |first=Rawley |chapter=St. Augustine |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vYxHDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT73 |title=The Saints Show Us Christ. Daily Readings on the Spiritual Life |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vYxHDwAAQBAJ |year=1996 |publisher=[[Ignatius Press]] |location=[[San Francisco]] |isbn=978-1-681-49547-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Alister |first=McGrath |author-link=Alister McGrath |title=Knowing Christ |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=85pr9i8XtVoC |year=2002 |publisher=[[Crown Publishing Group]] |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-385-50721-9 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=85pr9i8XtVoC&dq=%22There+is+a+story+told+about+Augustine+of+Hippo%22&pg=PA29 29]}}</ref>