Editing Apophatic theology (section)

===20th century===
[[File:Dooyeweerd.jpg|thumb|left|[[Herman Dooyeweerd]]]]
Apophatic statements are still crucial to many modern theologians, restarting in the 1800s by [[Søren Kierkegaard]] (see his concept of the [[infinite qualitative distinction]])<ref>{{cite book |last=Kierkegaard |first=Søren |author-link=Søren Kierkegaard |title=Training in Christianity, and the Edifying discourse which 'accompanied' it |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T9BXAAAAYAAJ |year=1941 |others=Transl. by [[Walter Lowrie (author)|Walter Lowrie]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=T9BXAAAAYAAJ&q=%22the+infinite+qualitative+difference+between+God+and+man%22 139 ("the infinite qualitative difference between God and man")]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Law |first=David R. |title=Kierkegaard as Negative Theologian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5XDZAAAAMAAJ |date=1993 |orig-date=1989 |edition=illustrated, reprint |publisher=[[Clarendon Press]] |location=[[Oxford]] | isbn=978-0-198-26336-4}}</ref> up to [[Rudolf Otto]], [[Karl Barth]] (see their idea of "Wholly Other", i.e. {{lang|de|[[ganz Andere]]}} or {{lang|la|totaliter aliter}}),<ref>{{cite book |last=Webb |first=Stephen H. |author-link=Stephen H. Webb |title=Re-figuring Theology. The Rhetoric of Karl Barth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bF2JBCRWSdUC |year=1991 |publisher=[[SUNY Press]] |location=[[Albany, New York]] |isbn=978-1-438-42347-0 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=bF2JBCRWSdUC&&pg=PA87&dq=%22Barth+did+approve+of+Rudolf+Otto's+description+of+God+as+the%22%22Wholly+Other%22%22(das+ganz+Andere+or+totaliter+aiiter)+—+a+term+upon+which+he+was+to+increasingly+depend+after+he+read+The+Idea+of+the+Holy+in+1919%22 87]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Elkins |first=James |author-link=James Elkins (art historian) |editor-last1=Ellenbogen |editor-first1=Josh |editor-last2=Tugendhaft |editor-first2=Aaron |chapter=Iconoclasm and the Sublime. Two Implicit Religious Discourses in Art History (pp. 133–151) |title=Idol Anxiety |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3_5hKCOGD3AC |year=2011 |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |location=[[Redwood City, California]] |isbn=978-0-804-76043-0 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3_5hKCOGD3AC&dq=%22apophatic+theology%22%27%22ganz+Andere%22%22wholly+other%22&pg=PA147 147]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Mariña |first=Jacqueline |editor-last1=Taliaferro |editor-first1=Charles |editor-link1=Charles Taliaferro |editor-last2=Draper |editor-first2=Paul |editor-link2=Paul Draper (philosopher) |editor-last3=Quinn |editor-first3=Philip L. |editor-link3=Philip L. Quinn |chapter=26. Holiness (pp. 235–242) |title=A Companion to Philosophy of Religion |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SSCx-67Tk6cC |year=2010 |orig-date=1997 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |location=Hoboken, New Jersey |isbn=978-1-444-32016-9 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=SSCx-67Tk6cC&dq=%22apophatic+theology%22%22wholly+other%22%22ganz+Anderes%22&pg=PA238 238]}}</ref> the [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]] of the {{lang|la|[[Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus|Tractatus]]}}, and [[Martin Heidegger]] after his {{lang|de|[[Kehre]]}}.<ref>{{cite book |last=Noble |first=Ivana |editor-last1=Pokorný |editor-first1=Petr |editor-last2=Roskovec  |editor-first2=Jan |chapter=Apophatic Elements in Derrida's Deconstruction (pp. 83–93) |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yIt0UjnFJdMC&q=%22Ivana+Noble%22%22Apophatic+Elements+in+Derrida's+Deconstruction%22&pg=PR8 |title=Philosophical Hermeneutics and Biblical Exegesis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yIt0UjnFJdMC |year=2002 |publisher=[[Mohr Siebeck]] |location=[[Tübingen]] |isbn=978-3-161-47894-9 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=yIt0UjnFJdMC&dq=apophatic+%22Derrida+also+refers+to+more+contemporary+discourses+resembling+the+one+of+negative+theology%2c+to+Wittgenstein+and+Heidegger+in+particular%22&pg=PA89 89]–[https://books.google.com/books?id=yIt0UjnFJdMC&dq=%22recalls+the+end+of+Wittgenstein's+Tractatus%22&pg=PA90 90]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Nesteruk |first=Alexei |title=The Universe as Communion. Towards a Neo-Patristic Synthesis of Theology and Science |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z8HeBAAAQBAJ |year=2008 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]] |location=[[Bloomsbury]] |isbn=978-0-567-18922-6 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=z8HeBAAAQBAJ&dq=%22according+to+Heidegger+(after+his+Kehre),+the+oblivion+of+Being+was+effected+by+this+Being+itself,+as+its+withdrawal+and+it+is+through+this+withdrawal+Being+manifested+itself,+although+in+an+characteristically+apophatic+way%22&pg=PA96 96 ("according to Heidegger (after his ''Kehre''), the oblivion of Being was effected by this Being itself, as its withdrawal and it is through this withdrawal Being manifested itself, although in an characteristically apophatic way")]}}</ref>

[[C. S. Lewis]], in his book ''[[Miracles (book)|Miracles]]'' (1947), advocates the use of negative theology when first thinking about God, in order to cleanse one's mind of misconceptions. He goes on to advocate refilling the mind with the truth about God, untainted by mythology, bad [[analogies]] or false mind-pictures.<ref>{{cite book |last=Brazier |first=P. H.|chapter=Transposition and Analogy (pp.181-83) |title=C.S. Lewis — Revelation, Conversion, and Apologetics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dC1NAwAAQBAJ |year=2012 |publisher=[[Wipf and Stock]] |location=[[Eugene, Oregon]] |isbn=978-1-610-97718-0 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dC1NAwAAQBAJ&q=%22Transposition+and+Analogy%22%22If+Lewis+is+expounding+a+degree+of+negation+towards+religion+then+the+reason+for+this+apophatic+space%22%22Lewis,+Miracles%22&pg=PA181}}</ref>

The mid-20th century Dutch philosopher [[Herman Dooyeweerd]], who is often associated with a neo-Calvinistic tradition, provides a philosophical foundation for understanding the impossibility of absolutely knowing God, and yet the possibility of truly knowing something of God.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Friesen|first1=J. Glenn|title=The religious dialectic revisited|url=https://jgfriesen.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/revisited.pdf|website=jgfriesen.files|access-date=5 May 2018}}</ref>  Dooyeweerd made a sharp distinction between theoretical and pre-theoretical attitudes of thought. He argues that most of the discussion of knowledge of God presupposes theoretical knowledge, which involves reflection and attempts to define and discuss. Theoretical knowing, for Dooyeweerd, is never absolute, always depends on religious presuppositions, and cannot grasp either God or the law side. Pre-theoretical knowing, on the other hand, is intimate engagement, exhibits a diverse range of aspects, and can grasp at least the law side. According to Dooyeweerd, knowledge of God, as God wishes to reveal it, is pre-theoretical, immediate and intuitive, never theoretical in nature.<ref name="VanDrunen">{{cite book |last=VanDrunen |first=David |title=Natural Law and the Two Kingdoms. A Study in the Development of Reformed Social Thought |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jnd9vRw51TwC |year=2009 |publisher=Eerdmans |location=Grand Rapids MI |isbn=978-0-802-86443-7 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=jnd9vRw51TwC&dq=Herman+Dooyeweerd+pre-theoretical&pg=PA351 351-68]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Skillen |first=James W. |title=Philosophy of the Cosmonimic Idea: Herman Dooyeweerd's Political and Legal Thought |url=http://www.firstprinciplesjournal.com/print.aspx?article=1591 |website=First Principles |publisher=Intercollegiate Studies Institute |access-date=5 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180505135545/http://www.firstprinciplesjournal.com/print.aspx?article=1591 |archive-date=5 May 2018 }}</ref> The philosopher [[Leo Strauss]] considered that the Bible, for example, should be treated as pre-theoretical (everyday) rather than theoretical in what it contains.<ref>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Gregory B. |title=Between Eternities. On the Tradition of Political Philosophy, Past, Present, and Future |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1w5sCPpcDPMC |year=2008 |publisher=[[Lexington Books]] |location=[[Lanham, Maryland]] |isbn=978-0-739-12077-4 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1w5sCPpcDPMC&pg=PA199 199]}}</ref>

[[Ivan Illich]] (1926–2002), the historian and social critic, can be read as an apophatic theologian, according to a longtime collaborator, Lee Hoinacki, in a paper presented in memory of Illich, called "Why Philia?".<ref>[http://www.pudel.uni-bremen.de/pdf/Hoinacki_Clar04_Philia_philia_en.pdf Hoinacki, Lee] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303201655/http://www.pudel.uni-bremen.de/pdf/Hoinacki_Clar04_Philia_philia_en.pdf |date=2016-03-03 }}.</ref>