Review of Epistemic and Linguistic Arguments for Negative Theology

Negative theology epistemically asserts that God is Incomprehensible and linguisticly emphasizes that He is Ineffable. In epistemic aspect, negative theologians refer to such arguments as mankind’s inability to surround the almighty God, God’s transcendence and His beyondness to reason, limitedness of Effect’s knowledge of Cause and limitedness of human cognitive faculties. In linguistic aspect, they refer to Inconceivability of The Transcendent and His lack of any form. Critics offer such Critiques as Inadequacy of the negative knowledge, self-inconsistency of negative theology and that it leads us to a form of agnosticism. In fact, although most of advocates of negative theology insist on imperfectness of human knowledge, they do not believe in agnostisicm and they consider the knowledge of divine nature and divine attributes as comprising various degrees. In negative theology, speaking of Him is just for such reasons as an inner compulsion to speak of Him, or teaching others, and all positive utterances of him is indeed concern His manifestations. Hence, everyone speaks of Him to the extent that he has intuited His manifestations.