In mainstream analytic theology and philosophy of religion, apophaticism is often treated as a metaphysical and semantic claim that God is ineffable or incomprehensible due to divine transcendence. However, this view overlooks the central role of apophaticism as a mystical theology, where theological ignorance serves a deeper purpose: it informs the task of theology and transforms the theologian in union with God. Using Jonathan Jacobs' account as a test case, the author argues that reconstructions of apophaticism must include this informational and personally transformative value. The author proposes wonder as the appropriate emotional attitude toward divine transcendence, supplying the needed account of apophatic valuing.
St. Edith Stein's theory of religious language holds that concepts share something objective with what they signify, yet remain mere representations of reality. When mystics describe addressing God "without words or images," Stein argues this does not imply anti-realism or non-cognitivism; rather, words become unnecessary when the thing itself is directly present in mystical experience. The article examines Stein's distinctive version of univocity, rooted in negative theology and early phenomenology, showing how her philosophical and mystical background informs this position.
A common objection to the idea that religious experiences support theism is that such experiences are so diverse and contradictory that they cannot all be accurate. Philosophers have offered various explanations for this diversity. One model proposes that apparent conflicts can be resolved if God has multiple attributes or aspects, with different experiencers encountering different aspects. After reviewing recent versions of this aspectival explanation, the author identifies a particularly promising but underexamined version based on the Palamite theology of the Eastern Orthodox Church.