God is good, but he is beyond and above any concept of goodness that one may imagine. What humans affirm about God does not express his reality. Whatever one may say of God one can also deny. People call him "Person," but, at the same time, they know that he transcends personal categories and empirical existence. God dwells in light that none can approach (
1 Tm. 6:16), or he dwells in darkness, in which all names disappear. He transcends any concept that may be applied to him. This
via negativa is the basis of "negative theology" (
theologia apophatika), which presents God as ineffable and a mystery.
Via negativa is both a way to the knowledge of God and a way of union with him. God is known by via negativa when upon removal from the names, definitions, and statements used about God all that he is not. God cannot be named or defined. Any name or definition imposes limits, and God is above (huper) them.
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