A Negative Way: Dionysian Apophaticism and the Experiential

Exall, Maria

Abstract

The experiential bias in modern understandings of spirituality has led to readings of the pre-modern texts of Pseudo-Dionysius as referring to “negative experiences” of faith. Denys Turner, Bernard McGinn, and others have outlined the mistaken “spiritual positivism” of such readings and their contrast with the negative dialectics of the classical apophatic tradition. Indeed, the philosophical parameters of the Christian mysticism of the Dionysian tradition would deny “mystical experience” to be “experience” as such. Nevertheless, several modern theologians have attempted to integrate interpretations of the experiential in Christian mysticism into their theology. These include Sara Coakley in the idea of spiritual sense in her theology of the body, Karl Rahner in the conception of spiritual touch within his theology of grace, and Louis Dupré’s view that there is religious significance in the experience of “emptiness” in modern-day atheism. I shall contrast these attempted integrations with the critique of “mystical experience” within classical understandings of apophaticism.

Citation

Exall, M. (2024). A Negative Way: Dionysian Apophaticism and the Experiential. Religions, 15(8), Article 1015. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15081015

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 9, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Aug 20, 2024
• Publication Date: 2024-08
• Deposit Date: Sep 13, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 13, 2024
• Journal: Religions
• Electronic ISSN: 2077-1444
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 15
• Issue: 8
• Article Number: 1015
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15081015
• Keywords: mystical theology, apophaticism, Pseudo-Dionysius, atheism, spiritual touch, mystical consciousness, spiritual sense, experientialism
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2820483