Apophatic theology (from via ἀπόφημι
apophēmi, meaning "to deny"), also known as
negative theology,
via negativa or
via negationis (
Latin for "negative way" or "by way of denial"), is a type of
theological thinking that attempts to
describe God, the Divine Good, by
negation, to speak only in terms of what may not be said about the perfect goodness that is
God. It stands in contrast to
cataphatic theology.