Traditionally, Apophatic and Cataphatic theologies are two ways of thinking and talking about God. “Apophatic theology” simply means that we are speaking “negatively.” In other words, it’s easier (and perhaps better) to speak about who/what God is not than to speak “positively.” An apophatic view believes that it is very difficult to speak meaningfully and substantively about God because, from this perspective, God is Mystery, a Wind that Blows Where It Pleases. The more we know God, the more we realize we don’t know God, and perhaps we begin to realize we don’t know anything…
Cataphatic theology proceeds from the idea that we can speak positively about God— that is, we can say something meaningful and substantive about who or what God is. Cataphatic theology is rooted in personal, historical, rational, emotional, physical and “ancestral” experience. True, our words may limp at describing God, but for those who believe, we feel we have experienced something and whether we want to or not, we are, at times, compelled to speak. At best, we can speak metaphorically and provisionally, but rarely, if ever, essentially.
The ancients were better at this than we are now. In out modern and post-modern ways of knowing, both religion and science, liberal and conservative believe that “facts”–not metaphor and narrative–best describe the world (think of creationist and scientific “battles” over the beginning of the cosmos). I believe this view has destabilized our emotions, rationality, and bodies. While facts are one way of knowing and talking, they are not exhaustive…
This blog takes both apophatic and cataphatic positions as starting points, not only for talking about God, but for reality and life itself. Rather than hashing out an either/or blog, these Sci-Fi Theologs shall embrace paradox and contradiction… the Light and Dark Side… Yin and Yang… Belief and Unbelief…
Whether I am blogging about Religion, Politics, SocioEconomics, Sports, Anime, Movies, Manga, or Music, you will find that this blog will constantly find itself swimming in the streams of the immanent/mundane and transcendent/extraordinary… Both in the material and in the spiritual… I’m not necessarily looking to always integrate the two, but I do believe in looking at both sides to gain a better picture… and sometimes I will look at more than two sides. After all, the world is three dimensional…
So if you are a conservative, moderate, or liberal, prepare to be affirmed and angered. If you are a LeBron hater no matter what, prepare to be vindicated and shamed. If you think that the Star Wars prequels were good movies… God help you… If the ending of Lost made you jump for joy and/or shake your fist at the heavens in ultimate betrayal (I still can’t believe I spent all those years watching that show for THAT!!!!), you are are welcome here. If you care about the brokenhearted, the dispossessed, the hungry, and those who are on “beds” of affliction, you are most certainly welcome… And if you want read a blog that lampoons, critiques, and moves beyond mainstream media conversations, then this is a good spot…
This blog offers no easy answers and no easy questions… But it does offer us the opportunity to go on a journey through the mundane and the extraordinary… And as we journey through the intermingling of both, we will certainly find ourselves speechless and having diarrhea mouth…
Finally, because I think some cards should be on the table… This blog is a personal journey for me. How I happen today may not be how I happen tomorrow. My religious persuasion is Christian, but as many know, and some will soon see, I cannot be pegged in any one camp of Christian witness. I am a theologian/clergyman (which sometimes places me in a dizzying space), teacher, writer, musician, father, avid sports fan, and husband. This blog will undoubtedly introduce you to all of these sides of me… Most importantly, I want it to be known, that I write with a faith, hope, and love that is ever aware of the precariousness, contingency, inevitability, and purpose of our existence…
Feel free to submit questions for topics of discussion…..
© 2015 Rev. M. J. Sales, PhD aka The Sci-Fi Theologian aka Jolowmight(x) Cervantes
The Sci-Fi Theologian 