الهيات سلبي؛ سير تاريخي و بررسي ديدگاه‌ها

Negative Divine; Its Historical Development and Review of the Various Views

در باب امكان سخن گفتن از امر متعال يا خداوند به زبان عادي بشري، با دو گونه الهيات مواجهيم: الهيات ايجابي و الهيات سلبي. پيروان الهيات ايجابي بر اين باورند كه درباره اوصاف و افعال خداوند، با همين زبان بشري سخن مي‌گوييم. طرف‌داران الهيات سلبي معتقدند كه تنها به شيوه سلبي مي‌توان درباره‌ افعال و صفات خداوند سخن گفت؛ اينكه خداوند چه چيزي نيست؛ نه اينكه چه چيزي است. الهيات سلبي، در طول تاريخ انديشه، از پيروان بسياري برخوردار بوده و از يونان باستان تا امروز تداوم داشته است. اين نوشتار به سير تاريخي الهيات سلبي پرداخته و در ادامه به نقد و بررسي ديدگاه‌ها در اين زمينه خواهد پرداخت. هدف اين نوشتار، ارايه راه اعتدال ميان ايجاب محض و غلتيدن در ورطه شرك و تشبيه، سلب محض، تعطيل عقل از شناخت خداوند، و لاادري‌گري است.

There are two kinds of theology relating to the possibility of speaking on the topic of the Exalted Being or God by means of ordinary human language: negative Divine and positive Divine. The followers of positive Divine hold that it is possible to talk about divine attributes and Divine acts by means of human language, while the followers of negative Divine maintain that it is possible to talk about divine attributes and Divine acts only in a negative manner, that is, they focus on what God is not such and such, rather than what He is. Negative Divine has had many followers throughout the history of thought- that is since ancient Greece until today. The present paper deals with the historical development of negative theology. Then it reviews and comments on the views shown in this regard. It seeks to provide a moderate position between the pure positive position which means falling into the morass of polytheism and anthropomorphism and the pure negative position which resulting preventing reason for knowing God and falling into the morass of agnosticism