Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Came across a great quote from Denys - a fifth century Christian mystic, one of the founding fathers of apophatic theology. He opens his Mystical Theology with this prayer:
Trinity!! Higher than any being
aaaaaaaaany divinity, any goodness!
aaaaGuide of Christians
aaaaaaaain the wisdom of heaven!
Lead us up beyond knowing and light,
aaaaup into the farthest, highest peak
aaaaaaaaof mystic scripture
aaaawhere the mysteries of God's word
aaaalie simple, absolute, unchangeable,
aaaain the brilliant darkness of a hidden silence.
Amid the deepest shadow
aaaathey pour overwhelming light
aaaaon what is most manifest.
Amid the wholly unsensed and unseen
aaaathey completely fill our sightless minds
aaaawith treasures beyond all beauty.
Its a fantastic prayer, full of ideas that subvert each other, and really get to the heart of the apophatic mystical tradition. Where 'God's word' lies in a 'hidden silence', and where the 'divine light' is a 'brilliant darkness'. Pete Rollins, from Ikon, touches on some of this line of thought in his writings on how not to speak of God. A good summary of the apophatic tradition could be 'that speech about God which is the failure of speech.'
Trinity!! Higher than any being
aaaaaaaaany divinity, any goodness!
aaaaGuide of Christians
aaaaaaaain the wisdom of heaven!
Lead us up beyond knowing and light,
aaaaup into the farthest, highest peak
aaaaaaaaof mystic scripture
aaaawhere the mysteries of God's word
aaaalie simple, absolute, unchangeable,
aaaain the brilliant darkness of a hidden silence.
Amid the deepest shadow
aaaathey pour overwhelming light
aaaaon what is most manifest.
Amid the wholly unsensed and unseen
aaaathey completely fill our sightless minds
aaaawith treasures beyond all beauty.
Its a fantastic prayer, full of ideas that subvert each other, and really get to the heart of the apophatic mystical tradition. Where 'God's word' lies in a 'hidden silence', and where the 'divine light' is a 'brilliant darkness'. Pete Rollins, from Ikon, touches on some of this line of thought in his writings on how not to speak of God. A good summary of the apophatic tradition could be 'that speech about God which is the failure of speech.'
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