Prolegomena to a Bahá'í Theology
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The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 5, 25-67Abstract: Bahá'í theology is both apophatic (negative) and cataphatic (affirmative). An abstruse, apophatics negative theology of a hidden God is explicit background to Bahá'í tehology. Apophasis rejects defining God and honors God by remaining silent about the divine essence. If apophasis does speak of God, it does so by describing God through a process of elimination of what God is not, rather than making affirmations about what God is. The main substance of Bahá'í theology is manifestation theology or theophanology -- a theology calculated upon an understanding of the metaphysical reality and teachings of the divine Manifestations.
Bahá'í theology is both apophatic (negative) and cataphatic (affirmative). An abstruse, apophatics negative theology of a hidden God is explicit background to Bahá'í tehology. Apophasis rejects defining God and honors God by remaining silent about the divine essence. If apophasis does speak of God, it does so by describing God through a process of elimination of what God is not, rather than making affirmations about what God is. The main substance of Bahá'í theology is manifestation theology or theophanology -- a theology calculated upon an understanding of the metaphysical reality and teachings of the divine Manifestations.