Apofatyczne doświadczenie Boga jako rodzaj doświadczenia estetycznego

Abstract

The contemporary notion of apophaticism, considered in the context of the epistemological negativism that prevails nowadays, is marked with a deep misunderstanding. The term, which itself is linked to the “obscuration” of cognition or negation, may easily be misinterpreted as a simple negation, or even exclusion, of any knowledge. This in turn has serious consequences in theology and related disciplines. The belief that God is absolutely inscrutable causes some mistrust towards theology and results in indifference to religious issues among believers. A re-interpretation of apophaticism in the view of aesthetics may restore its proper meaning as it turns out that the apophatic experience of God that mystics and theologians refer to is similar in structure to the aesthetic experience. This stems from the fact that both types are based on the Incarnation. Consequently, such fundamental experiences as the aesthetic and theological ones are analogous to that redemptive event. The aesthetic experience, closer in relation to daily life, may be interpreted in the spirit of the Christological dogma and then help re-read the experience of faith in a broad sense of the term. This approach can help the significant category of apophaticism restore its original Christian meaning and thus re-establish the existential potential of faith and theology.