Apophatic Apocalypticism

In a previous blog that was rather autobiographical, I used the word ‘ineffable’ of an experience I had of God (in my perception) as a teenager. It is a word starting with a negation- 'in...'! Something I experienced was inexplicable; negation again -in-explicable. Metaphors had to suffice. So in understanding God there is a stream of writings talking about what we cannot say about God; that is apophatic theology! God is in….' or 'im...' as in 'invisible', 'immortal' and other similar attributes that he is not- visible or mortal, for a start. Yet God has surely made himself known -in Jesus. John 1:1-18. So, I came up with this phrase though it is bound not to be original. (more negation!?). Apophatic apocalypticism!

Now, I do not often use these words!

Apophatic? Taking away, stripping off any concept getting in the way of our comprehension of God – this time in terms of the revealing of God’s ways with the world- apocalyptic. Phasis is to do with ‘speech’; my husband has ‘aphasia’ as a stroke eroded some of his ability to speak clearly, getting the right words to express himself. It is negating speech -a+phasia. Many of us may feel this way about God, unable to express ourselves as to who he is. Is language so limited?

A reading of Revelation 16 triggered this thought about ‘apophatic apocalypticism’. The passage about 7 angels with 7 bowls of God’s wrath is rather devastating on the world especially in this era of the Covid19 pandemic. It is after all, in the midst of the book of Apocalypse (Revelation in English!). We, however, in our media ridden world, read that word wrongly from media use of it, as if it is all about the end of the world, a great danger to what we know as ‘normative’ life. It is. And it isn't! We don't want destruction. We want to hold on to what we already ‘know’ and do not want to let go of it to see something more. We see the destructive powers around in the world and easily ‘blame God’ especially if not a follower of God’s ways. So we need to strip away those ‘blame factors’, strip away the misunderstandings. Apo-calypse comes from the Greek 'to be revealed'. To get to a real ‘revealing’ or ‘revelation’ however of what the writer of this book (John the Seer) meant is to get to WHO GOD IS:> see verses5-7 where the quotations refer to God as ‘just in judgements’, who is and was the Holy one,.. the Lord God Almighty.

We / I as follower[s] of God need to strip away the results, the consequences of the destructive judgements read of, to see the ultimate cause of justice, righteousness, and the means to justice in the nature of God himself. We like to focus on the mercy, love and grace ‘side’ of God– yet Truth puts the two ‘sides’ together. Pleura in Greek means ‘side’; we take it into our idea of anatomy, of the lungs,(encased in the pleural sac two sides to ‘breathe’ in and out from the right and left lungs). Plurality is needed. Is it possible to see the revelation of God in 2 sides? Can we put the two together with one ‘sternum’ – Truth, holding the system together, protected (ribs) and connected to the backbone of faithfulness? So, the deconstruction of apophaticism can be the revealing - 'apocalyptic'- of God in his essence, of truth, love/mercy/ grace with judgement/justice/ righteousness brought together in the construction of the ‘image of God’- as far as we can comprehend ‘God’. The HOLY ALMIGHTY God in control of creation is thus revealed - even in the destructive forces of nature, of the consequence of our actions in the world (Climate change, injustice racially, economically – and spiritually), if we strip back what we see naturally, and see beyond. Negation to revelation! Apophatic to apocalyptic! May something that is hidden about God, be revealed to you.