>[!abstract] >**Apophatic theology**, also known as **negative theology**, is a theological approach that seeks to understand the divine by stating what God is *not* rather than what God is (which is cataphatic theology). It aims to limit the trap of anthropomorphism and to preserve the mystery of the divine by framing knowledge of God as an encounter with incomprehensibility, where humility and silence become modes of insight rather than obstacles to understanding. >[!related] >- **North** (upstream): — >- **West** (similar): [[Via negativa]] >- **East** (different): [[Cataphatic theology]] >- **South** (downstream): —