HIST-102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Neoplatonism, Seraph, Apophasis
6 Nov 2020
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Document Summary
It"s safer to say what god is not than what god is. It was present already in psuedo-dionysius and in non-christian neoplatonism. Goes back to plato"s negative path to the good in republic 6. The last point about good exceeding essence can be expressed in 2 ways: negatively: good is not being, superlatively: good is far above being. These mean the same thing: rational apophasis. Bonaventure and dionysius beyond that god is an unknowable beyond, an infinity. He rationally argued for god as the limit of our thought. He shared a theology with mystics: contemplating the good. Bonaventure"s goal is not just to reason about god. It"s to mystically contemplate the good itself: seventh stage. The 7th stage takes us beyond the seraph. Experience ecstasy while contemplating the mystery of incarnation. Mystery of the unknowable good becoming a human being: francis. The vision of the seraph granted him the wounds of christ.
