ABSTRACT
Apophatic theology has been a characteristic of most Orthodox theology in the last century (although theologians such as Zizioulas and Trembelas make little or nothing of the apophatic). Vladimir Lossky is sometimes regarded as a pioneer in this (Stăniloae seems to be of this opinion), but as is the case with many of Lossky’s ‘innovations’, he owes much of it to earlier Russian thinkers such as Florensky and Bulgakov. The first part of this chapter expands on this, looking at the different role the apophatic plays in various Orthodox thinkers, including Yannaras. The second part starts from the observation that Yannaras is unusual in his predominantly metaphysical/epistemological use of the apophatic and goes on to compare him to David Cooper, an English philosopher, recently retired from Durham as professor of philosophy. In his The Measure of Things, Cooper argues that the only way of justifying the attainment of truth, avoiding the twin dangers of relativism and absolutism, is by realizing that the ultimate principle is strictly unknowable. Parallels with Yannaras are briefly explored.
