Negative theology is an approach to studying God by naming what God is not, rather than naming what God is. This approach assumes that God’s transcendence prevents us from actually knowing him, as Scripture says, God lives in “unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see.” (1 Timothy 6:16)
Yet, we call out to God; we not only speak about God, we speak to him! And the reason for this is that God has revealed himself to us in Jesus. And Jesus Christ is the “image of the invisible God.” (Col 1:15) Jesus is the “eikon/icon” of the God we cannot see because he is so transcendent, so completely other, “dwelling in unapproachable light.”
As the perfect imprint of God, the icon of the invisible God, Jesus is healing our marred and broken images from within the image itself.
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