September 29th is the feast of the Archangels. These mystical beings are held to play a decisive role in protecting us from evil and delivering messages from God. Yet the voice of God can seem a very faint one, even when mediated by beings closer to us than God Himself. In his first Elegy in the Duino Elegies, the poet Reiner Maria Rilke approached the question of angels. Although far from an orthodox Christian, Rilke saw how angels fascinate us, and approached the question of their role in the grand scheme of being with awe. Recognising their remoteness, he asked:
Oh, to whom can we turn for help?
Not angels, not humans;
and even the knowing animals are aware that we feel
little secure and at home in our interpreted world.
Unlike angels who seem to have the ear of God, our life appears to be constantly mediated, or as Rilke would have it, “interpreted”. We learn about events through a medium such as a phone or a book. We are informed by those around us about what has happened to them and their friends, and even when we look at ourselves we are affected by a myriad of perceptions that have washed over us over time. In the middle of this maelstrom, one can wonder how the voice of God can be heard. Here, I think, there are two sources which are intimately related: negative theology, and the silence of the Latin Mass.
Negative theology means that we know more about God by saying what He is not than by positing terms about His nature. This doesn’t mean that we cannot say anything about God, such as “God is Love,” but rather that when we make such statements we know He exceeds any associations we have with that word. The French philosopher Jean-Luc Marion is one contemporary negative theologian. In his book “God without Being”, Marion claims that an overly metaphysical approach to God, where we speak of God in rational and philosophical terms, carries the risk of missing the personal God, instead reaching an idol. In a recent talk, Marion described his view in the following words:
“Metaphysics is a system with a priori concepts such as “being, substance”, and so on, which allow you to have a potential answer to any question. God is a case of a being, and we can use any concept for beings and apply them to God. Indeed, with reservation, adaptation, analogy, but still the same concept.
In other words, Marion criticises the idea that God can be made to fit into a preconceived system. An objection to this argument is that God must always be spoken of through words since words are all we have. The point has some merit, but negative theology tells us that we must always negate the statements we reach through metaphysics. Christ came down from Heaven, meeting us from elsewhere, from an exalted plane which we are not privy to, yet disclosing Himself in human flesh. Hence, we can speak of Him, but His glory exceeds anything contained in mere words.
This negative approach to God is most beautifully conveyed in the ancient rituals of the Latin Mass. Whether a High or Low Mass, the rite is the same. The Mass takes place at the altar, bringing Heaven down to humanity, but the faithful are invited not to speak but to pray. In silence, God speaks to the individual soul. The music aids this time of prayer, with the organ once having been described by Roger Scruton as “our nearest equivalent of the voice of God”. It is ultimately in the serene calmness brought about by silence that we can allow God to speak in His own words.
Naturally, it can be a tremendous struggle to find the silence requisite to hear God’s voice. The Latin Mass is one place where we can seek it. It can also be a quiet church. It could even be a room in one’s house, but it lacks the grace which we need which we find in the sacramental presence of God. Negative theology can free us from our own conceptions of God, inviting Him to speak to us on His own terms as the revealed Christ. Scripture points us in precisely this direction: Jacob wrestled with an angel, yet the angel has invariably been identified with God. God speaks to those who are willing to listen, but listening also implies letting the speaker speak on His own terms, not ours.
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