On the Divine Names and the Mystical Theology — trans. C. E. Rolt
The translator’s English as printed (C. E. Rolt). The original-language text is not held; names are romanised as the translator printed them.
Let us consider this matter more in detail.
The first stage of Religion is anthropomorphic. God is conceived of as a magnified Man with an outward form. This notion contains some low degree of truth, but it must be spiritualized. And in casting DE me προ Ὥρας of the conception we begin to enter on a Via Negativa. All educated Christians enter on this path, though very few are given the task of pursuing it to the end. So first the notion of an outward material form is cast away and then the change. God is now r : ngeless_an | Bei ossessing all iti _all the capacities of Sensation and Perception in an eternal and Spiritual manner... This is a conception of God built up, largely, by the Discursive Reason and appealing to that side of our nature. But the Intuitive Reason seeks to pierce beyond this shimmering cloud into the hidden Light which shines through it. For the mind demands an Absolute Unity beyond this variety of Attributes. And such a Unity, being an axiom or postulate, lies in a region behind the deductions of the Discursive Reason. For all deduction depends upon axioms, and axioms themselves cannot be deduced.
Thus the human spirit has travelled far, but still
Let us consider this matter in more detail.
The first stage of Religion is anthropomorphic. God is conceived as a magnified Man with an outward form. This notion contains some low degree of truth, but it must be spiritualized. And in casting … προ Ὥρας of the conception we begin to enter on a Negative Way (Via Negativa). All educated Christians enter on this path, though very few are given the task of following it to the end. So first the notion of an outward material form is cast away, and then the change. God is now … changeless and … Being possessing all … all the capacities of Sensation and Perception in an eternal and Spiritual manner.
This is a conception of God built up largely by the Discursive Reason, and it appeals to that side of our nature. But the Intuitive Reason seeks to pierce beyond this shimmering cloud into the hidden Light that shines through it. For the mind demands an Absolute Unity beyond this variety of Attributes. And such a Unity, being an axiom or postulate, lies in a region behind the deductions of the Discursive Reason. For all deduction depends on axioms, and axioms themselves cannot be deduced.
So the human spirit has travelled far, but still