Divine Silence – Between Fascination and Deification

Abstract

Seen by most of us as an absence, a nothingness, silence reveals its fascination through its power of meaning. Subordinate to the field of communication, silence is not an epiphenomenon of speech, but complementary to it. Finding its limits between ambiguity and paradox, silence proves to have a greater potential for meaning than speech. Deciphering silence requires the initiation of the human subject. Theological silence, whether human or divine, creates the framework for knowing God. Silent concealment of God provides the framework for human ennoblement with God’s character. Enlightenment, rational knowledge, even wonder, are preliminary stages of ennoblement. The completion of this process is through the direct assistance of the Spirit of God. Following the model of the logos becoming a living word, this study aims to outline a rhema of divine silence by reference to narrative cores from the Bible or by penetrating the mysticism of the Eastern Church. KEYWORDS: silence, logos, ambiguous, paradoxical, deification, mystical