📘 Lexicon Entry: Analogical Metaphysics

Short Definition
Theological framework recognizing both similarity and difference between divine and human realities, maintaining proper tension between transcendence and immanence.
Definition
A theological framework that recognizes both similarity and difference between divine and human realities, maintaining proper tension between transcendence and immanence by understanding that created reality bears analogical rather than univocal or equivocal relationship to divine reality. This approach avoids both Dominative Christianism’s identity collapse (where creation becomes indistinguishable from Creator) and absolute separation (where no meaningful relation exists between God and world). Unlike Primitive Biblicism’s univocal collapse or Binary Apocalypticism’s equivocal separation, analogical metaphysics enables meaningful theological discourse while preserving divine transcendence. This framework provides essential foundation for understanding how Interindependence operates between divine and human agency through participatory rather than competitive relationship.
Category
Theological Alternative
Keywords
analogy, metaphysics, transcendence, immanence, univocal, equivocal, participation, divine-human relationship
Citation Guide
Geevarghese-Uffman, Craig. “Analogical Metaphysics.” *Political Theology Lexicon*. https://www.commonlifepolitics.com/p/lexicon. Accessed [date].
Orthodox Alternatives
God’s relationship to creation is primarily analogical rather than either univocal (same meaning) or equivocal (completely different meaning)
Creation bears genuine but non-identical likeness to Creator through participatory relationship
Divine-human relationship involves both likeness and difference simultaneously without collapsing either
Knowledge of God requires both kataphatic (positive) and apophatic (negative) dimensions
Language about God is neither literal nor meaningless but analogical, enabling authentic theological discourse
Mutated Position
Univocal collapse that claims direct identification between divine and human categories, characteristic of prosperity theology and religious nationalism
Equivocal separation that claims absolute disconnect between divine and human categories, creating theological irrelevance
Selective univocity that applies direct identification only to favorable aspects while maintaining separation for difficult ones
Reduction of mystery to either exhaustive knowledge or complete unknowability, eliminating space for genuine theological inquiry
Confusion of analogical participation with either pantheistic identity or deistic separateness
Key Characteristics
Transcendence-Immanence Balance: Maintains proper tension between God’s otherness and presence without collapsing into either extreme
Analogical Interval: Recognizes “space” between divine and human reality that maintains both connection and distinction
Non-Competitive Relationship: Divine and human agency understood as complementary rather than competing forces
Participatory Ontology: Created beings participate in divine reality without becoming identical to it
Sacramental Worldview: Material reality capable of mediating divine presence without replacing it
Theological Foundations
Biblical Foundations: Scripture employs analogical language extensively, using human terms for divine realities while acknowledging infinite qualitative difference (Isaiah 55:8-9)
Patristic Development: Church fathers like Gregory of Nazianzus developed analogical approaches to avoid both anthropomorphic reduction and complete divine unknowability
Medieval Systematization: Thomas Aquinas’s analogia entis provided classical formulation, distinguishing analogy of attribution and analogy of proportionality
Modern Recovery: 20th-century theologians like Erich Przywara and Hans Urs von Balthasar recovered analogical thinking against modern univocal tendencies
Biblical Foundation
Divine transcendence beyond human thoughts and ways (Isaiah 55:8-9) while maintaining covenant relationship
Creation bearing witness to divine attributes (Romans 1:19-20) without direct identification
Incarnation as paradigmatic analogical event (John 1:14) – divine fully present in human without ceasing to be divine
Jesus’s parables demonstrating analogical relationship between earthly and heavenly realities (Matthew 13:31-33)
Contemporary Expression
Radical Orthodoxy Movement: John Milbank and colleagues recovering participatory ontology against secular univocity and postmodern equivocity
Science-Religion Dialogue: Theologians like Sarah Coakley using analogical frameworks to engage scientific cosmology without reductionism
Political Theology: Applications to understanding divine sovereignty and human governance without theocratic identification or secular separation
Interfaith Relations: Analogical thinking providing resources for recognizing truth in other traditions without relativistic collapse
Ecological Theology: Creation understood as analogically related to Creator, bearing divine image without pantheistic identification
Academic Research
Contemporary scholars demonstrate how analogical metaphysics provides framework for navigating theological challenges without abandoning classical commitments
Research shows analogical thinking enables engagement between scientific and theological perspectives while maintaining integrity of both domains
Studies indicate analogical frameworks support interfaith dialogue by enabling recognition of truth without relativism or exclusivism
Key Authors
Path Navigation
Related Primary Concepts: Interindependence provides relational framework that analogical metaphysics makes possible
Key Mutations: Primitive Biblicism, Binary Apocalypticism represent univocal and equivocal distortions
Theological Alternatives: Being With, Relational Ontology build on analogical foundation
Contemporary Movements: Christian Nationalism demonstrates dangers of univocal collapse
Last Updated
May 24, 2025
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*This entry is part of the Political Theology Lexicon, accessible exclusively to subscribers. View the complete lexicon to explore related concepts and the full theoretical framework.*
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