Abstract
Claims from apophatic, or negative, theology—that God is ineffable, inconceivable, and incomprehensible, for example—are deeply rooted in the Christian tradition. But they are also deeply puzzling, perhaps even inconsistent. This chapter, focusing on claims of divine ineffability, defends their consistency by appealing to some ideas in contemporary metaphysics about fundamentality. In section 1, the distinction between fundamental and non-fundamental truths is explained. Then, in section 2, the distinction is used to give a defense of divine ineffability. According to this defense, all truths about how God is intrinsically are non-fundamental. He is ineffable in the sense that one cannot assert any true, fundamental propositions about Him. Section 3 considers some objections and replies.