Catholic Dictionary
Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.
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DOCTA IGNORANTIA
Learned ignorance. In theology it means that whatever man learns about God is infinitesimal compared to the infinity of being that is the divine essence, and must be expressed in negative terms such as in-finite, in-comprehensible, in-effable. The expression was originally the title of a treatise, De Docta Ignorantia, by Nicholas of Cusa (1401-64) to describe human insight into the divinity.
