Religious Language - Negative, Analogical or Symbolic

what is univocal language

words are used to mean the same things in all situations where they are used

what is equivocal language

words are used to mean different things in different contexts

what is cognitive language

factual statements proved true or false with empirical evidnece

what is non cognitive language

statements that cannot be proved true or false - things like feelings and values

what is the via negativa/apophatic way

explains Gods nature by focusing on what God is not

who are the main scholars for the apophatic way

pseudo-dionysius and maimonides

pseudo-dionysius views (via negativa)

God is ‘beyond assertion’

eg I AM who I AM

by saying god is not darkness we arnt implying that god is light we are accepting that God is beyond the light/darkness assertion

maimonides views (via negativa)

any attempt to use human langauge to describe to god is anthropomorphic (humanises God)

the only positive statement that cna be made about God is that god exists

ship example

what is maimonides’ ship example

made his arguement using the example of a ship that by saying what it is not (eg it is not a mineral or plant) within 10 steps you would arrive at what a ship is

in the same way by describing what god is not you get closer to what god is

what is the via postivia/cataphatic way (used for the analogies)

uses positive language to describe the qualities and nature of god

what kind of language does the cataphatic way use

univocal language

what is analogy

a comparison of 2 similar things with the aim of explaining or clarifying the nature of one or both

what are aquinas’ 2 analogies

analogy of attribution

analogy of proportion

what is the analogy of attribution

the thought that we could gain understanding of god by considering his role as creator

eg if people are wise or good - these are reflection of the creator god

aquinas’ bull example (attribution)

the health of an animal is present in an animals urine

however the bull is only complete in the bull

what the urine tells us is indirect and incomplete

SOOO what what the world tells us about god is incomplete yet meaningful

davies’ baker analogy (attribution)

the bread is good so therefore the baker is good

this is because the bread is a reflection of the bakers skills

what is the analogy of proportion

it is appropriate to draw analogies between the properties of lesser beings and greater being who possess proportionality more of the same property

god is an infinite being - when we use words to describe each other we are describing finite beings

the meaning changes in proportion to the being described

john hicks faithfulness example (proportion)

humans can be faithful to eahother and dogs can aslo be faithful but there is a great difference between this quality in a person and in an animal

SOOO when we say god is faithful we are using the word in a way that makes human faithfulness tiny in comparison

ian ramsey and analogy

models are analogies/concepts that can be used from everyday experience to give us a better understanding of god

qualifiers are the adaptation our models require for example we recognise God cannot be ‘good’ in a human sense thus we need to qualify the statement by adding soemthing such as ‘indefinatley’

by qualifying our models we can sucessfully use analogies to express god

davies criticism of maimonides

by only saying what something is not gives us no indication as to what it is

he argues it would be impossible to arrive at his example of a ship just by sayping what it is not - he could have very well been describing a wardrobe

tillich and symbolic language

symbols represent meaning - religious langauge doesnt refer to god but connects our minds to god

religious language opens up new levels of reality

god is the ground of being that cannot be understood due to its transcendence - symbols communicate values and beliefs

what kind of langauge is religious langauge according to tillich

cognitive

tillich’s 4 key features of symbols

points to something beyond themsleves

participate in that which they point

open up levels of reality which otherwise are closed to us

open up dimensions of the soul which correspond to those aspects of reality

randall on symbols

god is our ideals, an interlectual symbol for what we feel to be the divine

god is just another name for the spiritual aspect of our style

what kind langauge is randall’s symbolic language

non cognitive