Religious Language - Key Terms

Agnosticism

view that there is insufficient evidence for God, or the view that God cannot be known

Truth-claim

a statement that asserts that something is factually true

Apophatic way (via negitiva)

a way of speaking about God and theological ideas using only terms that say what God is not

Cataphatic way (via positiva)

a range of ways of speaking about God and theological ideas using only terms that say what God is

Univocal Language

words that mean the same thing when used in different contexts

Equivocal Language

words that mean different things when used in different contexts

Analogy

a comparison made between one thing and another in an effort to aid understanding

Symbol

a word or other kind of representation used to stand for something else and to shed light on its meaning

Cognitive Statement

(about God) that can be known to be either true or false

Non-Cognitive Statement

(about God) are not subject to truth or falsity