Analogical religious language: Ian Ramsey

Question 1

What are disclosures and how did Ramsey believe they should be expressed?

Answer 1

A religious experience, that should be expressed analogically rather than in the difficulties of trying to express it in every day language.

Question 2

What are models?

Answer 2

The everyday words that could partly express our understanding of God from disclosures.

Question 3

How would a model be used about a disclosure?

Answer 3

If our disclosure reveals something about God’s goodness, we could model it on the human understanding of goodness.

Question 4

What does Ramsey believe the problem is with models?

Answer 4

The human understanding of goodness does not fully communicate the depth and complexity of God’s goodness. Argued models need adaptation with qualifiers.

Question 5

How would we develop ‘God is good’ with a qualifier?

Answer 5

‘God is INFINITELY good.’

Question 6

What does the use of qualifiers achieve?

Answer 6

We can develop a greater insight into the nature of God’s goodness because it is a better expression of understanding.