Chapter 8 Flashcards
What are the 3 sections of religious language part 2?
- Religious Language as symbolic
- Religious language as mythological
-Religious language as a language game
Who are the key scholars for Religious Language as symbolic?
John Randall and Paul Tillich
What is John Randall’s view of Religious Language?
They are symbols that make sense in the belief system - religion and science offer humanity different things
What are John Randall’s four functions of symbols?
- motivation
- cooperation
- communication
- revelation
What text shows the four functions?
Matthew 8:5-13
What are Paul Tillich’s six characteristics of symbols?
- symbols point to something beyond themselves
- symbols participate in the reality in which they participate
- symbols open up to a new reality
- symbols give new vision
- symbols grow out of the collective consciousness
- symbols grow and die as contexts change
How does Tillich distinguish between signs and symbols?
Signs are arbitrary while symbols cannot be replaced - symbols have relationships with what they participate in while signs do not
What are Tillich’s view on symbols?
Religious experience can only be expressed through symbols - God is the ground for all beings so can only be accessed through symbols - God as ground for all being means we are not helpless
What are the challenges to Randall and Tillich?
- lack of clarity - symbols to explain symbols
- Paul Edwards opposes to Tillich’s lack of depth
- William Alston states that much of the content of religious language is removed
- John Hick states that Tillich dilutes the message of religious language
- symbols do not help to enter ultimate reality
- Randall overemphasises human function - lack of focus on what is real
How can Randall and Tillich be used to understand religious teaching?
- focus on richness of religious language - acknowledges diversity
- helps to reduce conflict between science and religion
- changing symbols helps religion remain relevant in modern age
What are the 3 types of myth within religious language?
- creation myths
- myths of good against evil
- heroic myths
What are common themes in creation myths with examples?
- common symbols of water, light and darkness, and the special status of humanity
- Christianity’s genesis story
- Hinduism’s cosmic egg
- Ancient Greek creation of Gaia and the Tartarus out of chaos
What are common themes in myths of good against evil with examples?
- human concerns of feeling powerless to evil
- Jesus’ resurrection defeating evil -> resurrection stories common in other religions
- Zoroastrian mythology has defeat of deceit by truth
What are common themes in heroic myths with examples?
- special birth of hero who will save their people - linked to battle of good and evil
- Christ, Thor, and Krishna
- Moses freeing the Jews and King David defeating Goliath
- transmit into fiction and film
