Religious Lang - 1 Flashcards
What issue does RL try to solve
- Need to talk about God in a Meaningful way
- Hard to use finite language to describe an infinite divine being
- God is transcendent beyond our understanding, can we talk meaningfully about him.
Cognitive vs. Non-Cognitive Statements
Cognitive
- True or False
- Express literal propositions e.g. Triangles have 3 sides
Non-Cognitive
- Not factual
- Not literal propositions, Can be metaphorical, poetic etc.
e.g. That Hurt/ G&L is the best school
- Many believe RL to be Non-Cognitive as it cannot be verified through empirical evidence (Up for debate e.g. RE)
Univocal Vs. Equivocal Language
Univocal Language
- Sane word used with the same meaning
- e.g. Dictionary is a book, the Bible is a Book
Equivocal Language
- Same word used with a different, or ambiguous meaning
- e.g. Bank for Money, or River Bank
What is the Apophatic way + what is it also known as?
Via Negativa –> the way of negation
Greek ‘apo’ meaning Away from
- Based on idea God is transcendent and unknowable
- We cannot speak meaningfully about God’s attributes due to limited human concepts + Language
–> using Human language makes us think of human concepts e.g. love –> Jealousy - Blasphemous, disrespectful and impossible to make positive claims about God
- Understanding God through Saying what he is not
–> Better to accept mysteries then pin down using flawed concepts
Who are the 3 Scholars for and 3 Against Via Negativa
For
- Pseudo-Dionysius
–> God beyond assertion + denial, ineffable+transcendent, need to accept God as mystery or idea will become inaccurate
- Meister Eckhart
–> More you experience God, more you realise Human language useless, + Via neg. helps understand God as beyond words
- Moses Maimonides
–> Negation only meaningful way, e.g. describe ship by what is not
Against
- W.R. Ingle
–> deny God characteristics leads to annihilation of God + self
- G.K. Chesterton
–> pushed God too far beyond human life, God found in + through Earth
- Brian Davies
–> too vague, gives no indication of Gods characteristics, e.g. when describing ship could guess wardrobe
What did the Scholar Pseudo-dionysius say about using Language to describe God?
- 6th Century - Via Negativa supporter
- God is ‘beyond assertion’ and ‘beyond denial’
–> But better characterised by negations - God is transcendent, ineffable –> we are incapable of (rationalising/ understanding) God
- Need to accept God as a mystery, otherwise have idea of God will be innaccurate
What did Mesiter Eckhart Think about Via Negativa?
Via negative supporter
The more we experience God the more we realise our language is useless
- Via Negativa Helps us move to belief God is beyond all words
What did Moses Maimonides think about Religious Language
- Via Negative suppoerter
- 12th Century
- Attempts to describe God in human language anthropomorphise him
–> necessary for less intelligent but Via negativa is the best approach - RL is meaningful when used negatively
–> e.g. describing a ship by describing what it is not
What are the Advantages to Via Negativa? (4)
- More accessible, no complex words
- Prevents Heresies –> e.g. not belittling God
- Prevents Anthropomorphising God
–> manipulation of Divine to suit human ideas + bringing God down to human levels - Encourages a sense of awe + respect
Who are the Critical / Against Scholars for the Via Negativa? + What did they say?
- W.R. Ingle –> to deny God his descriptions would lead to the annihilation of God and self
- G.K. Chesterton –> Feared Via Negativa placed God too far beyond human life and the world –> thought we should find God in and through the earth
- Brian Davies –> Describing what something isn’t gives no indication of what it is e.g. could equally guess a wardrobe when a ship is being described
What did G.K. Chesterton say about the Via Negativa
- G.K. Chesterton –> Feared Via Negativa placed God too far beyond human life and the world –> thought we should find God in and through the earth
What did W.R. Ingle say about the Via negativa?
- W.R. Ingle –> to deny God his descriptions would lead to the annihilation of God and self
What did Brian Davies Say about the Via negativa?
- Brian Davies –> Describing what something isn’t gives no indication of what it is e.g. could equally guess a wardrobe when a ship is being described
–> counter point for Moses Maimonides ship example
What are the Disadvantages to Via Negativa? (4)
- Vague –> cannot say much about God - doesn’t move us far beyond silence
- Denial can imply assertion e.g. God is not evil –> implies God is Good
- Leads to agnosticism –> God is unknowable + unable to justify belief
- Bible uses positive statements about God e.g. Genesis referred to as Father - e.g. Psalms “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good”
Who is the main scholar for Via Positiva? + What is it also called?
- Cataphatic Way
- Aquinas 13th Century
What was Aquinas reaction to Via Negativa?
- Rejected Via Negativa
–> Said it is possible to say something about God’s Nature - Accepts the meaning of Language Changes when applied to God
What Does Aquinas Propose instead of Via Negativa?
- Via Positiva (Cataphatic Way)
- Using Analogies
- God as perfect and infinite defies description
- Cannot speak of God univocally or equivocally
–> must use an indirect method - Analogies
–> attempt to explain meaning by using familiar comparison - Avoids use of univocal and equivocal language, whilst allowing us partial knowledge of his attributes
What are Aquinas 3 Forms of Analogy
- Attribution, Proper Proportion, Improper Proportion
Attribution
- Understand God through his role as creator
–> God made world, world reflects God
–> Able to draw analogies between World + God
e.g. Bull and its Urine
–> Can tell health of Bull through Urine
–> Indirect and incomplete
–> Like what world tells us about God
- Limited e.g. God’s Goodness is foremost, but world only has Goodness in secondary respect
Proper Proportion
-Humans poses God’s qualities as we are created in his image - but have qualities to a lesser proportion
- e.g. Cleverness of Scientist vs. Cleverness of Dog
Improper Proportion
- Analogy which doesn’t deal with proportional qualities
Which Scholar created Models and Qualifiers + explain them?
- Ian Ramsey - 20th Century
Models serve as a tool to help understand something e.g. model of a cell to explain cell structure
–> Only provides limited understanding
–> Models need a ‘qualifier’ (explanation) to explain gap between model and original
- Analogy is appropriate way of referring to God
–> given there is a qualifier
Name the 4 critical Scholars for Aquinas Via Positiva + explain there points?
- Karl Barth –> Only way to know God is through revelations, attempts to speak through analogy will fail
- Richard Swinburn –> States it is an unecessary theory
–> Can describe God and humans as ‘good’ unequivocally
–> Humans and God possess Goodness in different ways, still same quality - St. Paul- Cannot describe God accurately until we ‘see’ him again
- William Blackstone –> have to translate Aquinas analogies into univocal language before statements mean anything
–> e.g. Have to know God’s love relates to human love to understand analogy
What are the Disadvantages to Via Positiva? (3)
- Evil exists in world - Could also be reflection of God (can use Privation of Good theodicy to resolve)
- Proper Proportion Analogy - dispute weather humans were made in image and likeness of God
–> Darwins theory of evolution
+ Positives of Via Negativa e.g. Anthropomorphises God, brings divine down to human levels
Who is the main Scholar behind Symbolic Language for God? + differences between Sign + Symbol
- Paul Tillich - 19th Century
- Sign –> points to something, is a matter of convention
- Symbol –> points to and participates in the thing is points to
What does Tillich say are the key features of a Symbol?
- 19th Century
a) Point to something beyond themselves
b) Participate in what they point to
c) open levels of reality which otherwise would be closed
Who proposed 4 functions of a symbol + explain functions?
J.H. Randall
- Motivating - fire up emotions and inspire people to action
- Socially bind people with same understanding of symbol
- Communication - of things that are not literal
- Disclosing. - reveal hidden depths about spiritual matters
What are the Advantages to Symbolic Language? (3)
- Universal - no translation limitations
- Coincide with Analogy theory asserting inadequacy of Language
- Guards Against Anthropomorphism
Who are the critical Scholars for Symbolic language?
- John Hick
–> Called Tillichs ‘participation’ unclear - Argued there was little difference between a sign and a symbol
–> Argues words we say do not participate in nature of God the way a flag does for a country
–> Argues Aesthetics in RL are overemphasises + come at expense of valid modes of communication - John Macquarie - Tillichs use of symbol not consistent with current usage
–> e.g. clouds are sign of rain - and have instruct connection with what is symbolises
What is John Hicks view of Symbolic Language?
- John Hick
–> Called Tillichs ‘participation’ unclear - Argued there was little difference between a sign and a symbol
–> Argues words we say do not participate in nature of God the way a flag does for a country
–> Argues Aesthetics in RL are overemphasises + come at expense of valid modes of communication
What is John Macquarie’s view on Symbolic Language?
- John Macquarie
- Tillichs use of symbol not consistent with current usage
–> e.g. clouds are sign of rain - and have clear participation + connection with what is symbolises
What are the Disadvantages to Symbolic Language? (2)
- Meanings of symbols change over time e.g. Swastika from buddhist symbol of peace to representing Nazi ideology.
- Meanings of symbols change depending on who views them e.g. hammer and sickle fear / oppression for some - hope/ unity for others
What is an alternative Approach to RL by Soskice?
- Jeant Soskice - Metaphor
- Metaphors are vague which is an advantage
- Maintains elusiveness of God (created by epistemic distance) while still referring to him
