Religious language

Question 1

What is univocal language?

Answer 1

when a term is used in exactly the same way and to mean the same thing

Question 2

why did aquinas reject univocal language?

Answer 2

it anthropomorphises god and restricts him to human language

Question 3

what is equivocal language?

Answer 3

when the same term is used in a completely different and unrelated sense

Question 4

why did aquinas reject equivocal language?

Answer 4

we have no idea what we are saying about god

Question 5

what is analogical language?

Answer 5

when the same term is used in a similar or related sense

Question 6

what is the analogy of attribution?

Answer 6

where there is a causal link between two terms. What God has created must reflect God in some way

Question 7

why did aquinas consider the idea of god being morally good nonsensical?

Answer 7

this would imply god is in time and has potential to act in one way rather than another - which is impossible if God is fully actual, wholly simple, timeless and spaceless.

Question 8

how does aquinas respond to ‘god is evil. peter vardy is evil’?

Answer 8

For Aquinas, evil is a privation of good - something is evil to the extent that it falls short of what it should be. It is impossible for God to be evil as it is logically impossible for God to fall short of what it is to be God

Question 9

what is the analogy of proportion?

Answer 9

where terms are related in accordance with the nature of the term

Question 10

what did Evans say supporting analogy?

Answer 10

believers only need to understand enough to be able to worship God

Question 11

what did Ramsay say supporting analogy?

Answer 11

use analogy but also qualifiers. Qualifiers allow God’s mystery to be maintained e.g God is infinitely powerful, perfectly good.

Question 12

what did kenny say against analogy?

Answer 12

dead men do not resemble their murderers - causes do not always reflect their effects

Question 13

what is tillich’s first characteristic of symbols?

Answer 13

they point beyond themselves to something else

Question 14

what is tillich’s second characteristic of symbols?

Answer 14

participates in that to which it points

Question 15

what is tillich’s third characteristic of symbols?

Answer 15

Opens up levels of reality which are otherwise closed to us

Question 16

what is tillich’s fourth characteristic of symbols?

Answer 16

unlocks dimensions and elements of our soul which correspond to the dimensions and elements of reality

Question 17

what is tillich’s fifth characteristic of symbols?

Answer 17

cannot be produced intentionally

Question 18

what is tillich’s sixth characteristic of symbols?

Answer 18

can grow and die

Question 19

what are conventional symbols? (macquarrie)

Answer 19

where symbols are arbitrarily chosen eg maths symbols

Question 20

what are intrinsic symbols? (macquarrie)

Answer 20

where there is a connection between a symbol and what it represents

Question 21

what are the 2 benefits of symbols for macquarrie?

Answer 21

similarity of relation and existential response

Question 22

why did pseudo-dionysius come up with the via negative?

Answer 22

he believed god is unknowable and beyond human comprehension,, therefore can only be talked about in terms of what he is not

Question 23

what did maimonides say?

Answer 23

In 10 negatives, we can know what a ship is. If you dont refer to god using negatives then you will lose faith in god

Question 24

what did tertullian say?

Answer 24

our very incapacity of fully grasping Him affords us the idea of what He really is…

Question 25

what is flews weakness of the via negative?

Answer 25

little difference between our definition of god and a definition of nothingness

Question 26

what is davies’ weakness of the via negative?

Answer 26

could arrive at very different ideas through negation

Question 27

what are the strengths of analogy? (2)

Answer 27

it allows believers to talk of god while maintaining his mystery and transcendence, and it must be meaningful or we would not continue to use it e.g. in poetry

Question 28

what are the weaknesses of analogy? (3)

Answer 28

• How meaningful is analogy if the words are related but we don’t know how they are related? Analogy is only meaningful if it can be reformulated using literal and univocal language - swinburne
• analogy leaves us with an unclear answer to what God is like,
• causal relationship could mean God caused evil

Question 29

how do symbols help us understand god? (tillich)

Answer 29

Tillich argues that symbols help us understand God, by taking us into the internal reality of a symbol, unlocking dimensions in our soul. The language is accessible to humans but also shows us the ultimate reality which is God. God is existence itself.

Question 30

what are the strengths of symbols?

Answer 30

overcome univocal and equivocal problems, and are accessible and understandable for all, can be personal

Question 31

what are the weaknesses of symbols?

Answer 31

could anthropomorphise god, can be subjective, can be culturally/historically determined eg is it good to call god a king when some kings are bad?, tillich never said how things participate in what they point to

Question 32

What did Bultmann believe?

Answer 32

It was too much to ask people to read the Bible literally - we no longer believe in a three tiered universe. Science has moved on and so people should not be expected to believe that Jesus’ miracles actually happened. He said that believers should look at what the saving message was behind the miracle (the kerygma), instead of the supernatural - demythologisation.

Question 33

How did Hick support Bultmann?

Answer 33

He said that the incarnation should be read as a myth