Religious Language Flashcards
What are the 2 main questions to ask about religious language
How can we accurately talk about God?
Is religious language meaningful/less?
Which scholars use the apophatic way? (4)
Gregory of Nyssa
Moses Maimonides
Pseudo-Dionysius
Meister Eckhart
Which scholars use the Cataphatic way? (4)
Ignatius of Loyola
Francis of Assisi
Aquinas
Tillich
Which scholar criticised the example of the ship?
Brian Davies
What problem does the apophatic way avoid?
Anthropomorphising God
What two examples of Analogy does Aquinas support?
Analogy of Attribution and Analogy of proportion
What example does Aquinas use of Analogy of Attribution?
The bull’s urine is healthy, therefore the bull is healthy
What example does Davies use for analogy of attribution?
The bread is good because the baker is good
What example is used for analogy of proportion?
The child’s pianist compared to a concert pianist
What example does Von Hugel use for Analogy of Proportion?
Comparing the faithfulness of a dog with a human
Which scholar suggests religious language is symbolic?
Paul Tillich
What is a sign according to Tillich?
Points towards something outside of itself
What is a symbol according to Tillich?
Points towards and participates in that to which it points
What does Tillich call God?
The ground of being
Another name for the Vienna Circle
The Logical Positivists
What theory did the Vienna Circle support?
The Strong Verification Principle
What language was meaningful according to the Strong Verification Principle?
Verified by actual experience or is a tautology
Give an example of a tautology
The round circle
What did the Vienna Circle conclude about religious language?
It was meaningless
What examples did Swinburne use to criticise the verification principle?
All ravens are black; the toys in the cupboard
What is Ayers book called?
Language, Truth and logic
What theory did Ayer support?
The Weak Verification Principle
What did Ayer change about the original Verification Principle?
Statements are meaningful if they can be verified in principle
What theory from Hick can be used to challenge the Verification Principle?
Eschatological Verification
Which scholar first adopted the Falsification Principle?
Karl Popper
What is the debate about religious language and the falsification principle?
The University debate
Which scholars were involved in the falsification debate?
Flew, Hare and Mitchell
What does Flew say about religious statements?
They die the death of a thousand qualifications
What parable does Flew use?
The explorers in the jungle
What does Hare suggest all religious believers have?
Blicks
What example does Hare use?
The student who thinks all the university professors are out to kill him
What example does Mitchell use?
The stranger and the resistance fighter
What is Mitchell’s point about believers?
They are aware of problems but don’t allow them to destroy their faith
