Religious Language Flashcards
Why is religious language a debate?
Its the question of how words can be used to adequately express ideas about God.
Apophatic way
Via negativa
Cataphatic way
Via positiva
What are cognitive statements
Statements about god that can be known to be either true or false
What are non cognitive statements
Statements about God that are not subject to truth or falsity
What does univocal mean
The idea that words have the same meanings at all times
What does equivocal mean
The idea that the same word is used with two different meanings
What does the apophatic way claim is the way to speak about God
We can only speak negative statements about God - So basically what God isn’t
Why may the apophatic way be appropriate
Attempting to make positive statements about God would be to risk an anthropomorphic idea of God.
Who believes in the apophatic way
Pseudo-Dionysius believed that God was beyond human description
Moses Maimonides, (but the only positive statement is that he exists)
What are some strengths of the apophatic way
Any language used in the apophatic way prevents anthropomorphic representations of God
Apophatic way is more respectful towards God as it recognises him above humans
Links with religious experiences being ineffable and unable to describe
What are some weaknesses of the apophatic way
It still mostly limits knowledge of God
It opposes scriptures which speak about God with human words
Its difficult to speak to a non believer about God in this way
W.R. Inge argues that denying description of God leads to the annihilation of God
What is the cataphatic way
Argues that positive statements can be made by God
What does Aquinas believe about the cataphatic way
That the language applied to God is not literal but analogical.
What are Aquinas’ two analogies
Analogy of attribution: The words we apply to human beings are related to God because there’s a casual relationship between the two. ‘if the urine is good, the bull is good!’ (as the bull is the cause of the urine
Analogy of proper proportion: When we say human ‘good’ we are speaking about a finite being, if we say God is good were speaking about an infinite being. The proportion just grows. ‘child is good at football, England player is good at football’
What does John Hick say on Aquinas’ analogy’s
A dogs faithfulness may be seen as small or limited compared to humans, our faithfulness may be seen as small or limited compared to God, it is still however faithfulness
What are the strengths of the cataphatic way
It is not univocal so it avoids anthropomorphising God, it is not equivocal so it avoids agnosticism.
Helps us describe God in the same way Jesus spoke about the kingdom of God with parables
What is agnosticism
Gods nature and existence cannot be known
What are the weaknesses of the cataphatic way
The analogy does allow for interpretation which may cause different understandings of God
The meanings of words change over time, can it really be used?
How far can we stretch the meaning of ‘love’ when comparing human love and God love
What is Tillich’s difference between signs and symbols
A sign just points to something
A symbol participates in something it points at with greater meaning
What does Tillich believe on symbolic language and art
- We cannot speak literally of God, God isn’t part of the empirical world and cannot be represented by empirical language
- The words we use to describe God cannot be random or inverted
- Symbols may be limited, the Hindu symbol had lost its meaning, and words can change
- Symbols open up hidden levels of reality that would otherwise be closed towards us.
What are the strengths of symbolic language
It preserves transcendence and the mystery of God in a way that language does not.
The fact that symbolic language changes is good as the symbol may need to change to remain relevant in the changing world
What are the weaknesses of symbolic language
Symbols do not produce any knowledge about God, it may be fully down to interpretation
Ideas of God may change over time as symbols and language changes over time
A symbol does not weaken or strengthen the thing its pointing towards
