Religious Language

Question 1

What is on the specification?

Answer 1

-saying what god isn’t
-saying what God is using analogical language
-Saying what God is using symbolic language

Question 2

What is the Apophatic way?

Answer 2

negative way- saying what God is not.

Question 3

What is the Cataphatic way?

Answer 3

Positive way- saying what God is

Question 4

What are three types of language?

Answer 4

Univocal
Equivicol
Analogical

Question 5

What is Univocal Language?

Answer 5

When a word means the same in every context e.g a dog

Question 6

What is Equivivcol language?

Answer 6

When a word means different things depending on the context e.g Bat

Question 7

What is analogical language?

Answer 7

Partly similar and partly dissimilar words e.g healthy related but not identical

Question 8

Why is only analogical language used for God?

Answer 8

Univocal language makes it seem like God is like us
Equivicol language it highlight ambiguety.

Question 9

What is Platonic thought?

Answer 9

Physical material is evil and spiritual is Good.

Question 10

What do mystic thinkers believe?

Answer 10

Different religious believers think that we will have a finite human understanding of God so we can only speak about what God is not

Question 11

What did Gregory of Nyssa say about an ant?

Answer 11

If we aren’t able to understand the mind of an ant then how are we able to say what God is.
(problem of other minds)

Question 12

Who said we must enter a ‘cloud of unknowing’?

Answer 12

Pseudo- Dynesis

Question 13

What is a weakness of Apophatic way overall?

Answer 13

Disrespectful

Question 14

What does Gregory nyssa say that also links with Pseudo Dynosis?

Answer 14

‘divine darkness’
‘Mysticism of darkness’

Question 15

What example does Moses Maimonides use to show that your able to find out something by saying what it’s not>

Answer 15

Ship

Question 16

Who goes against Mainmonide point?

Answer 16

Davies- illogical and unreasonable because they could’ve came to a diff conclusion such as a coffin or a wardrobe

Question 17

What are three strengths of the apophatic way?

Answer 17

-used biblically ‘God is NOT human’
-Judaism and Islam avoid picturing God visually as they understand humans are limited
-peter Cole able to gain insight

Question 18

What are three weaknesses of the apophetic way?

Answer 18

-not a true reflection on how religious beleiver think of God as majority of the bible God is described in a positive way
-denying discription leads to anhilation
-human understanding very limited

Question 19

What is an analogy?

Answer 19

comparison between one thing and another all language is figurative.

Question 20

What are the two types of analogy Aquinas proposed?

Answer 20

Analogy of attribution
Analogy of proper proportion

Question 21

What is the analogy of attribution?

Answer 21

-recognises God is the cause of all things
-e.g we can observe love and have a partial understanding of God’s love

Question 22

What is the analogy of proper proportion?

Answer 22

When using a human word to describe God it applies in a much greater proportion.

Question 23

What are three strengths of the cataphatic way?

Answer 23

-able to provide some knowledge of God
-NT via positiva ‘God is light’
-Jesus used it when describing the Kingdom of God

Question 24

What are weaknesses of the cataphatic way?

Answer 24

-individual interpretation picturing God in different ways
-Swinburne argues that we must translate analogical to univocal language
-Brummer, false assumption of saying something.

Question 25

Why does Tillitch beleive that religious language is symbolic?

Answer 25

God is not from the empirical world so cannot be presented literally.

Question 26

What is a sign?

Answer 26

Points to something outside itself it is one dimentional and arbiturary e.g red traffic light

Question 27

What is a symbol?

Answer 27

points to something outside of itself but also participates that to which it points e.g the cross or flag

Question 28

What does Tillitch beleive that symbolic language functions similar too?

Answer 28

Art or music providing us with deeper emotion which allows us to go beyond.

Question 29

What is one reason as to why someone would have a deeper meaning of God?

Answer 29

Due to experiencing the divine through a religious experience more likely to participate in the meaning more.

Question 30

What is another reason one would have a deeper meaning of God?

Answer 30

Due to there understanding of the culture and tradition behind the religion (communal usage)

Question 31

What example can be used to show the communal usage giving a deeper understanding of God?

Answer 31

Passover meal
‘the lamb of God’
-Jesus is innocent and pure
-OT lambs are sacrificed Jesus was the sacrifice.

Question 32

Explain as to how Tillitch’s understanding of then Symbolic language is related to the cataphatic way?

Answer 32

Conveys aspects of ultimate reality.

Question 33

How does Tillitch also talk about God in the Apophatic way?

Answer 33

rejects the direct/ literal description of God.

Question 34

What is Tillitch’s Complex understanding of religious language?

Answer 34

It is both negation and affirmation.

Question 35

What are three strengths of Symbolic language?

Answer 35

-preserves the mystery of God in a way that analogical doesn’t e.g God is ‘Good’
-symbols don’t provide certain knowledge of God
-allows us to access God in our own ways.

Question 36

What are three weaknesses of symbolic language?

Answer 36

-limited lifespan
-we can never know if the symbolic language we use is correct in the first place.
-Division among beleivers.