Religious Language Flashcards
Where does via negativa get its roots from ?
in the Neo-Platonism of the second century AD
What is anthropomorphism ?
Talking about God in human terms was disrespectful because it brought God down to a human level .
who was psuedo dionysius ?
Apophatic language (via negativa) should be used to talk about God , rather than cataphatic language because it preserves the mystery of God.
What is the cataphatic way (via positiva)?
Uses positive words to describe God , ‘God is good’
what did Gregory of Nyssa say ?
Fourth century AD mystic
the spiritual life as a ‘mysticism of darkness’.
There comes a point at which the believer enters an outer darkness and into the apophatic way of God’s ineffable, transcendent reality.
What did Moses Maimonides say ?
Medieval Jewish Theologian.
Advised following the apophatic way - he wanted to be able to say something about God.
How does the via negativa help us talk abotu God ?
Respectful way to talk about God. Recognsies God is far beyond human understanding. We preserve the transcendance and majesty of God
- Avoids anthropomorphising God.
Why does the via negativa not help us talk about God ?
B. Davies criticises Maimoides - you could just as easily end up with a wardrobe instead of a ship. We are no nearer to understanding of God if we say only what God is not.
- Religious believers seek positive knowledge of God and speak of God in positive rather than negative terms
- It leaves us with limited understanding of God because there is so little that it communicates about God.
What is univocal language ?
uses a word in the same way
what is equivocal language
uses the same word in different ways.
what is the analogy of attribution ?
there is some connection between creatures and the creator and so there is something that can be said about God, using the analogy of attribution.
We can attribute goodness to God because we see something like ‘goodness’ in his ceations
what is the analogy of proper proportion ?
Aquinas says when we talk about God being good, it means more than human goodness. God’s goodnesss is proportionally much greater than our goodness.
Is analogy an effective way to talk about God ?
Analogy of attribution avoids the problems of equivocal language because there is some similarity between God’s love and the love seen in families, for example
Avoids anthropomorphism by using analogy of proprtion.
Hick supports it since it enables us to make some statements about God but also preserves a degree of mystery.
Analogy is not an effective way to talk about God
By attributing dimilar ideas to God, we may still limit God. How do we know anything about God is he is beyond our understanding ?
J. Don Scotus - argues that analogy is too vague and leaves us unable to understand God or his actions
Tillichs use of symbolic language is useful to talk about God ?
preserves mystery of God - avoids anthropomorphism
symbolic language changes over time so it can sta yrelevant
