Religious Language Flashcards
Univocal language
The word has exactly the same meaning at all times e.g. “boy”
Equivocal language
The same word is used with two completely different meanings e.g. “cricket” (a game or an insect)
Cognitive language
A statement that is subject to being true or false e.g. “the cat is asleep on the teachers’ chair”.
Non-cognitive language
A statement that is not subject to truth or falsity e.g. “hurray” or “ouch”
Tautology
A logical statement true by definition
Analytic statement
A statement that contains the truth needed to verify it within the statement itself
Synthetic statement
A statement that needs external evidence for it to be proved true or false.
Cataphatic Way
Uses positive language to describe the qualities and nature of God
Apophatic Way
The Via Negativa – The negative way - The only legitimate way to talk about God is to say what he is not.
Analogy of Attribution
A way of talking about God through attributing characteristics of the created to the Creator.
E.g. Bull’s urine indicates the health of the bull; good bread is attributed to a good baker.
Analogy of Proportion
A way of talking about God by comparing limited human concepts with a proportionally much greater idea.
E.g. comparing a primary school pianist with a concert pianist.
Sign
Points to something outside of itself
Symbol
Participates in that to which it points and conveys a depth of meaning often at an emotional level.
Myth
A vehicle through which religious truths are conveyed, giving insight into beliefs and human experience
Kerygma
The essential truths or teachings of Jesus that remain once all supernatural elements have been removed
Strong Verification Principle
A statement is only meaningful if it can be verified by an actual experience or is a tautology
Weak Verification Principle
A statement is meaningful if it is a tautology or it can be verified in principle
Eschatological Verification
(Hick) Religious statements will be verified at the end of life’s journey.
Falsification Principle
A principle for assessing whether statements are genuine scientific assertions by considering whether any evidence could disprove them.
Blik
(Hare) a world view that can be sane or insane; beyond judgement and reason
Language Games
(Wittgenstein) – Words only have a specific meaning within the context of their own “form of life”.
