Religious Language: Apophatic and Cataphatic Use

Question 1

What is a Cognitive Sentence?

Answer 1

A sentence where it is appropriate to ask whether it is true or false

Question 2

What is a Non-Cognitive Sentence?

Answer 2

A sentence about which it is not appropriate to ask whether it is true or false. Orders, prayers, stories, poems are non-cognitive utterances

Question 3

What are general ambiguities in cognitive and non cognitive sentences?

Answer 3

• The context is important
• “My grandad won the Victoria cross” can be cognitive if I am telling you actual family history or it can be non-cognitive if it is the start of a fictional novel
• We do not accuse literature students of being liars, when we read King Lear we are not caring whether there was a King of England who behaves as Shakespeare described, but the truths lie in the things revealed about human nature and life of man

Question 4

Does Richard Dawkins believe religious language is cognitive or non-cognitive?

Answer 4

• Believes the sentences are cognitive, but obviously false, they are a failed scientific hypothesis
• Believers argue that ‘God Exists’ is cognitive and provides the correct account of reality
• Atheists like Dawkins believe a state of affairs where God takes action in the world is not true

Question 5

What elements of the bible are non-cognitive?

Answer 5

• Reading scripture cognitively, as a literal truth could be mistaken
• Large parts of the bible, e.g Psalms, Leviticus, Book of Revelation, all seem to have another purpose, only known to the writer
• Can be argued there is no ‘literal truth’ but more a truth shown like a piece of literature would (think of King Lear by Shakespeare)

Question 6

What is the Discourse of Faith?

Answer 6

Language as used within the religious aspect of life, its significance and meaning are internal to a given religion

Question 7

Is Genesis Cognitive or Non-Cognitive?

Answer 7

• First two chapters are questioned as to whether they should be understood cognitively or otherwise
• Origen argued that Genesis made no sense if treated as a statement of fact, it was to be understood figuratively
• Religious Scripture should be understood non-cognitively, for some

Question 8

What is Via Positiva?

Answer 8

• The Cataphatic Way
• The claim we are able to make certain positive statements about God

Question 9

What is Via Negativa?

Answer 9

• The Apophatic Way
• An approach to religious language that claims nothing positive an be said about God, we can only say what he is not

Question 10

What are religious examples of the Apophatic Way?

Answer 10

• Judaism never articulate the full name of God and in Islam they never articulate God visually to avoid anthropomorphising
• We can only say what God is not, e.g God is not unjust, not ignorant, we cannot say God IS merciful as we have no conception of what this means in relation to God
• Human understanding warrants human words and therefore cannot be used in relation with God

Question 11

Quote the ‘Cloud of Unknowing’, written by a member of the Carthusians?

Answer 11

“you may not see him clearly by light of understanding in your reason”
“it is always right to be in this cloud of darkness”
- We can never use any words to know what God is as we have limited language and reason, we must remain in this cloud of darkness

Question 12

Where is the Apophatic way primarily found?

Answer 12

• In Eastern Christian thoughts, in Origen, Clement of Alexandria and even Neo-platonists such as Proclus

Question 13

How did Gregory of Nyssa and Basil the Great argue for the apophatic way?

Answer 13

• Argued that if we cannot know the mind and essence of something of low sophistication like an ant, how could we ever understand God

Question 14

What is the distinction between the apophatic and cataphatic way made by Psudo-Dionysius?

Answer 14

• Via positiva uses theological language, such as ‘The Good’ and these do give us real knowledge about God
• Via negativa however treats this as merely provisional knowledge as true knowledge lies beyond these names
• Via negativa aims to move beyond language as a whole to the ‘divine darkness’ which lies beyond conceptual knowledge

Question 15

Quote Pseudo-Dionysius in his ‘On the Divine Names’

Answer 15

“goes beyond speech and knowledge”
“we must dare not to speak or form any conception of the hidden”

Question 16

What is the view of Irish Monk, John Scotus Eriguena? (Quote)

Answer 16

• Supports the Pseudo-Dionysius and translated part of it
• “God is beyond all meaning and intelligence”

Question 17

What was the view of Jewish Medieval Philosopher Moses Maimonides?

Answer 17

• In his ‘Guide for the Perplexed’ and ‘Commentary on the Misname’ he warns of the danger of anthropomorphising God
• Scripture draws on human language, e.g ‘Gods right hand’, he warns of literal interpretation of this type of language in relation to God

Question 18

Quote Moses Maimonides in his first part of his ‘Guide for the Perplexed’?

Answer 18

• “we should not have the idea that the supreme being is corporeal, having a material body”
• He deals with various terms used in scripture, because of who we are, we try to make comparisons with God
• Despite human intellect and being created in the image of God we cannot make the assumption that he has the same qualities

Question 19

What did W.R Inge believe about the Via Negativa?

Answer 19

• To deny God and his descriptions would lead to an ‘annihilation’ of both God and humanity
• Stripping God of his descriptions due to our finite language would destroy the essential link between us and God
• If God is involved with the earth (by sacrificing his son), not describing him would lead us to think less significantly about God, perhaps not think about him at all

Question 20

What was the view of G.K Chesterton and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin on the Via Negativa?

Answer 20

• ‘divination of matter’, the belief that finding God through material existence was part of his plan for salvation
• Teilhard believes positive talk about God’s relationship is significant, no matter how limited
• When we are loved by someone, we do not know truly why or how, but it can still be expressed through language
• The same applies to God

Question 21

What is the view of Orthodox Theologian, Rowan Williams?

Answer 21

• Discussion about God is not the beginning of faith but leads on from an initial encounter
• Whether we describe this mystery apophatically or cataphatically it remains that it is something beyond human experience
• Both styles of language can be used, but must be understood in terms of their limitations

Question 22

Quote Rowan Williams on the work of Vladimir Lossky?

Answer 22

“apophasis can never be more than the verb symbol of the encounter with God”
- It is beyond our experience and it is a mystery