Religious Language: Negative, Analogical or Symbolic

Question 1

Agnosticism

Answer 1

the view that there is insufficient evidence for God, or the view that God cannot be known

Question 2

Truth-Claim

Answer 2

a statement that asserts that something is factually true

Question 3

Apophatic Way (via negativa)

Answer 3

a way of speaking about God and theological ideas using only terms that say what God is not

Question 4

Cataphatic Way (via positiva)

Answer 4

a range of ways of speaking about God and theological ideas using only terms that say what God is

Question 5

Univocal Language

Answer 5

words that mean the same thing when used in different contexts.
E.G. when we talk about a bath mat and a door mat

Question 6

Equivocal Language

Answer 6

words that mean different things when used in different contexts
E.G. when we talk about a fruit bat and a cricket bat

Question 7

Analogy

Answer 7

a comparison made between one thing and another in an effort to aid understanding
E.G. Plato and his analogy of the cave

Question 8

Symbol

Answer 8

a word or other kind of representation used to stand for something else and to shed light on its meaning