RL - Negative, Analogical Or Symbolic Flashcards
USES OF RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
- To make truth claims
- To express emotion
- To evoke feelings of worship
- To solemnise occasions
- To pray
VIA NEGATIVA
OVERVIEW
- In order to say things literally true of God it is important to use only negative terms
- e.g. Invisible, timeless
- Using positive terms of God makes God seem too small as if like human father or judge and has only human wisdom or strength
VIA NEGATIVA
PSUEDO-DIONYSIUS
-Lived in 16th century, influential in developing via negativa, arguing people need to go beyond need for understanding and enter ‘cloud of unknowing’
VIA NEGATIVA
MOSES MAIMONIDES
- 12th century, gave ship example to illustrate how knowledge of God could be communicated
- Learns ship is not accident, not mineral, not flat object until cannot be anything but ship
- You will come nearer to knowledge of comprehension of God by the negative attributes
VIA NEGATIVA
ANSELM
-Involves an acceptance of limits of human understanding and by implication, of the human language that we use to express our insights l
NGCBC - consistent with this acceptance, definition of what God is via what he is not
VIA NEGATIVA
ST JOHN OF THE CROSS
- Mystic view = through a certain pattern of reflection and experience, a mystical contemplation with the divine in possible
- Such insight can’t be rendered in human terms, we can follow the apophatic approach of affirming through negation, God is not evil, not limited
VIA NEGATIVA
LOGICAL PROBLEM WITH APOPHATIC WAY
-If we say God is inexpressible we are still and expressing something about God, giving a description of some kind - seen as paradox or a contradiction
VIA NEGATIVA
DOES NOT RESULT IN ANTHROPOMORPHIC DESCRIPTION
-Doesn’t result in anthropomorphic descriptions of God which is good because we are not left with an inadequate idea of God due to our language
VIA NEGATIVA
ADVANTAGES - WORSHIP
-Many Christians today fail to see importance of worship so VN acknowledged that realms of divine is a mystery and reminds us of importance of worship
VIA NEGATIVA
ADVANTAGES - JUDEO-CHRISTIAN IDEA
-Supports Judeo-Christian idea that we are contingent beings and God if necessary hence why human language can only be used to communicate about contingent things
VIA NEGATIVA
DISADVANTAGES - NOT TRUE REFLECTION
-Not a very true reflection of how religious people talk about God and how they think he should be talked about
VIA NEGATIVA
DISADVANTAGES - ATHEISM AND THEISM
-Tyler and Reid suggest that one cannot distinguish between atheism and theism because if we only talk about God negatively we are essentially rejecting him
VIA NEGATIVA
DISADVANTAGES - HICK
-Hick argues Dionysius cannot claim that God is ineffable as he is revealed through the resurrection and incarnation, Hick points out it is a contradiction to say that God is beyond human comprehension yet suggests he can be found in the bible
VIA POSITIVA
OVERVIEW
Two of ways religious believers might use positive terms to communicate ideas about God
Analogy and Symbols
ANALOGY
DEFINITION
Analogy is a comparison made between one thing and another in an effort to aid understanding
ANALOGICAL
UNIVOCAL VS EQUIVOCAL
-Analogical language contrasts with univocal language (words used in exactly same way) and equivocal language (where words have completely different meanings)
ANALOGY
AQUINAS
- Whenever we speak of God we use analogy whether we mean to or not
- Recognising we are using analogy helps avoid problem of making God too small
ANALOGY
AQUINAS DIVIDES ANALOGY INTO 2 KINDS
Analogy of attribution: A causal relationship between 2 things described, when we think of God as loving we should remember that God is the cause of love
Analogy of proportionality: Analogy related 2 things that are different in proportion, need to remember when we speak of God his attributes are on an infinitely greater scale
ANALOGY
CASE OF ANALOGY
- Downwards from level of humanity to level of animals
- Obvious is we speak of a friend and dog as faithful, we are not using the term in the same sense
ANALOGY
IAN RAMSEY
- Analogy using models and qualifiers
- we can take an idea from limited physical world and use it as a model
- We can use other words such a holy to indicate word is being applied analogically to an infinite being who will always remain beyond human comprehension
SYMBOL
DEFINITION
Symbol is a word or other kind of representation used to stand for something else to shed light on it’s meaning
SYMBOL
DETAIL
- All language symbolic in that words stand for what they represent
- Metaphor used in many contexts to aid understanding and avoid vividness
- Using symbol can be way of saying positive things about God without making him too small
SYMBOL
THE BIBLE
-Bible uses symbolic language for God e.g. Describing him as a shepherd
SYMBOL
PAUL TILLICH
- Paul Tillich has theology of correlation showing relation between questions raised in philosophy and answers offered by theology
- Symbols participate in things which they point
- All religious language is symbolic and helps us understand God as the ‘ground of all being’
CRITICISMS A AND S
PHYSICAL WORLD
-Using ideas from limited imperfect world to express ideas might make God seem to small
CRITICISMS A AND S
POSITIVE TERMS
-Using positive terms to speak of God might wrongly suggest humans can come to an understanding about God
CRITICISMS A AND S
DO NOT COME TONUNDERSTANDING
-If we use analogy and symbol knowing that the terms we are using are only a partial, smaller shadow of greatness of God then we still do not come to a very clear understanding
CRITICISMS A AND S
INTERPRETATION
- Analogies and symbols require interpretation and we do not always know if we are interpreting them correctly
- Some Symbols can change in meaning over time or between different cultures e.g. Swastika in India is a symbol of good fortune
CRITICISMS OF ANALOGY
SHARED UNDEDSTANDING
- Analogy only works due to shared understanding between 2 areas of experience
- If I suggest John has ‘played with a straight bat’ in making a deal with me about buying a house, need to know about cricket techniques and fairness in making deals
- We might argue we don’t know God as he is in the phenomenal world within which we can’t solve using language analogically
VIA NEGATIVA
DISADVANTAGES-GOD CHARACTERISTICS
-There are many occasions where God has directly displayed his character to humans e.g. Moses and bush, hence evidence to state that we can make positive statements
