RL: SYMBOLISM & RAMSEY Flashcards
In what way is language symbolic?
In the sense that we use words to stand for other things.
When do religious people often use language symbolically?
When they are talking about their relationship with God. For example, ‘God listened to my prayers.’
What does religious language being symbolic mean?
It cannot be subject to tests in order to assess its meaningfulness.
What does Tillich state about metaphors and symbols as a way of helping us?
“open up levels of reality which were otherwise closed to us.”
What does a symbol do according to Tillich?
‘Unlocks dimensions and elements of our soul.’
How is God defined in symbols?
Visual images, rituals, saints and stories.
How should religious language be perceived according to Tillich?
More like poetry than like prose.
What do we use religious symbolic language as according to Tillich?
A means of coming to terms with the meaning of human existence.
What does Tillich argue religious language is used to communicate?
All of our most important ideas, concerns, feelings and experiences.
How does Tillich link with Aquinas?
In asserting that ordinary human language is inadequate to convey ultimate truth.
What does Tillich argue about using literal language of God?
It’s unhelpful and conveys a false impression of the nature of God.
What does describing God using the omni qualities mean for Tillich?
Suggests that God is ‘a being’.
What does thinking of God as an existent being mean according to Tillich?
Instead of realising that such thinking is symbolic, God does not give us an adequate answer to existential doubt.
What two terms did Ramsey use?
‘Models’ and ‘Qualifiers’.
When can we use ‘models’?
When we speak of God using words such as, ‘righteous’ - these are words we understand as we have a reference point.
When can we use ‘qualifiers’?
To not limit God, as qualifiers are adjectives and adverbs such as ‘everlasting’.
What can we show through Ramsey’s models and qualifiers?
That God is different from us proportionally by using the qualifier to point us in the right direction.
What does Ricoeur argue? (symbolism)
That ‘the function of language is to articulate our experience of the world, to give form to this experience.’
What does Ricoeur state about metaphors?
Rather than suspending reality for Ricoeur, a metaphor creates a new way of ‘seeing’ or constructing reality.
What is the main issue with symbolism as a way of communicating religion?
May only be properly understood by those within a restricted community.
What did Tillich argue about using metaphors and symbols to help us?
They ‘open up levels of reality which were otherwise closed to us.’
Where can symbols become an issue?
If they contradict each other or that are misconstructed, misinterpreted and hard to gain comprehension from.
