RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE

RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE

1. ANALOGY

   • Aquinas
     • ANALOGY OF ATTRIBUTION
       • God's attributes cause our attributes- our goodness comes from him- we don't know what it means for God to be good, but we know he is good because we see it in ourselves- we are made in the 'imago dei' of God
     • Criticisms
       • Some argue that by using analogy we lose the meaning and purpose behind what we are saying
       • St. Paul argued we cannot accurrately express God until we see him
     • ANALOGY OF PROPORTION
       • There is a proportionate relationship between all things- We understand that God's life is greater than ours therefore all things must be understood in proportion to one another
         • Ian Ramsey supports this by arguing words like 'kind' and 'caring' cannot be used univocally or equivocally so we have to quality the model of words such as 'eternally' or 'infinitely'
     • Argued that religious language is best understood through the use of analogy
       • Criticised univocal language (words have one meaning) and equivocal language( language has subjective meaning)

2. APOPHATIC WAY/ VIA NEGATIVA

   • Pseudo-Dionysius
     • Words limit our understanding of a transcendent God; he is so vastly different to what we know that explaining human terms limit him
     • We should say what god isn't (e.g. immortal, immutable and timeless) in order to come closer to understanding God
       • "God is beyond assertion" "Beyond every limitation"
       • Positive terms are often misleading, he also argues that we cannot rationalise God
   • Moses Maimonides
     • Religious language is meaningful when used negatively
     • Used the example of a ship- by describing what it isn't, we get closer to understanding what a ship is
       • Brian Davies criticises this by saying that by eliminating negatives we are no closer to understanding what God is- we could come to conclude it's a wardrobe
   • STRENGTHS
     • It isn't misleading, whereas positive language may be
     • it avoids being anthropomorphic (human-based) and focuses more on a transcendent God
     • Applies to every culture in time- in analogy and symbol values and characteristics change
     • It doesn't limit god- William James says it allows a 'mystical approach'
   • WEAKNESSES
     • How can we describe what God is not if we have no idea what he is?
       • we have no experience of him
     • Antony flew- negatives amount to nothing- we are told nothing of God
     • Contradicts to scripture which describes God positively

3. SYMBOLS

   • Tillich
     • Religious language is symbolic, not literal
     • Symbols do 4 things- point to something beyond themselves, participate in that to which they point to, they open up levels of reality and they open up dimensions of the soul
       • He called this "theory of participation"
       • symbols help describe things which cannot always be expressed in words alone
         • e.g. the cross is symbolic- it symbolises God's love for humanity, love and forgiveness, prayer, worship and Jesus' sacrifice
     • God is the ultimate symbol, calling him "the ground of out being"
     • Symbols can change and die out thanks to time and culture- e.g. Jews used to sacrifice lambs, Jesus was seen as the lamb of God- this was meaningful but then lose its meaning
     • J. Randall agreed calling religious language symbolic and non-cognitive- R.L does 4 things- arouses emotion, stimulates and inspires community action, allows someone to express experiences, clarifies our experience of God
   • CRITICISMS
     • John Hick- Tillich's idea of participation, calling it unclear- he argued there is little difference between a symbol and a sign
     • William Alston- symbols are meaningless because we don't know whether they're true or not
     • Paul Edwards- symbols are meaningless because they cannot be verified or falsified- "it doesn't convey any facts"
     • John Macquarrie- criticises Tillich not symbols- there is no difference between a symbol and a sign
       • Instead proposed the existential response- symbols and signs link to human existence