Understanding Religious Language

According to the Via Negativa theory, we can only meaningfully say what God is ____.

Negative language describes what a thing is ___.

Positive language describes what a thing ___.

Pseudo-Dionysius suggests that we should focus on describing God through ___ language.

The Via Negativa approach helps in avoiding anthropomorphising God by ensuring we do not apply any concept we humans can understand to God, thus emphasizing what God is ___.

The Bible supports the use of ___ language to describe God, as seen in statements like 'God is love' and 'God is spirit'.

Aquinas believes that his theory captures everyday Christian meaning better than ______ negativa.

The analogy of attribution and proportion in Aquinas' theory are ideas that the average Christian accepts when speaking about ______.

According to Aquinas, when Christians say 'God is love', they understand that God's love is beyond human understanding but is still analogous to human love, though proportionally ______.

Tillich's theory is successful in understanding that religious language is about deep spiritual feelings and experiences, which are the most significant and meaningful things to everyday ______.

Alston criticized Tillich for not adequately accounting for the cognitive element of religious ______.

According to Alston, when using religious language, Christians express beliefs about God which can be true or ______.

Religious language aims to connect a religious person's mind to ______ - like a religious experience.

When a religious person speaks or hears religious language, their mind feels connected to ______ in that moment.

A crucifix is a symbol for Jesus' ______.

Symbolic language works by pointing to something beyond itself, participating in what it points to, and opening spiritual levels of reality and dimensions of our ______.

The words of religious language are meant to connect our ______ to God.

Tillich says that God is a symbol for the 'ground of ______.'

Religious language involves symbols which help us spiritually connect to the mystery of existence - the ground of ______.

Tillich is an ______ - they think to be human is to be faced with mysteries about the meaning and purpose of life that we can't really answer.

Religious language helps us to connect to questions about the ultimate meaning and ground of ______.

The Via Negativa approach prevents the mistake of anthropomorphizing God, helping Christians realize that God is beyond anything they can ______.

Aquinas rejects univocal and equivocal language about God, proposing that we use __________ language.

According to Aquinas, when we say 'God is loving,' the word 'loving' has a meaning that is __________ to human love.

Aquinas' theory of analogy suggests that we are __________ to God.

The analogy of attribution implies that God's qualities are __________ to human qualities.

Aquinas' solution to describing God's qualities is to use __________ language.

Tillich proposes that religious language is __________, not literal.

According to Maimonides, interpreting the Bible requires careful __________.

Aquinas argues that univocal language fails because God is __________ our understanding.

Aquinas states that equivocal language fails because we wouldn't know the meaning of words when applied to God if it is __________ different from human use.

Tillich suggests that symbolic language tries to connect a person's mind to a __________.