Understanding Religious Language

Not what people want to say when they talk about God

Better than via negativa and symbol

Spiritual experience

<p>For reducing religious language to symbols and not accounting for cognitive element</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Cognitivism</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Reduces religious language to symbols and ignores factual beliefs</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The concept states that we can only meaningfully say what God is not, rather than what God is.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Positive language describes what a thing is, while negative language describes what a thing is not.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>By emphasizing what God is not, to show that God is beyond human understanding.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Saying 'God is not darkness' to imply that God transcends the dark/light distinction.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The approach avoids anthropomorphizing God by not using human concepts to describe God.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The Bible often describes God in positive terms, such as 'God is love' and 'God is spirit'.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The Via Negativa approach involves describing God by what He is not, rather than what He is.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Aquinas argues that such passages should be interpreted as referring to God's actions rather than His nature.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Aquinas rejects univocal language because God is beyond human understanding, and equivocal language because it fails to capture the essence of God.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Aquinas suggests that we are analogous to God, meaning that our qualities are like God's qualities but not identical.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The analogy of attribution suggests that God's qualities are like our human qualities, but they are greater and without any negative attributes.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Aquinas' theory allows us to speak about God's qualities by comparing them to our human qualities, acknowledging that God's qualities are greater.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Tillich argues that religious language is symbolic and does not attempt to literally describe what God is.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The challenge arises because the analogy of attribution implies that God would have qualities like greed and hatred, which are negative.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Aquinas clarifies that the analogy between God's qualities and human qualities only refers to the qualities humans had before original sin corrupted human nature.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The analogy of proportion highlights that God's qualities are infinite and greater than human qualities, allowing for a comparison while acknowledging God's greatness.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Connect a religious person's mind to God</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A symbol connecting the Christian's mind to God</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Connect the soul to God</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>God is a symbol for the 'ground of being', religion is a symbol for our 'ultimate concern'</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Symbolic language helps connect the mind to God and opens spiritual dimensions</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Symbolic language connects the soul to God, while literal language describes God</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Not all religious language in the Bible is symbolic</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Prevents anthropomorphizing God and emphasizes God's otherness</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Greater 'unity' with God</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>To climb into the cloud of unknowing, similar to Moses encountering God on Mount Sinai</p> Signup and view all the answers