Religious language Pt 1

Question 1

what is via negativa?

Answer 1

also known as the apophatic way, it argues that since we can’t understand God, the only meaningful way to talk about God is to say what God is not

Question 2

what is good about Via Negative according to Dionysius

Answer 2

accepting Via Negativa breaks us free from grasping knowledge of God that is impossible. instead trying to give up understanding what God is helps us become closer to him.

Question 3

what is an argument against Via Negativa when talking about the bible

Answer 3

the bible describes God in positive ways. e.g. Gospel of John describes God as love. the Via negativa approach appears to conflict with the religious language of the bible

Question 4

what is a defence of the bible conflicting with Via Negativa

Answer 4

the bible was written in limited human language and thus requires interpretation. Augustine agrees, he accepts that the bible often contains ‘human expressions’

Question 5

what does Maimodenies say of Via Negativa

Answer 5

“you will come nearer to the knowledge of God by the negative attributes.”

Question 6

what is Anthropomorphism

Answer 6

the attributions of human characteristics to a god, object or animal.

Question 7

how is Via Negativa a strength when talking about Anthropomorphism

Answer 7

God is often imagined in human terms, Via Negativa helps Christians not have a mistaken view of God.

Question 8

what is Aquinas view on religious language

Answer 8

we can talk about God in positive terms (cataphatic way) if we speak analogically.

Question 9

what is equivocal language

Answer 9

the same word that has two different meaning for example, bank as place for money or a bank as a river bank.

Question 10

what is univocal language

Answer 10

words which have only one meaning.

Question 11

what is Aquinas’ illustration of the analogy of attribution

Answer 11

the urine of a bull

Question 12

why is the the urine and the bull used as an analogy for attribution

Answer 12

we can conclude from looking at the urine of a bull if it is healthy or not, whether or not you have seen the bull.

Question 13

what does the Urine and the bull say of God

Answer 13

humans have qualities like love and knowledge, so we can conclude that our creator also had those qualities.

Question 14

what is the analogy of proportion

Answer 14

a being has a quality in a degree relative to its being. e.g. a virus has life, so does a plant and a human then so does God. this shows that beings have different degrees of quality of life. so Gods power is a greater proportion to ours.

Question 15

what is a weakness of using reason for Aquinas’ use of analogy

Answer 15

it places an over reliance on human reason. Augustine and the fall lost our ability to reason

Question 16

what does Karl Barth say of our reason.

Answer 16

“the finite has no capacity fort the infinite”

Question 17

what is wrong with the analogy of proportion

Answer 17

Brummer points out that we do not know God’s nature,. so we cannot know the way in which God is loving.

Question 18

what did Paul Tillich think about most religious language

Answer 18

that it has symbolic meaning rather than literal meaning

Question 19

what is a sign

Answer 19

a sign provides information or instruction

Question 20

what is a symbol

Answer 20

symbols represent something, they grow out of culture and collective unconscious minds of religious tradition

Question 21

what does Tillich use to illustrate a sign and symbol

Answer 21

the illustration of a national flag, a flag participates in the power and dignity of a nation.

Question 22

what is Tillichs theory successful on a spiritual side

Answer 22

because the most important element of religious language is the spiritual feelings it evokes, not factual beliefs

Question 23

why does William Alston object to the Tillich’s theory of symbols

Answer 23

he believes that religious language must involve facts, important doctrines like heaven and hell have to be taken factually.

Question 24

why is Alstons critique of Tillich successful

Answer 24

it shows that Tillich goes too far in reducing almost all religious language to symbols.

Question 25

why is Via negativa actually not helpful in understanding God

Answer 25

as we may know what he is not but that still leaves many possibilities, unlike knowing someone is not left handed makes them right handed, this cannot apply to God.

Question 26

what does Augustine believe of comprehension of God

Answer 26

whatever we comprehend of God is not.