Analogy and symbol

Question 1

What does religious language refer to and what it the problem with it?

Answer 1

Words we use to communicate ideas about faith, god and religious practices. The issue with it is that there is often ambiguity in its meaning that could undermine the faith it is referring to.

Question 2

In what three ways could be explain “god loves us”?

Answer 2

1. God’s love is the same as human love, the word love is being used univocally. 2. God’s love is different to human love, the word love is being used equivocally. 3. Human language applied to god is meaningless.

Question 3

What is the problem with univocal language?

Answer 3

It lowers god to human level and is anthropomorphic.

Question 4

What is the problem with equivocal language ?

Answer 4

It does not enable us to understand god as it says that god can’t be understood in a human context, it implies that he is unknowable.

Question 5

What is the via negativa view?

Answer 5

Held by the Eastern Orthodox Church, it is the idea that all we can say about god is what he is not, all language about him limit him as he is mystical and ineffable. The issue with this view is that if god is beyond description, we end up saying nothing meaningful at all.

Question 6

Explain aquinas’ thoughts on analogy

Answer 6

Since god created the universe, there must be a link between human attributes and the attributes of god. The attributes are being used as analogies.

Question 7

What is the analogy of proportion?

Answer 7

“The baker is good” and “the bread is good” give the same quality to two different things, but by establishing what “good” means in terms of the bread, we can understand something of what it means in terms of the baker. If we can establish what ”good” means in terms of humans we can understand something of what it means for god.

Question 8

What is the analogy of attribution?

Answer 8

We know dogs can love, but in an inferior way to humans, so can make an upward analogy from canine love to human love. In the case of god, we can make an upward analogy from human love to god’s love. “A Human father loves in a way appropriate to human fathers and god loves in a way appropriate to god.”

Question 9

Give two criticisms of analogy

Answer 9

1. It can be used to prove god as bad, he has whatever it takes to produce badness in humans. 2. To work, the language we use has to be both univocal and equivocal and based on factual observation. There must be something in common between human goodness and god’s goodness- but if goodness in god and humans is understood univocally, we have gained nothing.

Question 10

Give three more criticisms of analogy

Answer 10

1. It tells us nothing new about god as it’s based on things already in existence. 2. It picks some qualities only, does god have evil qualities as well? 3. In order for us to accept the argument, we have to believe that god created the world and made us in his likeness.

Question 11

How does Swinburne explain analogy?

Answer 11

He uses the wave/particle duality of light, light can be described as both a wave and a particle, yet when we describe it as either, we are stretching the normal meaning of ‘wave’ and ‘particle.’ In the same way, we can stretch the meaning of ‘love’ when referring to god, yet it remains in contact with its original meaning.

Question 12

Is Swinburne’s argument successful?

Answer 12

It doe not god much farther then aquinas, all he shows that we can and do use analogy to refer to god.

Question 13

What did Tillich believe about levels of reality?

Answer 13

There are levels of reality beyond the empirical and these can be partially understood with symbolic language.

Question 14

What are signs, according to Tillich?

Answer 14

Arbitrary representations of something which gradually become associated with the thing they represent. Eg. A blue light is the sign of a police car, but the color blue does not carry any meaning of this kind.

Question 15

What are symbols, according to Tillich?

Answer 15

They participate to the reality to which they point. Eg. A flag participates to the power of the country it represents and evokes feelings of pride.

Question 16

How can symbols open up deeper levels of reality?

Answer 16

They open up levels of reality which would otherwise have been closed and dimensions of the soul that correspond to those levels. For example, we may try to account for a work of art via explanation, but this fails to take into account for the impact it makes.

Question 17

By whom was Tillich influenced?

Answer 17

Otto, in his ‘idea of the holy’ where he talks of god as being numinous, an object outside of the self and of the soul’s sense of awe and mystery. Tillich thought that the reality symbols pointed to was this ‘holy’ dimension.

Question 18

In what two ways can god be understood, according to Tillich?

Answer 18

1. Non symbolically as ‘being-itself.’ 2. Symbolically as a person. If you encounter the holy, you encounter god as being-itself.

Question 19

What is god as being-itself?

Answer 19

Cognitive, to talk of him as a person is to use ‘person’ symbolically to denote being-itself. God can only be referred to symbolically as he is too powerful to simply be equated to a human.

Question 20

What is humanity’s ultimate concern?

Answer 20

Encountering ‘being-itself’. This is the real focus of human life and is expressed in concepts such as salvation, redemption etc. Faith can’t be expressed cognitively as it relates to a non empirical reality.

Question 21

Give three criticisms of Tillich

Answer 21

1. The idea that “a symbol participates in the reality to which it points” is unclear, how does a flag participate in the power of a monarch? 2. Hick and Macquarrie argue that there is little difference between signs and symbols, a cloud is a sign of rain but also a symbol of it. 3. Alston- symbols are meaningless as we can’t know if they’re true or not.

Question 22

What is the main issue with Tillich’s view?

Answer 22

If religious language is symbolic, it is not literally true. Tillich’s thoughts center around our ‘ultimate concern’ for god, a concept driven by our own psychology, what basis is there for believing that we’re describing anything beyond ourselves?

Question 23

What four main functions did Randall argue that religious symbols had?

Answer 23

1. Motivational- they inspire people. 2. Social- they bind people together. 3. Communicational- they express believes that literal language can’t. 4. Indicative- they show us visions of god.

Question 24

What is the problem with Randall’s view?

Answer 24

The term ‘god’ has no connive content and has been reduced to a symbol for human values, if god is just a symbol, it tells us nothing about the being ‘god.’

Question 25

Give an example of symbolism being used

Answer 25

In the case of divine judgement. When we think of being subject to the judgment of god, we are using this as a symbol of the ultimate judgement that we make against ourselves. The idea of god is a symbol of self judgement when we follow the wrong path.