religious language - apophatic, cataphatic, symbolic Flashcards Preview

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Flashcards in religious language - apophatic, cataphatic, symbolic Deck (9)
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1
Q

intro

A
  • theists try and convey other aspects of belief e.g. afterlife
  • judaism – yahweh is not used due to it being too holy
  • Xian tradition uses cataphatic way
2
Q

apophatic way

A
  • negative, what god is not
  • combined with mysticism
  • non cog
  • equivocal, language is diff when used with god

maimonides

  • in talking about what god is not, we come to terms with what he is
  • building up an image
  • e.g. ship

pseudo-dionysus

  • influenced by judaism, god is beyond knowledge
  • transposed neoplatonism into Xian context
  • soul seeks to be reunited with god
  • god is beyond human understanding
  • human language cannot desc god, must recognise human limitation to make progress
  • apophatic conveys otherness
3
Q

analysis of apophatic way

A

+ Gregory of Nyssa. we can still know god’s essence and effects in world using apophatism
+ teahan, knowing by unknowing
+ Phil of Alexandria. gods nature is inaccessible
+ stiver, language of denial leads to truth
+ 1 kings 19:18, ‘all whose knees have not bowed down’
+ Otto, mysticism (pseudo)

  • Olson, depersonalises god
  • hume, near to atheism
  • davies, no idea what he is e.g. wardrobe
  • inge, lose link between god and humanity
4
Q

cataphatic way

A

via media between univocal and equivocal
j 14:6
matt 25

  • faith and reason. look at nature. see god in it. creatures resemble god
  • but god is wholly other
  • analogy of attribution e.g. bull/baker
  • analogy of proportion e.g. violinist. god is beyond human level
5
Q

positives of cataphatic way

A

+wittgenstein, language game
+ Ian ramsey, disclosure situation (polygon) and qualified model (plane)
+ c.s. Evans, wholly ohther
+ hick, eschatological verified
+ erik pryzwara, unknowable
+ taede smedes, beyond the world, need analogy
+ McGrath, god and nature
+ pope Francis, god and nature. we reflect him
+ Aristotle, theory of likeness

6
Q

negatives of cataphatic way -

A
  • Barth, via eminentiae
  • ahluwalia, how are we comparing
  • Swinburne, unnecessary. we use language univocally
  • ayer, verification
  • Blackstone, need to translate analogies into univocal lang first
  • stanislaw lem, cant desc something you don’t know
  • st paul, 1 cor 13:12. we see through the glass darkly
  • gamwell, do not understand god. can’t use analogy
  • scotus, contradiction in what he says
  • augustine, reason
7
Q

symbol

A

Xian existentialist
faith and culture
god is wholly other

sign vs. symbol

  • sign = arbitrary
  • symbol = participate
  • more like poetry than prose
  • RE symbol is coming to terms with human experience e.g. cross

god and symbol

  • god is true reality, transcendent
  • human language is insufficient
  • symbols say more to the profound spirit than conventional words
  • symbols can change meaning
  • symbols depend on context

internal reality

  • numinous
  • transcend capacity of finite reality
  • senses go beyond world
  • personal experience necessary to engage e.g. art
8
Q

symbol positives

A
\+ bible, j14:2
\+ bultmann/robinson, bible, lib xians
\+ Rudolph Otto, mystery 
\+ wittgenstein
\+ philips, eternal life does not mean living forever 
\+ Randall, motivation, communication, social, clarification
 \+ hare
\+ dupre, link between art and religion
9
Q

symbol negatives

A
  • cupitt, RE lang is a symbol of our feelings not external being
  • hick, how does a symbol participate
  • Randall, symbols tell us no truths, don’t bridge epistemic distance
  • logical positivism
  • Macquarie. clouds as sign of rain. no. they intrinsically participate
  • fundamentalists
  • Edwards, no factual content