Understanding Religious Language: Analogy and Interpretation
Exploring the use of analogy and interpretation in religious language, this content delves into the views of St. Thomas Aquinas and Ian Ramsey regarding the challenges of conveying meaning through analogies. Aquinas rejected univocal and equivocal language for discussing God, emphasizing the limitations of human words in describing divine attributes. The content discusses how analogical language can offer meaningful insights into religious teachings, highlighting the complexities of translating spiritual concepts into human language.
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RECAP Odd one out 1. Hare 3. Hick 5. Flew 2. Swinburne 4. Ward 6. Mitchell Match them up a. blik d. Parable of the freedom fighter b. Eschatological Verification e. All experiences are verifiable in principle c. Toy cupboard analogy f. Falsification principle
The answers Scholar Flew Hick Hare Swinburne Ward Idea Falsification Eschatological Verification Blik Toy cupboard analogy All statements are verifiable in principle
4 C Religious language as non- cognitive and analogical Proportion and attribution (St Thomas Aquinas) and qualifier and disclosure (Ian Ramsey). Challenges including how far analogies can give meaningful insights into religious language. A consideration of how these two views (Aquinas/Ramsey) can be used to help understand religious teachings.
Which pictures can be grouped together? What is the key term that links each group? Are the words being used in the same way?
Different ways we use language Univocal same word, same meaning e.g. mammal Equivocal same word, different meaning e.g. tick Analogy comparison between two things
Aquinas rejected univocal language to speak about God Saying God is wise is not the same as saying that David Attenborough is wise . God is the cause of wisdom and is perfectly wise. In comparison to God, a human is not as wise (or perfectly wise). Aquinas states that words which indicate perfection (like wise ) are not used of God and creatures univocally. It would limit God, anthromorphises God Task 2 page 4
Aquinas rejected equivocal language to speak about God We would know nothing about God. Aquinas quotes the Bible, where the Apostle Paul states: The invisible things of God are made known by the things that are made.
Analogy consolidation task Extension think of three other problems with using univocal and equivocal language to speak of God.
Aquinas was attempting to steer between two ideas about how language is used of God. Words have the exact same meaning when applied to God Words have a completely different meaning when applied to God (equivocal) (univocal)
A middle way A middle way Analogy is a middle way between univocal language (kataphatic way) and equivocal language (apophatic way). We can speak of God but the words don t mean exactly the same thing (they are not univocal). They also don t mean an entirely different thing (they aren t equivocal). Rather, the language is analogical. It allows us to speak of God without limiting him.
St Thomas Aquinas Aquinas argued that there is a relationship between the world and God because he created and sustains it therefore there is a point of comparison causal link
Analogy: the middle way It is through analogy that words are used of both God and creatures. Aquinas developed two ideas of analogy when talking about God: 1. Analogy of attribution 2. Analogy of proportion
Analogy of attribution One word is used of two things because of how they relate to each other. Humans have good qualities as they were caused by God and God attributed goodness to us Another example We can say that the bread is good, so the baker is good as the baker caused the bread. The bread derives its goodness from the baker. 1. Aquinas example Animal is healthy. Animals urine is healthy, it is caused by the health of the animal Healthy
We are unable to speak of God except in the language we use of creatures. Therefore there is a relationship between the words we use of both God and creatures. For example, God is the cause and source of wisdom therefore it is meaningful to say God is wise. God is the cause of wisdom God Wise
Analogy of proportion - scale Definition - where a word is employed to refer to a quality that something possesses in proportion to the kind of reality it possesses. e.g. The example of life - A carrot has life, I have life, God has life. We cannot fully understand God s wisdom, as He is beyond human understanding. We can ascribe a quality to one thing because it points towards another thing which has that quality We can come to some understanding of what it means that God is wise because we have a human idea of wise . It is a proportional wisdom on a different scale to God s wisdom
Hicks explanation task 3 page 5 Analogy upwards to God, the source Analogy downwards to animals
What analogical words do: Analogical language leaves room for the sense of mystery of the divine being, without falling into the traps of extreme equivocalism in which we cannot speak meaningfully of God at all. Complete task 4 on page 7 Extension add other examples e.g. bread Complete the four revision questions on page 6
Consolidation task Read the the John Hick extract pages 83-85. Summary of analogy How to write an essay on analogy - Eduqas
