Religious Language Learning objective To know challenges to VP and FP To explain different views of RL To evaluate different views of RL

Content A. Problems B. VP and FP and responses C-F - Concepts

What are the problems with religious language? Meaningful? Cognitive? Literal or non literal Objective? Anthropomorphise God? Contradictory – things an omnipotent God can’t do Actual words used are unclear Human language is inadequate God is indescribable

Starter Summarise the VP in 20 words What are the implications of the VP for religious language? Statements Experience Wider implications? challenges to VP? Historical and universal statemtents Hick - EV Not verifiable

Starter Summarise FP in 20 words What are the challenges with FP? Swinburne – toys Mitchell – prior faith maintains trust in God Hare – blik Braithwaite – non cog, moral statements

Different views of religious language. C. Analogy D. Symbol E. Myth F. Language Games

Analogy Univocal Equivocal Scholars? Analogy of attribution Analogy of proportion Ramsey – models and qualifiers Scholars?

Analogy Weaknesses Strengths For analogy you need prior knowledge of God Can’t know God’s love is analogous to human love if you don’t know what God means Not always clear in what ways two different things are similar – love/justice and how they are different Strengths If you already accept the God of CT it makes sense and is useful Acceptable to maintains mystery of divine being, as long as we know enough to worship Him – C. Stephen Evans Analogies useful as help create pictures in our minds, communicate ideas

Symbol Non-cognitive - examples Tillich Difference between sign and symbol 1 Point beyond self 2 Symbols participate in the reality to which they point 3 Symbols ‘open up levels of reality’ outside of us, 4 They also open up aspects of ourselves – soul 5 Symbols are not planned but develop out of individual or collective unconscious 6 Symbols ‘grow when the situation is ripe for them, and they die when the situation changes’ J.R.Randall – RL has unique function to bind communities Four fold function E B C

Evaluation of symbolic language Strengths Jung – some symbols appeared throughout history Easy to understand Accessible to all Weaknesses Symbols don’t convey factual knowledge and so are meaningless Can lose value over time Can lose original meaning Religious symbols can’t point beyond human experience Tillich is unclear when he refers to ‘being itself’

Myth Story or metaphor that is not necessarily historically accurate (although it might have some basis in history), but which nevertheless conveys important truths that might be difficult to express in other ways. Aims to encourage attitude e.g. appreciation of the greatness of God. Mythological features of Genesis – unusual trees, talking serpent and people made from dust. Compare with other folk tales and science. Stories convey God’s creative power and human stewardship. Aetiological myths – set out to explain the origins of puzzling features of the world O.T. intrepreted as myth in response to science Bultmann – NT myth. ‘Myth of God incarnate’ Hick et al

Evaluation of myth Weaknesses Strengths Don’t know what stories to interpret as myth e.g. creation Mythological imagery is culturally determined – can take on meaning that the writer never intended Strengths Visual way of understanding abstract ideas – easier Stories lively and memorable and easily remembered and passed on Can convey layers of meaning Can convey something positive about God without having to use the via negativa

Language Game theory Wittgenstein – meaning of words in use or function Language is a game with its own set of rules – language games exist in all forms of human activity and lfie.

Evaluating Language Game Theory