1. Using Analogy to Understand God
Lesson 2
LO’s: To understand how using analogies may help us express an understanding of God.
Key Words:
Analogy: An approach to religious language that compares the normal use of a word to its religious use. To say God is good means a similar thing as saying John is good.
Anthropomorphism: Conception of God as having the form, personality or attributes of Man.
Starter: What’s it like???
Someone you asking what it is like to visit the cinema.
REspond using only analogies!

2. Date Why did Aquinas use analogy to describe God?
Learning Objectives:
To outline why Aquinas rejected the use of using univocal and equivocal language to describe God.
To explain why Aquinas believed analogy could help us to describe God.
To evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of this approach.

3. Non-cognitive language?
Starter Activity
TASK- How would you do the following:
Describe a blizzard to an African?
Describe the world wide web to Shakespeare?
Describe a school to a Martian?
Ideas Box:
Cognitive language?
Non-cognitive language?
Univocal language?
Equivocal language?

4. What is analogy?
We frequently use analogy in everyday speech to describe something that is unfamiliar to us by making a comparison with something that we already know.
‘Her face was like thunder’ seems odd when taken literally. However, it does communicate something to us about her anger
Analogies are helpful to a point.
Religiously, they are the only option available given the difficulties of making univocal or equivocal statements about God.
Task 1:
Look back at your Key Words univocal and equivocal. Write a paragraph explaining the difficulties of suggesting that language used to describe God is univocal or equivocal.

5. Task 2: Aquinas – Types of Analogy
‘It seems that no word can be use literally of God’
Analogy of attribution:
Brian Davies (1951 -):
Analogy of proportion:
John Hick (1922 – 2012):
Strengths:
Weaknesses:

6. Why did Aquinas reject the use of univocal and equivocal language?
Univocal language
Equivocal language
If we are speaking univocally, we are claiming God is good in the same way that humans are
If we are speaking equivocally, we are claiming God is good a completely different way to humans.
Example for Equivocal language: If you said God is Good, it would not mean that God is Good in any way a human understands. It is therefore utterly meaningless to say this.
Extension: Ask students for potential counter-arguments to Aquinas’ reasoning.
Aquinas rejected its use as God is perfect. Therefore, humans can never be good in the same way God is.
Aquinas rejected its use as it would mean that we could not claim to know anything about him.
LO: To outline why Aquinas rejected the use of using univocal and equivocal language to describe God.

7. Why did Aquinas reject the use of univocal and equivocal language?
TASK- Imagine a theist described ‘God as good’. What might Aquinas have said the problem is with this phrase if it was used:
In a univocal way?
In an equivocal way?
Help Point:
Cognitive language?
Non-cognitive language?
Univocal language?
Equivocal language?
LO: To outline why Aquinas rejected the use of using univocal and equivocal language to describe God.

8. Refresh…
Explain with an example, what Aquinas means by analogy of attribution.
Explain with an example, what Aquinas mean by analogy of proportion.
Complete the table below. Which is analogy of proportion and which is analogy of contribution?
Phrase applied to God
Ways the analogy is valid when phrase is applied to God
Reason why the analogy shouldn’t be perused literally
A shepherd
A rock
Good
Love
A personal being

9. Why did Aquinas believe analogy could be used to describe God?
Analogy is the act of describing one thing by comparing it to another thing we already know.
Aquinas believed that God should be thought of analogically.
This involves making comparisons with God in order to describe his nature.
Top Tip: You really need to show you understand the examiner what analogy is! An analogy is used a simple idea/term to help you understand something more complex. Therefore, when discussing language, we use simpler terms, that we have experience of, to help us understand God.
Background: In the 13th Century Aquinas worried how he could have knowledge of an infinite immaterial being so different from humans, one that transcends all categories. He believed analogy was the answer (published in his book ‘Summa Theologica’)
E.g. Strawberry ice cream is like vanilla ice cream but it tastes of strawberries
Aquinas believed that there was a meaningful way (a ‘middle way’) to talk about a transcendent God.
LO: To explain why Aquinas believed analogy could help us to describe God

10. Why did Aquinas believe analogy could be used to describe God?
Aquinas distinguished between two types of analogy:
Analogy of attribution- this is the view that God is the cause of all good things in humans.
Analogy of proportion- this is the view that all good qualities belong to God are in proportion to humans (i.e. at a higher level than our own).
LO: To explain why Aquinas believed analogy could help us to describe God

11. Why did Aquinas believe analogy could be used to describe God?
TASK- Use the information sheet to produce a fact file on your allocated principle. It should include:
What is the principle?
What did Aquinas argue?
How is this idea explained?
Analogy of attribution
Analogy of proportion
LO: To explain how scholars have supported this approach to describing God.

12. ‘It seems that no word can be used literally of God’
TASK- Write a short paragraph, in your own words, explaining the meaning of this quote by:
Explaining the difficulties of using univocal and equivocal language to describe God.
Basing it on another phrase that could be used to describe God (e.g. ‘God is just’).
EXTENSION- How could these problems be counter-argued?
LO: To outline why Aquinas rejected the use of using univocal and equivocal language to describe God.

13. Peer Teaching
TASK:
One person will teach and explain to their partner about their principle.
The other person will listen and summarise what they say.
Swap and repeat.
Analogy of attribution
Analogy of proportion
LO: To explain how scholars have supported this approach to describing God.

14. LO: To evaluate the effectiveness of this approach.
Evaluation: ‘The use of analogy allows us to talk meaningfully about God’
TASK- Working with your partner to come up with a set of strengths and weaknesses.
Strengths
Weaknesses
What problems does using analogy avoid?
Why are analogies helpful to humans when describing God?
How does it help preserve God’s mysterious nature?
What is the big advantage of this approach over the Via Negativa?
How much of an understanding of God does it give us?
Can a comparison be made between God and human concepts?
Is it even possible to describe a transcendent God?
LO: To evaluate the effectiveness of this approach.

15. LO: To evaluate the effectiveness of this approach.
Strengths
Weaknesses
It avoids the problems of using univocal and equivocal language to describe God.
It can help humans to speak meaningfully about God by comparing him to contingent things.
It helps to preserve the mysterious nature of God.
It more closely resembles how theists speak about God (as oppose to the Via Negativa).
It leaves us with a limited understanding of God.
It may not be possible to make a comparison between a necessary and contingent beings.
Wouldn’t it be easier to just accept that God’s transcendent nature means that not even analogy could describe him?
Theists normally make religious claims literally, not analogically.
Strengths: 2. Contingent things = human concepts that we can more easily understand, 3. God’s transcendent nature 4. In a positive manner
LO: To evaluate the effectiveness of this approach.

16. Date Why did Aquinas use analogy to describe God?
Learning Objectives:
To outline why Aquinas rejected the use of using univocal and equivocal language to describe God.
To explain why Aquinas believed analogy could help us to describe God.
To evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of this approach.

17. Plenary The use of univocal language rejected Analogy of proportion
TASK- Draw and annotate a copy of the chart below to show your understanding of Aquinas’ thinking process.
St. Thomas Aquinas
The use of univocal language rejected
Analogy of proportion
Analogy of attribution
The use of equivocal language rejected

18. Plenary:
Analogy is not much use when it comes to describing something nobody has ever seen…
YEA
NEH