1. Using Analogy to Understand God
Lesson 6
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. 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.

3. 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:

4. 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

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