RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE

ESSENTIAL IDEAS Via Negative Speaking about God in terms of what he is not Univocal Speaking about God using everyday language to mean the same things Equivocal Speaking about God in everyday language but knowing that it has a slightly different meaning Analogy Comparing God to something else but understanding that God is different/better than what we are comparing Him to Symbol Something that identifies a concept and also participates in the meaning of that concept. Myth A story that expresses a truth when no one is sure what exactly happened Ayer Language is only meaningful if it can be proved true or false Strong verification – something that can actually be proven Weak verification – something that can be proven in theory (we may lack the means to be able to do it, but we understand what we would have to do, the temperature of Pluto) Strength of Ayer Makes language factually significant – if we are using language to prove the existence of God then this makes sense Weakness of Ayer Conceptually restrictive – makes most of our everyday language (feelings, emotions, opinions etc) meaningless Flew Language is only meaningful if it can be proved false Accuses religious believers of failing to take on board evidence to disprove their beliefs – they alter/qualify them instead – PARABLE OF THE GARDENER Strength of Flew Weaknesses of Flew Hare – ignores the impact that beliefs have on a person’s life - PARABLE OF THE PARANOID STUDENT Mitchell – ignores that many believers do actually question their beliefs – PARABLE OF THE PARTISAN Wittgenstein All language has meaning within a certain context – LANGUAGE GAME It is a mistake to assume that scientific language and religious language should work in the same way as the two disciplines are completely different Strength of Wittgenstein More reflective of the human experience – we can still talk about feelings, emotions etc Weakness of Wittgenstein Just because people can talk meaningfully about something (eg witches and wizards) it does not mean that these things exist

ESSENTIAL IDEAS – THE VIA NEGATIVE What is does it mean to speak about God in the ‘Via Negative’? Speaking about God in terms of what he is not like, for example, ‘God is not mortal’. Give a strength of speaking about God in the via negative Avoids the pitfalls of using inadequate human language to describe an almighty and transcendent being. Give 3 weaknesses of speaking about God in the via negative This is confusing because God’s love is not the same as human’s love which would mean that we would have to say that ‘God is not love’. This is not a rational description of God and so highlights how speaking about him only in the negative can cause problems. If we only speak in negatives about God, we can end up having to deny the existence of God which is counterproductive. Believers want to talk about what God is like, speaking only about what he is not like fails to say anything meaningful about him.

ESSENTIAL IDEAS – UNIVOCAL What does it mean to speak about God univocally? Speaking about God using words in their everyday sense, for example, using God’s love to mean the same thing as Jane’s love. Give a strength of speaking about God univocally Because we understand what human love is like, we can then apply this to God’s love and so it is easy to understand. Give a weakness of speaking about God univocally Falls into the trap of anthropomorphism as to reduces God’s love to the level of human love and it is considered to be far superior – Aquinas ‘But no name belongs to God in the same sense that it belongs to creatures’.

ESSENTIAL IDEAS – EQUIVOCAL What does it mean to speak about God equivocally? Speaking about God using the same words that we would use to describe humans but considering these words to have a different meaning, for example, believers understand that when we talk about God’s love and Jane’s love, God’s love means something different to Jane’s. Give a strength of speaking about God equivocally This way of understanding the words used to describe God avoids anthropomorphism because it is implied that the words mean different things when talking about God to when talking about humans. Give a weakness of speaking about God equivocally Changing the meanings of the words used to describe God can be confusing as if the meanings are too different from our everyday use of them, this can make it difficult to understand God.

ESSENTIAL IDEAS – ANALOGY How did Burrell describe analogies? Burrell described analogies as, ‘Proportional similarities which also acknowledge dissimilar features’. In other words when we use an analogy, we are implying that some things about the two subjects are the same but we are by no means claiming that they are identical. What did Aquinas mean by the ‘gradation to be found in things’? Aquinas – ‘Gradation to be found in things’, he argued that all goodness in humans comes from God and therefore God and humans are analogously related. All the good qualities in humans also belong to God but in a greater and more perfect way because God is the cause of goodness in humans. What did Hick mean by ‘downwards analogy? Hick – downwards analogy sees the attributes of God reflected downwards towards humans so that human wisdom is a pale reflection of God’s wisdom.

ESSENTIAL IDEAS – SYMBOLS What are symbols and how are they used? A symbol is something that identifies a concept and also participates in the meaning of that concept. A symbol differs from a sign in that a sign only provides information, eg a road sign tells you a speed limit; whereas a symbol expresses what a believer feels about the concept being conveyed. How is a symbol different to a sign? A symbol differs from a sign in that a sign only provides information, eg a road sign tells you a speed limit; whereas a symbol expresses what a believer feels about the concept being conveyed. Explain how the cross expresses a Christian belief. Cross – identifies the Christian religion but also conveys the resurrection of Jesus and the belief that Christians have in his sacrifice and the hope for their own salvation. What does non-cognitive mean in relation to language? Symbolic language is non-cognitive meaning it is not meant to be taken as factually true. For example, the statement ‘Jesus is the light of the world’ is not intended to mean that Jesus will illuminate people’s homes instead of lightbulbs. Why should symbols not be interpreted literally? Symbols should not be interpreted literally because they are not trying to describe a fact about the world, they are trying to describe a religious truth that is beyond our understanding.

ESSENTIAL IDEAS – MYTHS Give 3 weaknesses of using language symbolically. The meaning of symbols can become lost or trivialised, for example, the idea of a symbolic day of rest (people were not literally expected to remain in bed but the idea was that they would not be preoccupied with work) has been lost as many people now view Sunday as just another ordinary day. Symbols can become the focus of worship, ie praying to statues themselves rather than praying to God. This could lead to idol worship which is considered a grave sin in religions such as Islam. Symbols can be seen as outdated, for example, the idea of God the Father is now criticised for reflecting patriarchal values that men are in control. What is a myth? A myth is a story that expresses a truth when no one is sure what exactly happened. They attempt to explain the unexplainable and give insights into human existence. Myths are not concerned with expressing factual truths but rather the more difficult cosmological concepts such as the Second Coming of Jesus. Give 2 weaknesses of myths They are considered by some to be an outdated form of expression as people cannot be realistically expected to believe in certain ideas in the modern world. Dawkins agreed with the removal of myths from religious language; he believed that, ‘Much of the Bible is just plain weird’. Give 2 defences of myths Religious language is argued to be anti-realist and so it is not concerned with making factual statements. Therefore myths are still valuable because they help us to describe ‘other worldly’ concepts in the world that we currently live in. Myths are part of a language game and so our focus should be on how to interpret them rather than their factual basis.

ESSENTIAL IDEAS – AYER AND VERIFICATION What did the Vienna Circle believe about philosophical language? They believed that much of the language used in philosophy was nothing but gibberish. The Vienna Circle argued that language was only meaningful if it confined itself to talking about what was within the human experience. What did Ayer say that language had to be for it to be meaningful (2 points) Ayer devised the verification principle and said that a sentence only had meaning if: 1, it was a tautology, ie true by definition such as a circle is round 2, it could, even if only in principle be verified to be true or false. Explain the difference between strong and weak verification Much of science deals with entities that are not directly observable. Ayer gets round this problem with the ideas of strong and weak verification. Strong says that we can say a statement is meaningful if we can verify it by observation. Weak says that a statement is meaningful if there are some observations that can establish the probable truth of it. What are the consequences of applying Ayer’s views to religious language? One of the most significant consequences of Ayers theory is that it makes nearly all of religious language meaningless as most of it is about transcendent beings that lie outside of the human experience. There are no experiments or observations that we could carry out on God and all talk of him, according to Ayer, has no meaning.

ESSENTIAL IDEAS – AYER AND VERIFICATION How did Sutherland criticise Ayer? Sutherland – Ayers ideas are ‘conceptually restrictive’ in that they not only make religious language meaningless but also many other areas of language such as emotions, art, poetry etc. This would mean that it would no longer be meaningful to say to someone that you loved them as this would be an unverifiable statement as you would not be able to prove it through the senses. How can Hick’s ideas on eschatological verification be used to criticise Ayer? Hick – there are many aspects of religious language that can be verified upon death. This is known as eschatological verification. Hick agreed that whilst there may be no satisfactory way to prove that there is life after death whilst we are still living, when we die, we will find out (refer to parable to of the Celestial City). Why do some people believe it is reasonable for religious language to be factual? If we are talking about proof that God exists, eg through religious experiences, then it is reasonable to demand that any proof offered is of a factual basis rather than based on the feelings of a particular individual. (We cannot verify through our senses whether someone has encountered God or not) Why might it be problematic to use Hick’s ideas on eschatological verification to criticise Ayer? Hick’s idea of eschatological verification is contingent on some part of our consciousness surviving the physical process of death. This is problematic as it remains debatable whether this actually happens and, even if it does, how much of this surviving part could be said to be ‘us’?

ESSENTIAL IDEAS – FLEW AND FALSIFICATION What did Flew say about language being meaningful? Like Ayer, Flew believed that statements were only meaningful if they are factually significant, in other words, if they make a claim about the world in which we live in. He said statements were meaningful if they could be proved false. What did Flew say many religious believers do when they are presented with evidence for why their beliefs might be wrong? (name the Parable he uses as well) Flew said that many religious believers, when presented with evidence for why their beliefs might be wrong, will not give up their beliefs but alter or qualify them to take into account the new information. WISDOM’S PARABLE OF THE GARDENER What did Flew say about beliefs that people will not give up, no matter what evidence they are presented with to the contrary? Flew argued that if someone who will not give up their beliefs, no matter how much evidence they are presented with to the contrary , the belief is not factually significant because it is not connected to the real world. Why did Flew think that evil and suffering proved the idea of God being a loving father false? Flew uses the example that many religious people hold fast to the belief that God loves us like a father loves his children. Flew believes that the amount of evil and suffering in the world should falsify this as no loving father would inflict such misery on his children

ESSENTIAL IDEAS – FLEW AND FALSIFICATION Give 2 weaknesses of Flew’s ideas There are many statements that form part of our understanding that cannot be falsified, eg all men are mortal. As with Ayer, all statements about emotion, art, beauty, poetry would be meaningless and so to fully embrace Flew’s view would take us too far away from the common consensus. How did Hare criticise Flew and which parable did he use? Hare – just because a belief cannot be falsified, it is meaningful if it has a significant impact on a person’s life. PARABLE OF THE PARANOID STUDENT Explain Hare’s idea of bliks Hare – invented the word ‘blik’ to refer to beliefs that are unfalsifiable but are still meaningful to people in how they interpret the world and live their lives. Even if they won’t give the belief up in light of any evidence presented, the belief is still meaningful because of the impact it has on their lives. How did Mitchell criticise Flew and what parable did he use? Mitchell argues that religious beliefs are meaningful as many people can imagine situations in which they would doubt them and even give them up. PARABLE OF THE PARTISAN Why do some people believe it is reasonable for religious language to be factual? If we are talking about proof that God exists, eg through religious experiences, then it is reasonable to demand that any proof offered is of a factual basis rather than based on the feelings of a particular individual. (We cannot verify through our senses whether someone has encountered God or not)

ESSENTIAL IDEAS - WITTGENSTEIN What did Wittgenstein say about language? He said that language had many functions and that it was a mistake to say that its only function was to describe the world. What is a language game? Wittgenstein called the different uses of language that take place in different social contexts LANGUAGE GAMES. Each language game has its own rules, for example the way the word experiment is used in a scientific context means something different to if someone was to say that they were experimenting with a new hairstyle. What did Wittgenstein say about the relationship between scientific and religious language? He believed that science and religion were not in competition with each other and that neither could be used to solve the problems of the other so it was futile trying to impose the rules of science onto religion. What does it mean to describe language as anti-realist? That language does not have to be factually significant. Give a strength of Wittgenstein’s ideas His view is more reflective of the human experience as to only class language as meaningful if it is factually significant takes away huge chunks of the language that we use on a daily basis. Give 2 weaknesses of Wittgenstein’s ideas It is possible for people within a particular group to talk meaningfully about things such as witches and wizards because they all understand the ‘rules of the language game’ that they are playing. This however does not mean that there are such things though. Many religious believers object to religious language being termed a ‘language game’ or ‘anti-realist’ as for them, when they talk about the existence of God or the afterlife, they believe that such things are in fact real and not just part of a language game.