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ANALOGY, Claims that the statements about God are not to be understood…
ANALOGY
ST THOMAS AQUINAS
Argues that there are 2 ways to understand language:
UNIVOCAL - language understood in one way // words used in 2 different contexts have been used for the exact same reasons
EQUIVOCAL - language understood and can be interpreted in many ways
Both are INSUFFICIENT
// Univocal language being insufficient as language from the empirical world can not be used in the same way as a non empirical being - doing so would mean that we athropomophrise God by saying God and humans are exactly the same
"no name belongs to God in the same sense in belongs to creatures"
// Equivocal languauge is insufficient as it cannot convey accurate truth or knowlege since we are not entirley different from God // risk of subjectivity and making God comepltley different from humans.
Aquinas argues that understanding language as ANALOGY is a midde ground between the two
// we know about religious propositions not because we know God directly or personally but rather because we can make comparisons between the world and God through analogy.
// He argues that we are able to do this because God is or efficient cause meaning all things created by that cuase must have characteristics of that cause.
Enables our talk of God to be accurate without being comprihensive / Highlights that our lanuage is limited
2 WAYS of COMPARISON
PROPORTION
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We cannot use the emphasis of language in how we describe God the same way we describe humanity - God is greater than we are.
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e.g. we have goodness in proprtion to being human // in the same way God has goodness infinatley as this is what is required in proportion for God to be God.
ATTRIBUTION
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Argues that God has attributes which he has passed down to humanity (secondary use of attribute in heirachy of attributes)
Due to Causality and God being the first cause there is a point of comparison that can be made between humans attributes and Gods
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IAN RAMSEY
BOOK Religious Language: argues that RL enables the disclosure of what has been discerened about God resulting in commitment
Ramsey argued that it is necessary for religious language to be "odd" as it helps to express the wonder we have for God.
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Claims that the statements about God are not to be understood luterakky but are comparing God to things on earth // Logical Postivists would argue this makes them meaningless