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Religious Language

The inherent problems of religious language

  • 3 things to know
  • Component 2

Overview

Univocal language, equivocal language and via negativa.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

What was human language developed to describe, what is univocal use, and what goes wrong when it is applied to God?

Key term

Why does the God of classical theism create a problem for language?

Key term

What is univocal language?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Why does the God of classical theism create a problem for language?

    Model answer

    Human language developed to describe finite, physical and temporal things. God is held to be infinite, incorporeal and timeless, so ordinary words do not obviously fit.

  2. 2

    What is univocal language?

    Model answer

    Univocal language uses a word in exactly the same sense of two subjects. Calling God good and a person good univocally would make divine goodness the same kind as human goodness.

  3. 3

    What is the danger of univocal language about God?

    Model answer

    God is reduced to one more being alongside creatures. Anthropomorphism follows, and divine transcendence is lost.

  4. 4

    What is equivocal language?

    Model answer

    Equivocal language uses the same word in two entirely unrelated senses. Calling God good equivocally would leave the meaning of the word unknown.

  5. 5

    What is the danger of equivocal language about God?

    Model answer

    Nothing informative would be said about God at all. Worship and doctrine would rest on words with no graspable content.

  6. 6

    What is the via negativa?

    Model answer

    The via negativa describes God only by saying what God is not. Maimonides and Pseudo-Dionysius are its best known advocates.

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AThe hymn asks into how many parts the Puruṣa was divided.
BBrāhmaṇa came from the mouth and rājanya from the arms.
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Dāna is the act of giving.
TrueFalse

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Spot the fault in a statement. The traps are the mistakes students actually make.

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