‘The concept of Religious Language is inadequate’ Assess this view (15 marks)
There are many issues that relate to religious language being inadequate. Some say that it leads to misinterpretations, however some might totally disagree that it depends on our understanding of God.
Some argue that religious language is inadequate because we compare God with something else e.g. ‘’God is the father’’ meaning that we have not fully expressed what God is by giving him human attributions (anthropomorphism). Therefore, religious language is unable to give us a wider picture of the nature of God.
However, some may not contrast with this. Aquinas did not support this. He use via analogy to argue about religious language still being adequate. Analogy via proportionality was used to talk about how it allows us to recognise God’s love, giving us a vaster scale than our own. Analogy of attribution was his second type of analogy. He believed that using religious language is all dependant on what the term ‘God’ meant to an individual and how the expressed it.
Others may say that the use of symbols is not enough in religious language. Symbols tend to change over time just like our direct thinking. An example of this would be the Swastika – a symbol meaning good fortune and peace however it changed when Hitler the ruler of the Nazi’s decided to use it as a sign of conflict and genocide of the Jews. Religious language cannot be understood if points to something beyond its meaning and power of what it actually represents.
On the other hand, some would disagree that symbols are losing its meaning. Tillick talked about how symbols allowed religious language to become symbolic. It does not mean that it has to necessarily change its meaning for example, the Christian Cross still represents the resurrection of Jesus the son of God. Using symbols allows us to open up the hidden levels of reality; unlock the dimensions and elements of our souls.
Despite this, there are still other...