“Explain what it means to say religious language is non...

Religious Language refers to statements or claims made about God. It is stated that religious language is non-cognitive and analogical, just as Aquinas asserted that ‘all human language about God is analogical’. Non-cognitive language is language that cannot be empirically verified. For example, â€Å"obey God to be sure of heaven.† Firstly the statement requires verification that there is a God and also that there is another place after death. None of this can be totally verified until after death. Religious statements are really moral statements, they express an attitude and so have an emotive meaning, they are designed to shape peoples feelings and behaviour and are meaningful in having such results. An analogy may be defined as a†¦show more content†¦Non-cognitive statements are argued to be meaningless by A.J Ayer. Ayer observed that since the existence of God could not be proven rationally, it was not even probable, since the word ‘godâ₠¬â„¢ is a metaphysical term referring to a transcendent being, and therefore cannot have any factual significance. Ayer also stated that claims about God’s existence, which are non-cognitive, could neither be contradicted nor proven, so were not ‘significant propositions’. In other words, they were neither true nor false, but could not be valid. However, one could argue that non-cognitive statements are useful as they allow the believer to use statements that can be understood and are meaningful to themselves and the wider community. Analogies are descriptive terms that, when applied to God, mean neither the same, nor something completely different than when they are applied to humanity. They are used in religious language to enable us to express something about God and his relationship with humankind that the use of univocal and equivocal language cannot achieve. Univocal language is where a word has only one meaning. This doesnt work when applied to religious language as it anthropomorphises God, as in the example when the word ‘love’ applied to one’s husband or wife means the same thing when applied to God. However, this cannot be, as God is not a part of the created order. Equivocal language, on the other hand, is when we use the same wordShow MoreRelatedDevelopmental Psychology14082 Words   |  57 PagesDEVELOPMENT * THE COURSE OF DEVELOPMENT (CONTINUOUS OR DISCONTINUOUS) * THE COURSE OF DEVELOPMENT: ONE OR MANY * FACTORS THAT DETERMINE DEVELOPMENT (NATURE/NURTURE) Introduction Child development has many theories with different ideas about what children are like and how they change. Children are beings who change physically, cognitively emotionally and socially. There are many different theories and they all take a stand on 3 basic issues: Is the course of development continuous or discontinuousRead MoreDevelopmental Psychology14091 Words   |  57 PagesDEVELOPMENT * THE COURSE OF DEVELOPMENT (CONTINUOUS OR DISCONTINUOUS) * THE COURSE OF DEVELOPMENT: ONE OR MANY * FACTORS THAT DETERMINE DEVELOPMENT (NATURE/NURTURE) Introduction Child development has many theories with different ideas about what children are like and how they change. Children are beings who change physically, cognitively emotionally and socially. There are many different theories and they all take a stand on 3 basic issues: Is the course of development continuous or discontinuous