Lesson 1: Introduction and via negative
Religious language is the communication of ideas about God, faith, belief and
practice – any words used in religious discussion, behaviour or worship. It's the
way people speak about what they believe in and why they believe in it.
This is a problem because it includes concepts and concepts have different
interpretations and meanings.
Islam has 99 names for God and Christianity has many different names for God e.g.
Messiah.
Non-believers seek to prove that religious language is meaningless
It is hard to communicate an understanding of God through
language as God is so different from us and so unlike anything
we know
The Via Negative (Apothatic way)
- Some say we should talk about what God is NOT so we can speak meaningfully
about him- this is the via negative. It allows us to communicate the infinity and
mystery of God
- By ruling out what god is not we can discover what he is- this is the principle of
negation
- Via Negativa (Latin for negative way) also known as the apothatic way attempts
to describe God by negation.
- This is used as people think talking about God in a positive way makes him
seem too small for example when we say God the father we think of our human
understanding of this.
Pseudo Dionysius
- He made the distinction between cataphatic (via positive) and apopthatic (via
negative), he argued to know what God is like we should discover what he is not
like.
- We can only reach spiritual progression if we recognise the limits of humanity
- e.g. “God is good” we don't know what is meant by good as we only have a
human understanding of this and God is beyond that, but we do know what is
meant by “God is not evil” as this is a clear statement of fact
- “It cannot be spoken, and it cannot be grasped by understanding”
- “There is no speaking of it, nor name nor knowledge of it”
- “It is beyond assertion and denial”
, Moses Maimondes
- “The guide for the perplexed”: His book
- Jewish thinker who supported via negative – the only way we can get closer to
God is by saying what he is not.
- Humans can know God exists but not know anything about him as he is not like
humans this way of talking about God is found in Jewish scriptures.
- He used an example of a ship to demonstrate what he meant – if you did not
know what a ship was, and someone told you about it you would not know what
it was.
Objections to Via Negativa
- If we try to understand something by process of elimination, we need to know
what the different possibilities are – so the via negative would not work for
someone who knew nothing about God
Positives of via negativa
- It means that inadequate human language does not have to be used to describe
the qualities of God it is easier for us to say what he is not.
- Peter Cole in “Philosophy of religion” wrote “... by denying all descriptions of
God you might get insight and experience God rather than unbelief and
scepticism”
Criticisms of Via Negativa
- Makes speaking of God even more problematic, instead of saying God is love we
have to say God is not love as he is more than what the word can convey and
this simply sounds irrational
- Cannot distinguish between theism and atheism as God can only be spoken
about in negative terms, denying the existence of God all together. W.R Inge –
said to deny God’s descriptions leads to wiping out God
Via negative and via positive
- Some people say that both are needed as via positiva allows us to have content
about what we say about God but via negativa reminds us to not
anthropomorphise God (give him human features)
Religious language is the communication of ideas about God, faith, belief and
practice – any words used in religious discussion, behaviour or worship. It's the
way people speak about what they believe in and why they believe in it.
This is a problem because it includes concepts and concepts have different
interpretations and meanings.
Islam has 99 names for God and Christianity has many different names for God e.g.
Messiah.
Non-believers seek to prove that religious language is meaningless
It is hard to communicate an understanding of God through
language as God is so different from us and so unlike anything
we know
The Via Negative (Apothatic way)
- Some say we should talk about what God is NOT so we can speak meaningfully
about him- this is the via negative. It allows us to communicate the infinity and
mystery of God
- By ruling out what god is not we can discover what he is- this is the principle of
negation
- Via Negativa (Latin for negative way) also known as the apothatic way attempts
to describe God by negation.
- This is used as people think talking about God in a positive way makes him
seem too small for example when we say God the father we think of our human
understanding of this.
Pseudo Dionysius
- He made the distinction between cataphatic (via positive) and apopthatic (via
negative), he argued to know what God is like we should discover what he is not
like.
- We can only reach spiritual progression if we recognise the limits of humanity
- e.g. “God is good” we don't know what is meant by good as we only have a
human understanding of this and God is beyond that, but we do know what is
meant by “God is not evil” as this is a clear statement of fact
- “It cannot be spoken, and it cannot be grasped by understanding”
- “There is no speaking of it, nor name nor knowledge of it”
- “It is beyond assertion and denial”
, Moses Maimondes
- “The guide for the perplexed”: His book
- Jewish thinker who supported via negative – the only way we can get closer to
God is by saying what he is not.
- Humans can know God exists but not know anything about him as he is not like
humans this way of talking about God is found in Jewish scriptures.
- He used an example of a ship to demonstrate what he meant – if you did not
know what a ship was, and someone told you about it you would not know what
it was.
Objections to Via Negativa
- If we try to understand something by process of elimination, we need to know
what the different possibilities are – so the via negative would not work for
someone who knew nothing about God
Positives of via negativa
- It means that inadequate human language does not have to be used to describe
the qualities of God it is easier for us to say what he is not.
- Peter Cole in “Philosophy of religion” wrote “... by denying all descriptions of
God you might get insight and experience God rather than unbelief and
scepticism”
Criticisms of Via Negativa
- Makes speaking of God even more problematic, instead of saying God is love we
have to say God is not love as he is more than what the word can convey and
this simply sounds irrational
- Cannot distinguish between theism and atheism as God can only be spoken
about in negative terms, denying the existence of God all together. W.R Inge –
said to deny God’s descriptions leads to wiping out God
Via negative and via positive
- Some people say that both are needed as via positiva allows us to have content
about what we say about God but via negativa reminds us to not
anthropomorphise God (give him human features)
