A) Inherent problems of religious language

Intro- what is RL?

• RL- statements/ claims made about God or gods
• Goes beyond what is found in out physical realities (metaphysical)
• Often dismissed, not considered equal to language about the physical world because there can be no objective agreement
• No value in the empirical world?
• All our language is based on experience- we must be able to relate in some way to what we are being told or it becomes meaningless

Limitations of language for traditional conceptions of God- such as infinite and timeless

• Many mystics (e.g. St John of the cross) believe it is possible to talk about God by saying what He is not (via Negativa/ apophatic way)
• Augustine recognised VN and argued that every positive quality attributed to God (VP) must be balanced by the recognition that human language is inadequate when trying to describe the ineffable qualities of God
• 'Timeless' and 'infinite' cannot be defined- we have no concept of what they actually mean. They refer to things beyond human experience
• "...The knowledge of things does not…