Grammatical thomism and how (not) to speak about God
I argue that grammatical thomism helps to clarify certain problems in philosophical theology by focusing attention on the parameters of coherent God-talk. By drawing on figures like David Burrell, Brian Davies, Kathryn Tanner, and Denys Turner, I show that the first rule of theological grammar is to...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis
2024
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| In: |
International journal of philosophy and theology
Year: 2024, Volume: 85, Issue: 1/2, Pages: 55–68 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Thomas Aquinas 1225-1274
/ Wittgenstein, Ludwig 1889-1951
/ Thomism
/ Grammar
/ God
/ Riddles
/ Advaita
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| IxTheo Classification: | BK Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism FA Theology KAE Church history 900-1300; high Middle Ages NBC Doctrine of God TK Recent history VA Philosophy |
| Further subjects: | B
Language
B Aquinas B Advaita Vedānta B Grammar B Riddles B Wittgenstein |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | I argue that grammatical thomism helps to clarify certain problems in philosophical theology by focusing attention on the parameters of coherent God-talk. By drawing on figures like David Burrell, Brian Davies, Kathryn Tanner, and Denys Turner, I show that the first rule of theological grammar is to avoid talking about God as if God were some sort of thing existing alongside the world. In fact, Aquinas concedes that we cannot really know what God is at all. Nevertheless, Wittgenstein’s later emphasis on meaning as use helps us to see why we can still talk intelligibly about God by focusing on the use of the word more than its referent. I connect this with the work of Stephen Mulhall and Cora Diamond on the nature of riddles, and suggest that this genre is one way of illuminating the peculiar grammar of certain Christian doctrines: in particular, the doctrine of the incarnation and of creation out of nothing. Finally, I look outside Christian contexts to the Hindu tradition of Advaita Vedānta, and argue that the language and imageries of non-dualism can provoke us into reconsidering the essence of Christian grammar and alert us to some of the therapeutic possibilities of grammatical thomism. |
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| ISSN: | 2169-2335 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: International journal of philosophy and theology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/21692327.2024.2353677 |