speaking of God

Language is our medium of communication. It is the vehicle by which we express our thoughts and ideas. Language reflects the way we think and how we organize our thoughts whether it be logical or otherwise. Religion deals with the belief in a supreme being who is powerful, infinite and all-knowing. We refer to this higher power as God. In daily discourse, we express our ideas on various subjects. We make statements about our experiences with other people and we also make statements about God.

It is generally difficult to speak of God primarily because God is a being that we cannot experience directly. God is a reality that lies beyond the bounds of human sense experience. We acknowledge the fact that we are finite beings, as opposed to God. Thus, we can only express our understanding of God through our own finite ways. We can only speak of God by way of the only language we have at our disposal. It is in making statements about God that the issue on the function of language emerges. When we speak of God, does language function differently? As mentioned, we speak of God through the only language we have at our disposal- the very same language we use to speak of our human experiences. We cannot help but apply human terms in referring to God who is non-human. However, it is rather obvious that ordinary everyday language is not used in an ordinary way in speaking of God. Usually, ordinary words are used to mean something else other than its literal meaning in religious matters. Such is the case of the Bible, readers of the Bible are often reminded not to interpret Biblical passages to literally or else its meaning will not be captured. Ordinary language is not to be interpreted literally in statements about God. In short, to speak of God is to use language that non-literal. If that is so, how can we determine the truthfulness of such statements about God? This question poses another issue on religious language. Non-literal language may not be sufficient in expressing truths about God but that does not necessarily mean that such language is meaningless or contains no truth at all. It could be that the person speaking of God in such manner presents truth in a form that we have not encountered before or it is another level of reality that is presented in the language.

God is so incomprehensible that even to speak of God is very difficult for us who are finite. Perhaps it is best to leave the things that we do not understand yet to faith.