While considering the work of James McAuley, Francis Webb and Vincent Buckley, this thesis concentrates on the religious character of their poetry. Since it assumes that religious language is primarily metaphorical (as distinct from dogmatic), the thesis describes the poetry by way of its religio-imaginative relationships and structures. James McAuley's poetry is religious, not so much because it is Catholic, as because it voyages between despair and hope, believing always in the reasoned will. Francis Webb's poetry, continually discovering glory in dereliction, dramatises the revelatory and redeeming power of the rejected ones - and so works within the 'Suffering Servant' model of 'Isaiah'. While Vincent Buckley's poetry gradually abandons Catholic language in favour of its own 'idiom of sensation', the religious quality of that sensation is discovered more in liminal than in paradisal possibilities - in the way 'holy spaces' are always in some sense expatriate ones. Since each of these poets belongs in the period of Vatican II Catholicism, the thesis next relates their work to that context. Here, however, it searches for imaginative connections and disconnections by setting up its comparison on the basis, not of dogmas, but of models. Finally, the thesis interprets Webb's 'Eyre All Alone' as a search for renewed religious language, returning to its opening assumption that religious language is primarily metaphorical.

The question of the relation between religious experience and Christian belief in God is addressed in radically different ways within contemporary theology and philosophy of religion. In order to develop an answer which avoids the pitfalls of the ‘analytic perception model’ (Alston, Yandell, Swinburne) and the ‘overlinguistic’ model for interpreting Christian religious experience (Taylor, Lindbeck), this thesis offers an approach which combines a phenomenological study of feelings, conceptual investigation of Christian God-talk and ‘belief’-talk, as well as theological, sociological and anthropological perspectives. At the centre of the interpretation developed here is the phenomenological category ‘existential feelings’ which should be seen, it is suggested, as a theologically and philosophically central aspect of Christian religious experiencing. Using this contemporary concept, a novel reading of F. Schleiermacher’s concept of ‘feeling’ is proposed and several kinds of Christian experiencing interpreted (like the experiences of ‘awe’, ‘miracle of existence’, ‘wretchedness’, and ‘redeemed community’). By way of a philosophical understanding of Christian believing in God, this study offers a critical interpretation of the later Wittgenstein’s concept of ‘religious belief’, combining Wittgensteinian insights with Paul Tillich’s notion of ‘dynamic faith’ and arguing against Wittgensteinian ‘grammaticalist’ and ‘expressivist’ accounts. Christian beliefs about God are normally life-guiding but nevertheless dubitable. The nature of Christian God-talk is interpreted, again, by combining the later Wittgenstein’s insights into the grammatical and expressive roles of God-talk with Merleau-Ponty’s emphasis on linguistic innovation and Roman Jakobson’s perspective on the functions of language. Finally, the claim which connects phenomenological, conceptual and theological strands of this study is a recognition of a ‘religious belief-inviting pull’ of the relevant experience. Christian religious belief-formation and concept-formation can be seen as stemming from ‘extraordinary’ existential feelings, where the resulting beliefs about God are largely but not completely bound by traditional meanings.

While considering the work of James McAuley, Francis Webb and Vincent Buckley, this thesis concentrates on the religious character of their poetry. Since it assumes that religious language is primarily metaphorical (as distinct from dogmatic), the thesis describes the poetry by way of its religio-imaginative relationships and structures. James McAuley's poetry is religious, not so much because it is Catholic, as because it voyages between despair and hope, believing always in the reasoned will. Francis Webb's poetry, continually discovering glory in dereliction, dramatises the revelatory and redeeming power of the rejected ones - and so works within the 'Suffering Servant' model of 'Isaiah'. While Vincent Buckley's poetry gradually abandons Catholic language in favour of its own 'idiom of sensation', the religious quality of that sensation is discovered more in liminal than in paradisal possibilities - in the way 'holy spaces' are always in some sense expatriate ones. Since each of these poets belongs in the period of Vatican II Catholicism, the thesis next relates their work to that context. Here, however, it searches for imaginative connections and disconnections by setting up its comparison on the basis, not of dogmas, but of models. Finally, the thesis interprets Webb's 'Eyre All Alone' as a search for renewed religious language, returning to its opening assumption that religious language is primarily metaphorical.

The purpose of this essay is to examine how God-talk can be used to say something reality depicting and potentially true, and at the same time contribute to a feminist aim where women and men are equally qualified in their talk about God. A pure shift from male to female metaphors and properties applied to God is rejected. Religious language that is used from a radical semantic realistic or radical semantic anti-realistic point of view is also rejected since those positions are not in line with the feminist aims. Metaphors are of value when examining how to speak about God. It is examined if, and in that case how, metaphors can express truths and say something reality depicting. It is argued that a theory of metaphors based on semantic modest anti-realism contributes with something more distinct than a theory of metaphors based on realism does. This distinction highlights the different uses in language between an analogical way and a modest anti-realistic use of metaphors. The three classical “ways” in religious language – univocal, analogical, and equivocal language – are possible to use from a feminist perspective of religious language. It is argued, however, that religious language that is supposed to be in line both with a feminist agenda and be able to contribute to our understanding of God, ourselves, and express truths must be based on a semantic modest realism or semantic modest anti-realism. Analogical language is the one and only religious “way” that is compatible with both semantic modest realism and semantic modest anti-realism. For that reason, it is argued, the analogical language has an advantage over univocal and equivocal language. Finally, four criteria are set up that a good feministic metaphor must achieve, and some remarks about the research of feminism and religious language still to examine is made. / Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur vi kan tala om Gud på ett sätt som kan vara verklighetsbeskrivande samtidigt som det gynnar feminismen och kvinnors och mäns lika rätt att tala om Gud. Ett rent skifte från manliga till kvinnliga metaforer om Gud avvisas. Religiöst språk som används ur en radikalt semantiskt realistiskt eller ett radikalt semantiskt anti-realistiskt utgångspunkt avvisas då dessa inte går i linje med en feministisk agenda. Metaforer är viktiga i undersökningen av hur vi kan tala om Gud. Det undersöks om, och i så fall hur, metaforer kan uttrycka något sant och verklighetsbeskrivande. Det argumenteras för att en metaforteori som utgår från semantisk modest anti-realism kan bidra med något mer distinkt och kreativt än en metaforteori som utgår från semantisk kritisk realism. Denna distinktion tyddliggör skillnaden mellan ett analogt religiöst språk och en semantisk modest anti-realistisk användning av metaforer. Både univokt, analogt och ekvivokt språkbruk kan användas ur ett feministiskt perspektiv. Analysen visar emellertid att ett religiöst språkbruk som ska gynna feminismen och samtidigt kunna uttrycka någonting sant och verklighetsbeskrivande måste utgå från semantisk kritisk realism eller semantisk modest anti-realism. Det analoga språkbruket är det enda religiöst språkbruk som är kompatibelt med både semantisk kritisk realism och semantisk modest anti-realism, varpå det analoga språkbruket har en fördel över univokt och ekvivokt språk. Tillsist ställs fyra kriterier upp som en bra religiös feministisk metafor måste möta. Uppsatsen avslutas sedan med några kommentarer om hur vidare forskning av religiöst språk med feministiskt språkperspektiv kan se ut.

Religious language has been theorized in multiple ways. I will look at how religious language has been theorized in the work of Jürgen Habermas and in the field of cognitive linguistics. I will compare these approaches to religious language and assess the results. In doing so, I will indirectly assess the confluence of these two theoretical approaches. My conclusion is that even with the similarities between these theoretical frames, religion is thematized differently under each method. Jürgen Habermas’s definition of religion as the output of ritual praxis is not compatible with the normative place of religious language found in cognitive linguistics.

Submitted by Geandra Rodrigues (geandrar@gmail.com) on 2018-01-26T16:42:08Z No. of bitstreams: 1 ismaeldevasconcelosferreira.pdf: 1861651 bytes, checksum: f7ce39c0b539a6e91106172dccb3e772 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2018-01-29T10:53:43Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 ismaeldevasconcelosferreira.pdf: 1861651 bytes, checksum: f7ce39c0b539a6e91106172dccb3e772 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-01-29T10:53:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ismaeldevasconcelosferreira.pdf: 1861651 bytes, checksum: f7ce39c0b539a6e91106172dccb3e772 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-12-15 / Esta tese propõe conhecer e discutir os modos de construção da realidade religiosa da vida pentecostal definida pela experiência religiosa concernente ao pentecostalismo, tendo como referencial teórico uma definição de religião mais essencial que suscite o homo religiosus inerente ao homem. Esta proposição é assumida como mais adequada a uma pesquisa em Ciência da Religião, tendo em vista concentrar-se no objeto religioso e suas intenções inerentes às práticas subjacentes da cultura pentecostal. A abordagem se deu qualitativamente, por meio de pesquisa de campo realizada na cidade de Juiz de Fora-MG no período de outubro de 2014 a novembro de 2015. Foram entrevistados fiéis e egressos, num total de trinta e quatro, que eram oriundos de instituições nominalmente pentecostais. A coleta de informações foi feita utilizando-se o método da entrevista compreensiva que permite maior aproximação ao entrevistado e promove melhores condições de se estabelecerem perspectivas teóricas e de síntese sobre o objeto estudado. Esta discussão permitiu um conhecimento profundo e constitutivo desta religiosidade, resultado necessário à análise da religião enquanto promovedora de realidades significativas e últimas que tendem a questionar outras perspectivas concorrentes. Deste modo, a religião é considerada neste trabalho não de forma nominal, mas qualitativa, tendo no pentecostalismo sua representação formal e na vida pentecostal seu aspecto dinâmico e substancial. Esta abordagem permitiu tanto a visualização da religião pentecostal e a coleta dos registros que indicam seus constituintes propriamente religiosos, apresentando sua linguagem religiosa, quanto, a partir da consideração a esta prerrogativa humana do ser religioso, a discussão e constatação do poder de definição e normatização da religião, produzindo o ser crente. / This thesis proposes to know and discuss the modes of construction of the religious reality of the Pentecostal life defined by the religious experience concerning Pentecostalism, having as theoretical reference a more essential definition of religion which arouses homo religiosus inherent to man. This proposition is assumed to be best suited to research in the Science of Religion in order to focus on the religious object and its intentions concerning the underlying practices of Pentecostal culture. The approach was qualitative, through a field survey conducted in the city of Juiz de Fora-MG from October 2014 to November 2015. A total of thirty-four believers and former believers from nominally Pentecostal institutions were interviewed. The data collection was done using a comprehensive interview method, which allows a better approximation to the interviewee and promotes better conditions to establish theoretical perspectives and synthesis about the analyzed object. This discussion allowed a deep and constitutive knowledge of this religiosity, a necessary result for the analysis of religion as a promoter of significant and last realities that tend to question other competing perspectives. Thus, religion is considered in this work not nominally but qualitatively, having in Pentecostalism its formal representation and in Pentecostal life its dynamic and substantial aspect. This approach allowed both the visualization of the Pentecostal religion and the collection of records that indicate its properly religious constituents, presenting its religious language, and, from the consideration of this human prerogative of the religious being, the discussion and verification of the power of definition and normalization of religion, producing the believing person.

Text in Afrikaans / Individuals can be deemed weaklings within the family relations by social discourse that claims that the value of a human being is measured by his productivity and mobility. Parkinson's disease in its turn has a paralysing effect on the mobility of the physical body. The above-mentioned social discourse on the one hand and Parkinson's disease on the other hand become a dominant story that "paralyses" the individual. During research someone who has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, related how she wrote an alternative story. This person, who practices a reformed spirituality, wrote an alternative story by using Christian faith language, which, in the end, halted the marginalising effect of Parkinson's disease. In this study the concerned participant had the opportunity to share her genuine experiences and her application of Christian language of faith to manage Parkinson's disease. / Practical Theology / M. Th.

The purpose of this essay is to examine how Christians can and should speak about God if they take feminist criticism seriously. This purpose concerns two problems: the first starts with the proposition that God is essentially different from humans and things and at the fact that the language that we use to describe and speak about God is a human language. God is infinite, incorporeal, and timeless, while the human language normally is used to apply to finite, corporeal, and temporal things. How – if ever – can this language apply to God? To examine this problem further, I present four different theories of religious language. The second problem is actualized by feminists who criticize the standard within the Christian tradition to characterize God in predominantly masculine terms. Feminists have criticised religious language for being oppressive in several ways, and particularly to establish and maintain hierarchical structures in which women are subordinated men. In this essay I present and discuss feminist criticism of religious language and then distinguish four different strategies for feminists. I further examine three of these strategies, represented by Sallie McFague, Gail Ramshaw and Janet Soskice, dealing with the problem of religious language within the Christian tradition. In all three of these feminist strategies metaphors are found to be of great importance. Finally, I promote Soskice metaphor theory combined with an apophatic theory of language. Soskice stresses the importance of anthropomorphous metaphors and offer the possibility of using both male and female images when speaking about God. This strategy positively handles the proposition of God as essentially different but makes it possible for believers to refer to God (through metaphors). This is also the preferable strategy in line with feminist criticism.

Text in Afrikaans / Individuals can be deemed weaklings within the family relations by social discourse that claims that the value of a human being is measured by his productivity and mobility. Parkinson's disease in its turn has a paralysing effect on the mobility of the physical body. The above-mentioned social discourse on the one hand and Parkinson's disease on the other hand become a dominant story that "paralyses" the individual. During research someone who has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, related how she wrote an alternative story. This person, who practices a reformed spirituality, wrote an alternative story by using Christian faith language, which, in the end, halted the marginalising effect of Parkinson's disease. In this study the concerned participant had the opportunity to share her genuine experiences and her application of Christian language of faith to manage Parkinson's disease. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M. Th.

Abstracts in German and English / Die vorliegende Forschungsarbeit befasst sich mit der Wahrnehmung der Kommunikation von jungen Christinnen und Christen bezüglich ihres Glaubens, und welcher Begriffe und damit verbundenen Inhalte sie sich in ihrer Alltagskommunikation bedienen. Dabei lässt sie die Jugendlichen selbst zu Wort kommen, um sie in ihren Sprachmustern ernst zu nehmen, alltägliche Glaubenskommunikation sichtbar zu machen und so ein Verständnis innerhalb der Praktischen Theologie, besonders der Jugendtheologie, zu schaffen. Ausgehend vom Forschungsstand innerhalb der Jugendtheologie, untersuche ich an welchen Orten und unter welchen Bedingungen junge Gläubige über ihren Glauben sprechen. Für die empirische Untersuchung wurden zehn qualitative, leitfadengestütze Interviews mit jungen Erwachsenen durchgeführt, welche dann mittels theoriegenerierender Methoden der Grounded Theory ausgewertet wurden. Nach Kelle und Kluge wurden aus den Daten verschiedenen Typen generiert. Sie zeigen die verschiedenen Haltungen zur eigenen religiösen Sprache auf und reflektieren diese praktisch-theologisch, um so anschlussfähig zu sein und Diskursmöglichkeiten zu eröffnen. / The present research deals with the perception of the communication of young Christians with regard to their faith and which terms and associated contents they use in their everyday communication. In this way, it allows the young people to have their voices heard in order to be taken seriously in their language patterns, to make everyday faith communication visible and thus to create an understanding within practical theology, especially youth theology. Starting from the state of research within youth theology, I examine in which places and under which conditions young believers talk about their faith. For the empirical investigation, ten qualitative, guideline-based interviews with young adults were conducted, which were then evaluated using theory-generating methods of grounded theory. They show the different attitudes to one's own religious language and reflect them practically and theologically in order to be able to connect and furnish possibilities for discourse. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Practical Theology)