Gordon Kaufman on Language and Theology
God the Problem, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1972), p. 7.
The central problem of theological discourse, not shared with any other
"language game," is the meaning of the term "God." "God" raises special
problems of meaning because it is a noun which by definition refers to
a reality transcendent of, and thus not locatable within, experience. A
new convert may wish to refer the "warm feeling" in his heart to God,
but God is hardly to be identified with this emotion; the biblicist may
regard the Bible as God's Word; the moralist may believe God speaks
through men's consciences; the churchman may believe God is present
among his people — but each of these would agree that God himself
transcends the locus referred to. As the Creator or Source of all that
is, God is not to be identified with any particular finite reality; as
the proper object of ultimate loyalty or faith, God is to be
distinguished from every proximate or penultimate value or being. But
if absolutely nothing within our experience can be directly identified
as that to which the term "God" properly refers, what meaning does or
can the word have?
Knowledge via Religious Experience

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