Faith, language and experience: An analysis of the feeling of absolute dependence

E Mouton

doi:10.4102/hts.v46i3.2322

Abstract

This article deals with the essence of religion proposed by Schleiermacher, namely ‘the feeling of absolute dependence upon the Infinite’. In his theory of religious experience, and the language he used to express it, he claimed his work to be independent of concepts and beliefs. Epistemologically this is incompatible. In our century, where Christianity needs to be reinterpreted in the light of modern science, Schleiermacher has left us with a hermeneutical challenge to communicate the dynamic experience of a relationship with God in an intelligible way. The author argues that systematic theology’s obligation to rationality must at least include a dialectic interplay of interpretative schemes, events and experience.

Highlights

This article deals with the essence of religion proposed by S ch leierm ach er, nam ely ‘th e feelin gofab so lu te dependence upon the Infinite’
The opening c h ap te r o f P ro u d fo o t’s book Religious Experience is an exam ination and criticism of Scleierm acher’s theory o f religious experience, with particular attention being given to his claim that it is independent of concepts and beliefs, as well as to his account of the way that experience is expressed in language
In his article (1972:268, 275, 278) he suggests a positive alternative c rite rio n o f ra tio n a lity, nam ely, an appeal to th e ‘in nerra tio n a le ’ (w hich I understand as the determ ining ‘cosmological perspective’ or life and world view - cf Rousseau 1986:57-63, 400-414) of the interpretative scheme of Christian doctrine, that is, its dynamic and creative ability to interpret experience in an intelligible way

Summary

E Mouton

The opening c h ap te r o f P ro u d fo o t’s book Religious Experience (which is the focal point of this paper) is an exam ination and criticism of Scleierm acher’s theory o f religious experience, with particular attention being given to his claim that it is independent of concepts and beliefs, as well as to his account of the way that experience is expressed in language. In Schleierm acher’s theory of religious language the expressive function o f the language is dom inant, in so far as it expresses the peculiar piety that is distinctive of a particular religious community In his On Religion he (quoted by Proudfoot 1985:16) said: ‘Christian doctrines are accounts of the religious affections set forth in speech’. B ut before undertaking to describe and systematise the affections o f a particular religious community, one must clarify how religious affections are set forth in speech, and how language expresses the self-consciousness of an individual or community (Proudfoot 1985:17, 24) Schleierm acher addresses these questions directly in The Christian Faith. From a twentieth-century perspective we realise that the wonder of religious exf>erience can only be expressed, described and explained in term s of m etaphorical and relational language, which necessarily depends on the symbolic ability and linguistic framework of the one experiencing (cf McFague 1982:1-66; Van Huysh TS 46/3 (1990)

E U outon

CONCLUSION