Divine Nature and Human Language

This collection of essays represents William Alston's sustained philosophical investigation into religious language and its capacity to meaningfully refer to God. Writing from within the analytic tradition while drawing on medieval theology, Alston addresses a fundamental challenge: how human language, developed for finite contexts, can legitimately speak about an infinite divine reality. His work directly confronts both logical positivist dismissals of religious discourse as meaningless and postmodern claims about the impossibility of theological reference.

Alston's central argument defends a modified realist position regarding religious language. He acknowledges that literal univocal predication about God faces serious difficulties, given the radical difference between divine and created being. However, he rejects both the via negativa tradition that restricts theology to negative statements and modern non-cognitivist approaches that reduce religious language to mere expression of attitudes or commitments. Instead, Alston develops a sophisticated account of analogical predication that preserves genuine cognitive content while respecting divine transcendence.

The essays engage critically with both historical and contemporary sources. Alston examines Aquinas's doctrine of analogy with fresh eyes, arguing that properly understood, it provides resources for addressing modern philosophical concerns about reference and meaning. He also responds to influential twentieth-century critics of religious language, including logical positivists and Wittgensteinian philosophers who emphasize the distinctive "grammar" of religious discourse. Against these positions, Alston maintains that religious statements can make truth claims about divine reality, even if these claims must be understood analogically rather than literally.

Methodologically, Alston combines careful conceptual analysis with attention to actual religious practice and experience. He argues that philosophers of religion must take seriously how religious language functions within living faith communities while subjecting these uses to rigorous philosophical scrutiny. This approach allows him to navigate between uncritical acceptance of traditional formulations and reductionist dismissals of religious discourse.

The collection's significance lies in its sophisticated defense of theological realism against multiple forms of skepticism. By showing how religious language can maintain referential success despite the unique challenges posed by divine transcendence, Alston provides crucial support for theistic philosophy. His work demonstrates that accepting the limitations of human language need not lead to agnosticism or theological non-cognitivism, but can instead ground a chastened yet genuine knowledge of God.