Metaphor and Religious Language

by Janet Martin Soskice

Christian theology has suffered in modern times from an inability to explain its traditional reliance on metaphor to an audience intellectually formed by empiricism. The author argues that what is needed is not a more "literal" theology, but a better understanding of metaphor. Soskice offers here an account of metaphor and religious language that not only illuminates the way in which theists speak of God, but also contributes to our understanding of the workings of metaphor in scientific theory and other disciplines.

Genres: Philosophy, Linguistics, Theology, Language, Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published June 25, 1985

About the author

Janet Martin Soskice is a Canadian-born English Roman Catholic theologian and philosopher. Soskice was educated at Somerville College, Oxford. She is professor of philosophical theology and a fellow of Jesus College at the University of Cambridge. Her theological and philosophical work has dealt with the role of women in Christianity, religious language, and the relationship between science and religion.

Her book The Sisters of Sinai details the history of the discovery of the Syriac Sinaiticus by Agnes and Margaret Smith.

Author can be found in both of these locations:
Janet Martin Soskice
Janet Soskice