Original Research

Untying the knots of thinking: Wittgenstein and the role of philosophy in Christian faith

Aleksandar S. Santrac
In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi | Vol 49, No 1 | a1826 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/ids.v49i1.1826 | © 2015 Aleksandar S. Santrac | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 02 April 2014 | Published: 30 October 2015

About the author(s)

Aleksandar S. Santrac, Yale Divinity School Visiting Fellow in Ethics, New Haven, United States and Adjunct Professor of Philosophy, Paier College of Art, Hamden, CT, United States and North-West University, South Africa and Greenwich School of Theology, United Kingdom

Abstract

This article deals with Ludwig Wittgenstein’s philosophy and how it can be properly applied in Christian theology. It provides useful tools for methodology in Christian thinking. According to Wittgenstein, philosophy deals primarily with critical examination, clarification and evaluation of the language we use. Wittgenstein’s ideas − including the concept of mystery beyond linguistic forms, the idea of language game and its possible evolution, the impossibility of the ultimate truth and the concrete application of language − have the potential to play a very significant methodological role in every form of theological doctrinal expression.

Wittgenstein en die rol van die filosofie in die Christelike geloof. Hierdie artikel handel oor Ludwig Wittgenstein se filosofie en hoe dit behoorlik toegepas kan word in die Christelike teologie. Dit bied nuttige gereedskap vir metodologie in Christelike denke. Volgens Wittgenstein, handel filosofie hoofsaaklik oor die kritiese ondersoek, verduideliking en evaluering van die taal wat ons gebruik. Wittgenstein se idees − insluitend die konsep van misterie buite taalkundige vorms, die idee van taalspel en die moontlike evolusie, die onmoontlikheid van die uiteindelike waarheid en die konkrete toepassing van taal − het die potensiaal om ’n baie belangrike metodologiese rol te speel in elke vorm teologiese leerstellige uitdrukking.


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