Religious Language: Ramsey's Models and Qualifiers
Ian Ramsey argues that religious language employs models (psychological patterns making sense of experience) qualified by transcendent qualifiers ('infinite,' 'eternal') to point toward divine reality.
Real World
Saying a judge is 'perfectly just' uses the familiar model of human justice but qualifies it to point beyond ordinary courtroom fairness — Ramsey would say this qualifier triggers a 'disclosure moment' where the transcendent breaks through, much as Martin Luther King Jr.'s rhetoric evoked a justice beyond legal systems.
Exam Focus
Distinguish clearly between 'model' and 'qualifier' in your answer; examiners penalise students who conflate the two terms.
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