Date

10-14-2026

Department

Rawlings School of Divinity

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Theology and Apologetics (PhD)

Chair

Edward Martin

Keywords

Metaphysics, Language, Philosophy, Linguistics, Ontology, Theology, Apologetics

Disciplines

Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion

Abstract

The possibility of meaningful theological language presents a longstanding problem in philosophy of religion and Christian theology. Because human language is finite and creaturely while God is infinite and transcendent, questions arise concerning how human beings can make meaningful and truthful claims about God. Traditional accounts of univocal, equivocal, and analogical predication address aspects of this problem but often leave a more fundamental metaphysical question unresolved: what must language be for it to meaningfully signify reality? This dissertation provides a metaphysical analysis of theological language by examining the ontological foundations of language and its relationship to reality. Through qualitative, interdisciplinary research engaging philosophy of language, metaphysics, historical theology, biblical theology, and Christian participatory metaphysics, the study examines the relationship between linguistic meaning, reference, conceptual content, and being. The work engages significant contributions from Augustine, Aquinas, Scotus, Chomsky, Fodor, Kripke, Wittgenstein, and Alston. The dissertation argues that language possesses a genuine, though abstract, mode of being and therefore cannot be adequately understood as merely an arbitrary human convention. Because language can participate in and signify objective reality, linguistic meaning can possess truth beyond the conventions of a particular linguistic community. Within a Christian metaphysical framework, this capacity is ultimately grounded in the being and mind of the Triune God. Human language therefore participates in a reality that transcends the human speaker while remaining genuinely finite and creaturely. The study concludes that meaningful theological language is possible because language, reality, and divine being are not metaphysically disconnected. This participatory account provides a foundation for understanding how finite human beings can make genuine claims about an infinite God while avoiding both exhaustive univocity and the loss of meaningful conceptual continuity.

Download

Share

COinS