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Fergus Kerr's Wittgensteinian ‘Philosophy of Theology’: An Appreciation and a Critique
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 January 2009
Extract
Toward the conclusion of his Theology After Wittgenstein, Fergus Kerr states that,
The rationalistic attempt to find the deeper psychological or evolutionary significance of ceremony only distracts us from the deep significance that a description of the event already communicates…
The sacrifice of the priest-king is no different in kind from religious actions that we might ourselves perform …, confessing one's sins…, baptism…
…The phenomena of the natural world, of birth, of death, and of sexual life… none of which is especially mysterious but any of which can become so to us prompt certain human reactions. …these customs are not adopted because of views that people have; they are too primitive and unreflective for that, they are reactions, in certain situations.
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- Copyright © Scottish Journal of Theology Ltd 1992
References
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