GOD-TALK: AN INTRODUCTION

God-talk consists of God speaking to humans in revelation, and humans speaking to God in prayer. They are the two forms of the covenantal language spoken between God and humans in general, and specifically between God and the Jewish people. God-talk is an essential component of the languages of all historic cultures. Yet there have been attempts to dismiss God-talk from public discourse, either epistemologically by claiming it is nonsense, or psychologically by claiming it is an invented illusion. Conversely, it is argued here that Jewish God-talk (by no means uniquely) has a logic that regulates how it may and may not be intelligently spoken by its speakers; hence it is not nonsense. And it is argued here that God-talk has always been spoken in human history, that it would be unintelligible in any language whose speakers did not already intend a real referent by the name "God"; hence it is not an invented illusion. This essay is an attempt to retrieve God-talk so that it can be conducted in public discourse, even in secular space.