Analogy, types and foundations: from the viewpoint of Aquinas and Avicenna

The issue of religious language can be investigated from various aspects, including the semantic. The fundamental issue on the semantics of the language of religion is this: “Can-and how can-the language and concepts used about creatures, be significantly and positively and truly used about God? How can attributes abstracted from finite creatures refer to God Who must be simple and infinite?” Aquinas uses the analogy of internal attribution, and such attributes -abstracted from finite creatures- apply to God. Of course, he uses other types of analogy, including metaphorical attribution, to explain some religious texts about God. But Avicenna also uses the general ambiguous idea which is not different from the analogy of internal attribution. Also, he explains the language of religion with using a metaphor that it is not other than metaphorical attribution. It seems that in explaining his own claims, Avicenna has more accuracy and precedence.