Struggled for and not possessed: language for the divine and the apophatic turn

In a recent essay, William Alston poses the question: 'do you speak English, French, or religious?'' He is pointing out that, in the study of language, linguists stress that any given language has all the resources it needs to talk about all topics. Philosophy's tendency to speak of special language for special subject matter (for example, the language of physics) fails to take seriously the distinction between language and speech.' Yet despite any technical distinction, the term 'religious language' is well entrenched in relation to the entire spectrum of religious practice. It is so entrenched that even Alston agrees to continue the use of this terminology.