The Term "God" - is it Nonsense?

[Furrowed Brow]

The following three quotes are taken from Chapter 6 Language, Truth and logic. Am excerpt is found Here A.J Ayer seems to be promoting a philosophical position sometimes called ignosticism.

The mere existence of a noun is enough to foster the illusion that there is a real, or at any rate a possible entity corresponding to it. It is only when we enquire what God’s attributes are that we discover that ‘God’, in this usage, is not a genuine name.

The theist like the moralist, may believe that his experiences are cognitive experiences, but unless he can formulate his ‘knowledge’ in propositions that are empirically verifiable, we may be sure that he is deceiving himself

For if the assertion that there is a god is nonsensical, then the atheists assertion that there is no god is equally nonsensical, since is is only a significant proposition that can be significantly contradicted.

Questions
1/ Is the term term “God� a genuine name?
2/ Do theists fail to formulate propositions when they use the term “God�?
3/ Are the assertions “there is a God� and “there is no God� nonsensical?

[McCulloch]

1/ Is the term term “God� a genuine name?

It is a common noun being used as a proper noun. When you use the term father, it is normally a common noun, however if you say to your father, "Father can you lend me $10?" it is being used as a proper noun. The word god can refer to any god. However being used as a name, it refers to the one god that the monotheists believe exists.

2/ Do theists fail to formulate propositions when they use the term “God�?

Theists and deists have such a wide variety of understandings of what they mean by "God" that frequently their statements have little or no meaning without first determining which meaning they attribute to "God".

3/ Are the assertions “there is a God� and “there is no God� nonsensical?

They can be. If the term God is not defined, then the assertions have as much meaning as "there is an X" or "there is no X". If the term God is vaguely or ambiguously defined or if the definition is self-contradictory, then the same applies.