Work on religious language started in the 1980s after Jean Pierre van Noppen
explored the question of “where is god”
Muslim sermons (Esimaje, 2014) or (Malmstrom, 2016) and Prayers (Shoaps 2002)
Main questions to ask
what counts as religious language?
who uses it?
where can it be found?
what are its distinctive features?
what purposes does it serve?
Chapter 2 - What is Religion? What is Religious Language?
closed vs open definitions of religion
closed - rooted in distinction between the secular and the sacred
about limits, around how you define this wrt to spirit or faith, especially with something immaterial or supernatural or otherwise trasncendent entity.
closed religion sees religion as the same as religious institutions, and their adherents, beliefs, rituals, traditions, and practices
what about religious language within secular spaces? AA for example, speaks of a higher power
open definitions of religion
durkheim’ian sense of religion as sacred
resolves to an open sense of what religion is and could be (is metaphysics a religion? is AA a religion?), but even this involves drawing boundaries
but religion as a connelly “political settlement” proves the impossibility of discussing what religion is
studies around ideaology and collective identity as a response to linguistics
what is an ideology? from van Dijk
ideologies are a set of beliefs
they are axiomatic
they are socially shared
they are gradually acquired
difference between ideology and religion? ideology is typically resistance against mainstream societal norms
role of the “sacred” in religion
is classical arabic sacred?
following edward baily people tend to use the term ‘implict religion’
thinking about what religion does, religious language is space-creating
