Divine words: what role does language learning play in religious practice?

[hrmjustin]

Matthew Jenkin

“Silence is the language of God, all else is poor translation,” Sufi mystic Rumi once said.

Words are, however, a way for the worldly to connect with the divine through prayer and worship. For many, developing a greater understanding of a religion extends not only to studying the theological and philosophical points but to learning another language. We spoke to three people studying Arabic, Hebrew and classical Tibetan about the role languages play in their relationship with religion.

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/nov/10/language-learning-for-religious-reasons

[ColesCountyDem]

1. My denomination now requires pastoral proficiency in Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek.

I am an American Baptist ( http://www.abc-usa.org ), and for 20+ years, our denomination has required seminarians to become proficient in at least one of the three following languages, prior to graduation and ordination: Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek. American Baptists (f/k/a Northern Baptists) have always believed that an educated clergy was a good thing, particularly in the fields or ancient languages (infra), history and archeology. We believe that better scholarship in these areas is not in the least harmful or challenging to one's personal faith, but beneficial to it.

Great article!