Language plays a key role in religion, framing how people describe spiritual experience and giving structure to religious beliefs and practices. Bringing together work from a team of world-renowned scholars, this volume introduces contemporary research on religious discourse from a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives. It introduces methods for analysis of a range of different kinds of text and talk, including institutional discourse within organised religions, discourse around spirituality and spiritual experience within religious communities, media discourse about the role of religion and spirituality in society, translations of sacred texts, political discourse, and ritual language. Engaging and easy-to-read, it is accessible to researchers across linguistics, religious studies, and other related disciplines. A comprehensive introduction to all the major research approaches to religious language, it will become a key resource in the emerging inter-disciplinary field of language and religion.

‘… the volume can be recommended to more advanced discourse analysts and scholars from other fields who wish to engage in critical dialogue with language-based approaches to the study of religion … As a book about religion, [this study] is a rich resource for anyone curious about various perspectives on the role of faith and spirituality for the present-day human condition.’

Eva Triebl Source: Language in Society