Divine words: what role does language learning play in religious practice? [View all]

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