The language of God: Literacy, power, and the sacred word

Is God multilingual? Does the divine speak Hebrew? Arabic? Latin? Or is it something more mysterious?

This week on God Forbid, we’re asking: who gets to speak the language of God? And what happens when only a select few can read the sacred texts? 

From ancient scrolls to colonial classrooms, religion has often been shaped — and controlled — by language and literacy.

Guests:

• Prof Halim Rane, a scholar of Islamic theology and the sociology of religion from Griffith University, his latest book: Covenants with Allah: Keystone of Islam
• Dr Simon Holloway, a sessional lecturer at Melbourne University, his PhD in classical Hebrew and Biblical studies. Simon is the manager of Community and Corporate Programs at the Melbourne Holocaust Museum.
• Dr Laura Rademaker, ARC DECRA Fellow at ANU and historian of Indigenous Australia and Christian missions. Author of Lost in Translations: Many Meanings on a North Australian Mission

This program was made on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation, and in Naarm.