Do you think that certain languages are related to certain religions?

Question

If so does the religion define the language or does the language define the religion.

Answer 1

Hebrew has been linked to Judaism for ages, and I would say that the survival of Judaism has meant the survival of Hebrew. I do not think it would have survived had it not been a liturgical language and had liturgy not been so crucially important to Judaism.

Similarly but more dispersed, if that makes sense, for Sanskrit from the Vedas on and Arabic for the Koran (as non-believers of Hinduism may speak Sanskrit (50,000 speakers today), and not all of the Arabic speakers are Muslim, obviously.

I also doubt Latin would have survived had it not been a lingua franca of Europe because of its use in Catholicism, and the reception of said religion/codification of Church-determined legal rules by much of Western Europe (yikes, there's last semester's comparative law class rearing its ugly head!)

Answer 2

Yes. Certain languages are definitely associated with certain religions. In fact, some dead languages are kept alive by religions! Latin is used by the Roman Catholic Church, Old Church Slavonic is used by the Russian Orthodox Church, and you have Coptic still used by the Christian Egyptians here. I think the language defines the religion (meaning the religion's books are written in the language) and this gives the language a special status, allowing it to define the religion as the religion grows. The best example is Islam. Muslims consider Arabic a celestial language and translation of the Koran without quoting it in the original Arabic is frowned on. All Muslims are encouraged to learn Arabic and use it in their prayers. Since Arabic is a difficult language to learn and since most Muslims are non-Arabs, like Indians and Indonesians, Muslim non-Arabs often learn the Koran by heart in Arabic before learning it in their own language, meaning it may be some time before they actually understand what they're memorizing.

Answer 3

Muslims believe that, since the Koran was revealed to Muhammad in Arabic, one needs to know Arabic to truly understand it.

Pretty logical, but you still have some KJV foamers saying things like, "If English was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for me."

Answer 4

Yes i do To answer this question may offend that religion. I would prefer to not take that chance