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.