A liturgical language, or a holy language, can be thus defined: a language which was first used for its intelligibility and accessibility, and went on to be prized for its unintelligibility and remoteness.
First it's: "Best use this language because it's the one that makes the most sense given the target audience. People should be addressed in a commonly understood idiom. How else will they be won over?"
Half a dozen centuries later: "This language must have been used because it was the only one which could reflect the transcendent truth of the text, unlike these common spoken idioms. No other language is equal to this godly one!"
I doubt the Lord could "move in ways" more mysterious than this.
If Muhammad or St. Methodius were to rise from the dead and learn what anti-vernacular inanities wound up piled onto languages that were initially used for their intelligibility, they just might bludgeon whoever resurrected them to see such shit.
First it's: "Best use this language because it's the one that makes the most sense given the target audience. People should be addressed in a commonly understood idiom. How else will they be won over?"
Half a dozen centuries later: "This language must have been used because it was the only one which could reflect the transcendent truth of the text, unlike these common spoken idioms. No other language is equal to this godly one!"
I doubt the Lord could "move in ways" more mysterious than this.
If Muhammad or St. Methodius were to rise from the dead and learn what anti-vernacular inanities wound up piled onto languages that were initially used for their intelligibility, they just might bludgeon whoever resurrected them to see such shit.
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