Language and Dialogue

Abstract

I recall a conference, held under the auspices of the World Congress of Faiths, at which representatives of several of the world’s major religious communities addressed the audience on the ‘problems, possibilities and challenges encountered through the use of language and symbolism in dialogue between the great religions of the world’. I presented the viewpoint of the ‘committed, orthodox Jew’. All of us who participated drew on the traditional sources of our faiths — in my case the Bible, the Talmud and the writings of the rabbis — and with diligence and ingenuity cited apt texts in support of our views. Yet we soon discovered that the language we were using was only in part the language of our traditions. If we had not also been articulate in modern English (certainly not the principal language of any of our traditions) we should not have been able to communicate with our audience or with one another. Evidently, the organisers had invited only fluent English-speakers to lecture. Had they realised the full implications of this practical necessity?

The first version of this chapter appeared as ‘The Language of Dialogue in World Religions’ in World Faiths Insight (London), 1987.