Is God Multilingual? Language Ideologies in a Multilingual Church Network in the Netherlands

Description

Language ideologies shape how we perceive, use, and value language, making them central to understanding the social dynamics of communication. However, there is limited understanding of how language ideologies function within religious settings. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews, this paper investigates language ideologies in a multilingual transnational church network. Specifically, it addresses the following questions: What language ideologies emerge in this multilingual religious context? How are these ideologies entangled with religious beliefs and behaviours?

The paper explores how language ideologies in the church network connect to broader societal ideologies and examines their influence on perceptions of God, religious identity, and views on global Christianity. It shows that in this community, multilingualism is celebrated as something heavenly and divine. However, despite this celebration of linguistic diversity, the organised elements of the service were predominantly conducted in English, with occasional use of Dutch. Thus, the references to linguistic diversity held more symbolic significance than practical communicative value. In addition, English, as the primary language of the congregation, was perceived by participants as a lingua divina -a divine language used for transnational connection among Christians and a tool for deepening their faith. English was seen as an equalising language in a context with many second-language speakers, challenging the Protestant ideology of the ‘heart language’ - a term denoting the language most effective for connecting with God and often equated with a person’s first language. Yet, this dynamic also fostered inequalities between first-language English speakers and those for whom English was a second language.

Conversely, Dutch participants in the study expressed negative attitudes towards the Dutch language, often associating it with similarly negative perceptions of Dutch Christianity. These attitudes, like those expressed towards English, appeared closely tied to participants' descriptions of their relationships with God and their religious beliefs. At the same time, while they expressed strong negative feelings surrounding the Dutch language, many also described how they were seeking to connect more with God in Dutch as well, claiming that “God loves the Dutch language”. This paper demonstrates how religious beliefs shape language ideologies, highlighting the importance of incorporating religious contexts into the study of language attitudes and ideologies.

Period	4 Apr 2025
Event title	Sociolinguistics Circle 2025
Event type	Conference
Location	Leiden, NetherlandsShow on map