His questions: Where do the dividing lines run? Where do areas of tension open up? One church with several languages and cultures or different churches for each ethnic group, language and culture? From the perspective of this question, is there a different approach in Western Europe and Eastern Europe?
The connection between religion, language and identity was examined from different perspectives in this lecture. Examples mainly from Romania with its not only denominational but also linguistical diverse congregations illustrated the importance of both confession and language in their significance for the feeling of belonging. From a historical perspective, however, it can be seen that it was not until the 19th century, in the course of an increasing national consciousness, that language appeared as a real distinguishing feature alongside denomination and superimposed its meaning. read more …