This book analyses the power that religion wields upon the minds of individuals and communities and explores the predominance of language in the actual practice of religion. Through an investigation of the diverse forms of religious language available -oral traditions, sacred texts, evangelical prose, and national rhetoric used by 'faith-insiders' such as missionaries, priests, or religious leaders who play the communicator's role between the sacred and the secular-the chapters in the volume reveal the dependence of religion upon language, demonstrating how religion draws strength from a past that is embedded in narratives, infusing the 'sacred' language with political power.