ABSTRACT
Sacred texts fall into the category of most translated texts across the largest number of languages. And yet, sacred text translation remains one of the most contentious areas of translation activity, reception and study. The different ways in which religions conceptualize and practice translation offer stimulating and interdisciplinary avenues to investigate sacred texts and their transmission. Scholars have pointed out the extensive identification of sacred texts with the written mode in the study of religions. A key question that is equally relevant for the translator, the faith community and scholars of religion and translation is whether a translation may be considered as sacred as its original. Approaches to the ontological and functional status of language within a faith community also play a large part in shaping attitudes to sacred text translation. The philosophy of language that has developed within other religious traditions, such as Brahmanical Hinduism or Buddhism, offers different ways of thinking about religious language.
