Multifaceted approach of corpus analysis for characterizing Christian religious groups

The use of a range of corpus-based methods to systematically examine religious groups from a language perspective remains relatively unexplored. This paper highlights the procedures and contributions of five corpus analyses used to examine various Christian religious groups. The target groups were c...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Palayon, Raymund T. (Author) ; Todd, Richard Watson 1966- (Author) ; Vungthong, Sompatu (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Published: 2025
In: Critical research on religion
Year: 2025, Volume: 13, Issue: 2, Pages: 222-245
Further subjects:B Sects
B Evangelical Churches
B Linguistic Analysis
B Christianity
B Sermons
B Cults
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:The use of a range of corpus-based methods to systematically examine religious groups from a language perspective remains relatively unexplored. This paper highlights the procedures and contributions of five corpus analyses used to examine various Christian religious groups. The target groups were categorized into mainstream religion, sect, cult, and destructive cult based on their social characteristics and the linguistic features in the sermons of the leaders were analyzed. The linguistic patterns reveal the similarities and differences between mainstream religious groups and sects, differentiate the characteristics of sects from cults, and highlight the potential progression of cults into destructive cults. All groups are elaborative and persuasive in discourse; however, cults and destructive cults are more elaborative and persuasive than mainstream religious groups and sects. This paper allows us to see the significance of language and various corpus-based methods for identifying the stage of development of a potentially harmful religious group.
ISSN:2050-3040
Contains:Enthalten in: Critical research on religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/20503032251344351