Sacred Discourse Studies: Scope, Foundations, and Future Directions

The study of sacred discourse has attracted growing attention across linguistics, discourse studies, communication, rhetoric, theology, and religious studies. Although these disciplines have generated valuable insights into how sacred meanings are expressed, communicated, and interpreted, their contributions remain fragmented, limiting integration between linguistic, rhetorical, communicative, theological, and cognitive perspectives. This article proposes Sacred Discourse Studies (SDS) as an emerging interdisciplinary field dedicated to the systematic study of how sacred meanings are constructed, communicated, interpreted, negotiated, and transformed through discourse. Adopting a conceptual and integrative review approach, the article examines major traditions relevant to the study of sacred discourse, including language and religion, theolinguistics, discourse studies of religion, sacred rhetoric, communication theory, hermeneutics, and cognitive-semiotic approaches. The analysis identifies four recurring challenges: disciplinary fragmentation, the absence of an integrative framework, limited dialogue between scholarly traditions, and the growing complexity of sacred discourse in digital and computational environments. In response, the article develops a conceptual framework for SDS that brings together scriptural traditions, analytical domains, and emerging research frontiers. The framework encompasses Qur'anic, Prophetic, and Biblical forms of discourse while integrating stylistic, pragmatic, rhetorical, and semiotic approaches, alongside emerging areas such as computational methods, digital religion, and AI-assisted interpretation. The article argues that SDS provides a shared intellectual space for connecting previously separate traditions of inquiry and offers a foundation for a more coherent and comprehensive study of sacred discourse across disciplinary, scriptural, and technological boundaries.