Folia Theologica 17. (2006)

Uwe Michael Lang: Early Christian Latin as a Liturgical Language

EARLY CHRISTIAN LATIN AS A LITURGICAL LANGUAGE 151

Gallican tradition. At the danger of belabouring the point, I should like to add that his was far removed from the 'everyday' language of Romans. The great Christine Mohrmann saw in the formation of Christian Latin the fortuitous combination of a renewal of language, inspired by the newness of Christian revelation, and a stylistic traditionalism that was firmly imbedded in the Roman world. This was part of an all-encompassing effort to evangelise classical culture, which formed the basis of Christian civilisation and, against all odds, has survived even in the present day.