Religion contributed to origin and development of nationalism not only through the
political appropriation of religious symbols and narratives but also in more indirect ways.
Scholars have suggested, for example, that the Protestant Reformation and the broader process of
‘confessionalization’ contributed to the development of nationalism in three ways: by generating
new modes of imagining and constructing social and political relationships, promoting literacy in
and standardization of vernacular languages, and bringing polity and culture into a tighter
alignment.