The authors first study the role of language in the persuasion process through examining the relevant literature, both in terms of possible theoretical approaches as in terms of the actual linguistic devices enhancing the persuasive impact of a message.Second they analyse language use in the broadcasts of television evangelists, and contrast this to studies of advertising language, to determine which characteristics they do not have in common, and thus which characteristics can be related to genre, and which to a more general notion of `persuasive language'.