Is it possible to convey spirituality through art and material culture? Is it possible to renew art within the traditional church so that it appeals and is understandable for the modern man? These are the fundamental questions of my master´s work, which has it´s starting point in a public commission for an artistic contribution to the new Pentecostal church in Kalmar. The work also addresses the question whether there is a need for symbolism, art and sacred objects also within the Pentecostal movement, a traditionally strong image hosting environment. If so, how is it possible to bring this in to the church without completely breaking with the tradition and ideology of the movement? I want to communicate the Christian message in a renewed way, and in this particular project also highlight the importance of using images also within the Pentecostal movement.

The Catholic Church launched several crusades during the medieval ages in order to regainthe holy lands and spread the word of God. Their main enemy, the Muslims had grownstronger and needed to be suppressed. This common enemy united Europe under the banner ofthe Catholic Church. In order to fund these crusades the church turned to the wealthyEuropean kings and lords and asked for funding. In return the kings received an indulgenceletter, and also greater respect from their subjects because of their new appreciation from thepope.

The bark from prehistory ? an osteological analysis on dog bones from the Stone Age settlements of Hemmor and Gullrum at Gotland and a theoretic study of the secular and sacred roles of the dog during the Neolithic.Dog bones from two Pitted Ware Culture (around 2500 BC) settlements, Hemmor in När parish and Gullrum in Näs parish/Havdhem parish, at southern Gotland, Sweden are analyzed. The analysis contains a study of age, withers height and size estimation as well as skeletal changes and pathologies. The attempt of the analysis is to highlight the secular and sacred role of the dog during the Neolithic at Gotland. The dog bones were collected during excavations in the years 1890 and 1903 and were found across the entire surfaces of the settlements.Although there were no specific dog breeds during the Stone Age, the dogs at Hemmor and Gullrum show a wide range of size (withers height spans from 39,74 cm to 56,47 cm) and may therefore have been used for different purposes depending on their size.

The study aims to describe and analyze the image of Mary Magdalene as expressed in the French artwork from 1400 and 1600s that this study deals with. The study also examines the historical context in order to find explanations for why the images of Mary Magdalene have changed. In the study Erwin Panofsky?s iconographic method is used to analyze the artworks and finding their underlying meaning. Delimitations are made that only works of art made by French artists from the 1400 and 1600s are analyzed and delimitations are also made that Mary Magdalene will act on her own in the works of art.

There are about 3 500 churches protected under the Heritage Conservation Act in Sweden today. These churches still belong to living congregations that want to be able to adapt them to the needs of today, just like people have done throughout history. But since the churches are protected, the congregations have to apply for a permit and that is not always given. This can lead to frustration, and you can sometimes hear representatives of the church express the view that antiquarian authorities are enemies that oppose the church. On the other hand we have the antiquarian authorities that, in a way, have to act as advocates for generations to come and make sure that there is a cultural heritage preserved for them when they grow up.

This essay studies the christening rites in Church of Sweden and what theological motives that are present herein, and how the current revision of the rites have brought in new theological motives with the basis in the contemporary theological debate about the liturgy and theology surrounding the christening rites.The conclusion of the essay is that the revised christening rites have not included any new motives, but has rather restructured and re-emphasized the motives to adopt the christening rites to the findings of contemporary research regarding the christening..

This thesis handles the problems regarding different value aspects which are applied during restoration and renovation of churches. The curator?s aspects along with the interests regarding change that exists today, is often integrated and is therefore affecting the final results. The thesis aims to discuss the different perspectives and to look at the different values the room possesses. Furthermore, the historical aspects are discussed along with possible strategies to increase a positive outcome of restorations and how to integrate churches to the modern standards in terms of use and allowing them to be a part of a living cultural heritage.Church buildings have historically speaking always had a significant meaning to people, independent of religious belief.

This is an essay within the subject of practical theology. The main interest is baptism. The aim of this essay is to describe the baptism theology of the Church of Sweden (Svenska kyrkan) and the history of the baptism. The goal is also, with the help of qualitative research, to study the view of the baptism with the ones who choose to let their children be baptized according to the liturgy of the Swedish Church in the diocese of Härnösand. The attempt is to give the Swedish church a pattern of action and a direction based on the result of my research.

My intention with writing this essay is to find out how and in what way the priests in the Allhelgona Church in Stockholm use or are influenced by the ideas of C. G. Jung. This could be in their theology, their sermons or in their private counselling with members of the church.I have gathered a few interviews for this essay with the priests Olle Carlsson and Mary Philipsson which I have then analyzed and drawn conclusions from.Finally I make an assessment of the information and also see what problems may arise out of incorporating Jungian themes into a Christian atmosphere..

The purpose of this paper is to clarify and understand the difference between Brunius?, Zettervall's and Graebe's valueing of a historical building, the cathedral of Lund. Between 1833 and 1963 the cathedral of Lund went through three larger restorations. The character of the restorations however differs a lot between the three church architects, Brunius, Zettervall and Graebe. In a time of low interest for the Middle Ages and of many demolitions of churches in the countryside, Brunius stood out as a researcher and an enthusiast of that special time.

This paper aims to give an account of, and to discuss the view-points and theories of different researchers on the christianization of Sweden, especially the province of Öland, during the early middle ages. Its purpose is to investigate how, and in what sense, their positions can be said to correspond to what we may know of the historical ?facts?. This will be possible by comparing different points of view with a study of the development in a single parish. An overall difficulty however, is the nature of the sources relating to the time in question, they are scarce or even non-existent.Part I of the paper consists of an outline of the field of research and the different theories put forward on the subject.

This essay comprises a study of the bridal crowns of Tjust, with respect to their national history, concept and aspect of mythological symbol. The tradition of bearing the parochial bridal crown is closely associated with religious medieval politics, and has also come to include elements of superstition and folklore. Attention is paid to these aspects dealing with the position of the bridal crown within current forms of tradition and culture and the impact on brides of this day and age. As the tradition of Church-owned bridal crowns is intrinsic to this country, and especially in the area of which Tjust is a part, possible solutions to the continued tradition are investigated..

This study investigated a local aspect of theSwedish elementary school modernization process between the years 1871-1882.Previous studies have been drawn from the school inspectors own reports andshow that the schoolboards housed a negative and resentful attitude towardsreforms and the school inspectors often felt that the parish priests were moreinclined to changes than the schoolboards themselves.  Other research on elementary schoolmodernization has stressed the matching grants as a major cause of developmentand further establishment. In this study, however, a schoolboards own notes inthe form of meeting protocols during an eleven year period as well as a letterby a priest Erik Lundberg, Redogörelseför skolhusfrågan i Tierp dated 6 October 1880 were analyzed to see if theprevious explanation of school modernization, in particular with regard to thereluctance to change by the schoolboards goes to demonstrate and confirm. Theresults of this study have shown that even if the schoolboards do notimmediately follow the school inspectors instructions, it seems not primarilybeen due to resentment. Reforms within the school world are well known forbeing time-consuming but for the current period, as this study concerns andwithin this specific parish there were conflicts of interest which are notshown when only the inspector?s accounts and reports are examined.

This study is based on the notion of "the postsecular society". I have identified both similar and dissimilar values within current and official publications regarding human rights and gender equality authored by the Swedish Feminist Party and the Church of Sweden. The aim of this study is to identify and review similarities and differences in values, as expressed in definitions and standpoints, and also to try to explain how it is that the actors have similar and dissimilar values. In this context I have chosen the sociologist Jürgen Habermas's theory about "the postsecular society" to increase the understanding how and why similar values within religious and secular actors are presented in, what Habermas calls, "the postsecular society". I have used a qualitative and comparative content analysis for this study. The result shows that the Swedish Feminist Party has a more humanistic view.

The purpose of this essay is to examine clergywomen?s experience of discrimination within the Swedish church as to clergywomen?s opinions about their work and their work situation and how they handle contingent discrimination. The method used in this essay is qualitative, and in order to create an understanding of the topic we have used semi structured interviews and text analysis. Three clergywomen have been interviewed and in addition to this we have studied four clergywomen's reports to JämO regarding gender discrimination. The analysis is based upon a social constructivist perspective and Hirdman's gender system theory.