Both contemporary research in History of Religions and current public debate tell us that Christianity as a religious form is challenged in today?s society. Nevertheless, Christianity is often present in secular artistic expression such as fictional literature. The purpose of this paper is to examine how God is portrayed in two late-modern Swedish novels, Djävulen och Gud by Mare Kandre (1993) and Boken by Niklas Rådström (2013).The examination is based on a hermeneutic method using close reading in order to answer the questions asked. The result of the examination shows that God in the late-modern novels is portrayed as a figure with shifting emotions, and in both novels God goes through changes which are in some ways similar.

This essay is a study of ethics and morality in textbooks in religious education. The mainquestions in this essay is how ethics and morality are represented in the textbooks, what thebooks say about ethics and morality and, in some cases, what they don´t say about it. Toanswer these questions I have studied three textbooks in religios education and my methodwas content analysis and features of discourse analysis. The theory that I have used in thisessay is Emmanuel Levinas theory about ethics and the-other and Zygmunt Baumans theoryabout ethics in the postmodern society.The conclusion is for example that ethics and morality often is separeted from the rest of thereligious education and that Levinas and Baumans theories are not something that thetextbooks are very much influenced of..

A church in rural Vester Egede from the earliest Christian period in Denmark e.g. the early 1100, a baptismal font is found showing a woman breastfeeding two animals. She is said to be a typical early roman Luxuria, in mild appearance. However, what makes her unique is that she appears standing on the top of her head, her womb serving as font. The main question is how come that a baptismal font like this is to be found in a church, leading to the sub question, if this font really has a Christian origin or could it be rooted in Norse, pre-Christian tradition, alternatively is the font an expression of a syncretism between the two colliding cultures.

This study focuses on why people not longer want to be a part of a religious communion they have earlier been a part of. To examine this I have made seven interviews with people who have left their previous communions. Together with the methodological and theoretical discussions on discourse analysis, Richard Jenkins discussions on identity and theories concerning the post-modern society, I have made an analysis on how these people consider their previous communions and its members. They refer i.e. to the social control, the ?closed? culture and the non-questioning-culture that constitute the communions and its techniques.

Charles Hartshorne (1897-2000) was a religious philosopher. He adopted and developed the cosmologic thinking and concept of God from the philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, he was also influenced by Heidegger, Spinoza and other philosophers. According to Whiteheads religious philosophy Hartshorne claimed that there is a dualistic transcendence within the Godhead. A dualistic transcendence where one unity/transcendence of God is abstract, outside the creation and time and therefore is eternal. The other unity (or transcendence) is inside time and creation and closely in process to it .

I Läroplan för grundsärskolan 2011 har stor förändring skett i förhållande till föregående kursplaner som innehåller religionskunskap. Från att fokus till stor del enbart kretsat kring livsfrågor har studier kring specifika religioner återigen tagit plats i styrdokumenten. Denna studie undersöker hur man inom grundsärskolan arbetar med religionsundervisning, och i hur stor utsträckning eleverna har möjlighet att ta till sig den. Undersökningen har utförts med hjälp av kvalitativ data i form av intervjuer och vägs emot Edwin Cox krav på förmågor som förutsätter religionsstudier. Studien visar på att religionsstudier behöver konkretiseras för att möta de behov elever i grundsärskolan har.

This study was performed to investigate how the Japanese sect Aum Shinrikyo was legitimating its violence and killing acts. By analyzing the leader and members of the sect, and applying this information on two theoretical models, this paper tries to give an explanation of both single acts of violence and killing, and two terrorattacks.The result shows that Aum Shinrikyo was able to legitimate violence and killing acts through its ideology. In their opinion, cosmos was a place with several levels and everyone wanted to get as high as possible. Those who were killed by the sect would never be able to get to a higher level by living, since they would do too many bad actions. The murderers also got better karma since they helped the person to a better place.The legitimating of violence and killing acts in Aum Shinrikyo can be explained as a duty that is holy, which agrees with the theorists about religious terrorism..

This essay is a study of  textbooks in religious education for middle school. Textbooks are for many, the first contact with religion and they contain a shorter description of different religions. The study is supported by theories of 'Islamofobi' by Mattias Gardell as well as oriental studies by Edward W. Said. The purpose of the study is to examine how textbooks describe islam and muslims' situation in Sweden.

This thesis examines five deposits, some of which contain stone axes, at the settlement in V?nersn?s, Sweden. Two of them date to the late Mesolithic era. The aim is to explore the ritual world of the late Mesolithic in V?sterg?tland, Sweden and its relationship to the landscape.

Islam Hadhari kontra Islam Siasi - om den partipolitiska kampen mellan UMNO och PAS relaterad till Islamiseringen i Malaysia 1974-2004.

The purpose of this study is to investigate a group of female converters and their subsequent experiences when transitioning to islam by bearing hijab. The study analyzes how this religious conversion has shaped and influenced the identity of mentioned women, as well as their attitude and relationship to the social environment prior to and after converting. This means that in accordance with the purpose of this study, an attempt to reveal the everyday life of these women will be performed. In order to make this study possible, three different methods will be put to use. A narrative method that touches upon the time leading up to and after the final converting and the impact of the conversion.

Followers of three world religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam are waiting for the Messiah. Muslims are even waiting for aspiritual leader al-Mahdi. Two different persons claimed the title of al-Mahdi, at the end of the nineteenth century. Theyappeared almost at the same time, at the totally different places of the earth, with a completely different message and underthe rule of the British colonial power. The aim of the study is to compare the both religious figures, Mirza Ghulam Ahmadfrom India and Muhammad Ahmad from Sudan regarding their different messages, to illustrate the social, political andreligious factors that lead to the entirely different profile and image of these two men and how their organizations havedeveloped after their death up till today.

Followers of three world religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam are waiting for the Messiah. Muslims are even waiting for aspiritual leader al-Mahdi. Two different persons claimed the title of al-Mahdi, at the end of the nineteenth century. Theyappeared almost at the same time, at the totally different places of the earth, with a completely different message and underthe rule of the British colonial power. The aim of the study is to compare the both religious figures, Mirza Ghulam Ahmadfrom India and Muhammad Ahmad from Sudan regarding their different messages, to illustrate the social, political andreligious factors that lead to the entirely different profile and image of these two men and how their organizations havedeveloped after their death up till today.

The aim of this essay was to investigate how religious topics and events are presented in five coursebooks in social studies. To do this the following questions were answered: In which context do discussions about religion take place? Are religions brought up in different contexts? To which extent do discussions about religion occur? The method consisted of a both quantitative and qualitative content analysis. The results of this essay showed that discussion regarding religion in social studies coursebooks mainly focuses on wars, conflicts, terrorism and to some degree the human rights. Islam was the religion that occurred most frequently in the coursebooks.

The purpose of this study is to investigate a group of female converters and their subsequent experiences when transitioning to islam by bearing hijab. The study analyzes how this religious conversion has shaped and influenced the identity of mentioned women, as well as their attitude and relationship to the social environment prior to and after converting. This means that in accordance with the purpose of this study, an attempt to reveal the everyday life of these women will be performed. In order to make this study possible, three different methods will be put to use. A narrative method that touches upon the time leading up to and after the final converting and the impact of the conversion.