The previous research in the field of new religious movements has mostly focused on the spectacular parts where phenomena such as ?brainwashing? and the ?charismatic leader? have attracted both media and the scientific studies of religion. Professor Liselotte Frisks has done several enquiries about sects and new religious movements in Sweden. One of her main conclusions is that the relation between these new religious movements and the rest of society has changed; a relation that used to be characterized by conflicts and tension is now becoming more open as both parts are changing.This study does not focus on the spectacular parts. Instead I have studied something more common and general.

Göran Tunström (1937 ? 2000) är en av våra viktigaste svenska författare av idag och som kanske främst förknippas med sin uppväxtort Sunne. Den värmländska hemorten har blivit litterär miljö i många av Tunströms romaner. Ökenbrevet från 1978 är den roman som min studie handlar om och den utgör i detta avseende ett undantag. Berättaren i Ökenbrevet är Jesus själv och han befinner sig, under fyrtio dygn, i den Mesopotamiska öknen utanför Jerusalem där han umgås med sig själv och stjärnorna.

In this essay I examine how in seven different congregations that belong to the Church of Sweden the preparatory office is formulated in ways that differ from the form that is prescribed in the current service-book of the Church of Sweden. My purpose is to examine how and why the congregations have chosen these alternative preparatory offices. This I have tried to find out by reading the written instructions and/or homepages of the congregations, studying their orders of service and interviewing one pastor in each congregation.Before describing, comparing and commenting on the different ways these congregations have chosen to formulate their preparatory offices, I give a historical background to the preparatory office itself and how it is formulated/designed in the current service book of the Church of Sweden. I also describe the history and the introduction of the Kyrie.I then describe each congregation, trying to point out the main characteristics of it, then concentrating on the process that lies behind the urge to formulate an alternative preparatory office, the reasons for it and the results.One of the conclusions I draw is that in the congregations I have examined there is an ongoing discussion about and reflection on the advantages of including the Kyrie in the preparatory office. I also found that in the congregations there are different opinions about the words following the prayer of penitence - should they be words of direct absolution or words that speak about the promise of God's forgiveness? This discussion is closely connected to a discussion about what is the connection between the preparatory office and the holy communion/Eucharist.

I den här uppsatsen har jag undersökt hur Jesus förkunnelse om Guds rike kan förstås utifrån Lukasevangeliet. Att närstudera ett enda evangelium, och dessutom inte hela evangeliet utan bara fyra perikoper i det, innebär en mycket tydlig avgränsning. Värdet i att försöka förstå vad Jesus säger utifrån denna enskilda sammanhängande källa är att den kan ha ett större djup än en bild som sätts ihop av ett godtyckligt antal fragment från olika källor.I Lukasevangeliet nämner Jesus ordet rike med syftning på Guds rike över 20 gånger fördelat på 18 episoder. Med metoden diskursanalys har jag delat in dessa ställen i tre kategorier som jag kallar diskurs A, B och C. Diskurs A handlar om att Guds rike har högsta prioritet, men beskriver inte riket.

This Master?s thesis concerns the information behaviour of pastors in nonconformist churches (especially new evangelical and Baptist church communions) in Sweden in their spiritual service to the local parish. The thesis also looks into how the information flow functions in the pastors? context and why the information need appears as it does. The theory used in this study is contextual analysis based on Buckland?s, Weber?s and Patrick Wilson?s theories on authority and power structures.

The following essay is named The canonization of Joan of Arc, a Church political strategy or the creation of a national symbol? Joan of Arc, the French heroine of the Hundred Years War, was canonized as late as 1920, in a process that began already in 1869. In the following essay I am trying to work out if this canonization is a work of the Vatican in order to gain popularity in France after the breakup with the state in 1905. The Catholic Church had, since the French Revolution, faced difficulties withstanding its position of power in the presence of the upcoming Secularism and Liberalism and their growing public support. The Catholic Church had been fighting for its members and at the same time fighting the new ideas of Socialism, Communism and Liberalism.

Three main questions give the fundamental structure for this master thesis: 1) In what way is the notion of law being perceived in the following theologians respectively; David P. Scaer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Wolfhart Pannenberg? 2) In what way is the notion of law being perceived in the encyclical Veritatis Splendor? 3) Which similarities and divergences can be found in the respective expositions of the notion of law?For the purpose of comparison, I have employed four questions of analysis. These are: A) What is ?the law?? B) Is the law being effected, or is it working, in the world and if so - in what ways and for what purposes is it meant to serve? C) Does human beings have any capacities to understand and/or live in accordance to the law? D) Does the Gospel, perceived as the earthly life, actions, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, effect any alteration with respect to the purpose, range, function or interpretation of the law?In order to better understand Roman-Catholic concepts of law, the treatise on law of Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica is briefly presented.

In the medieval ruling catholic time the church walls was swarmed with programs of pictures with religious motives there the animal figures rich symbolics was significant first and foremost for the illiterate. Principally the inspiration comes from the antiquitys pagan world of fables and bestiary Christian world of symbols with the bible as the essential source. The essay describes six of the most common animal symbols who occur; dragon, the sneak in the Paradise, mouth of hell, lion, the fox as a preacher and the devil.To attain to a discussion about why just animals are used as symbols for human characteristics in the medieval church art instead for human beings as it's actually be about, I have studied bestiary and other literature about medieval churchpainting to get an understanding about the history of ideas about the thoughts of the time and about symbolics of animals, worth and how the Christianity have had an influence on the pictures.I have used Johannes Rosenrods church pictures from Tensta church in Uppland from 1437 as an exemplification but also mentioned other unknown painters who used similar animal codes and motives.It's plausible that the purpose of the animal figures was both religious and political, which was used by both the spiritual and the worldly authority so they could keep their dominance over the peasant. The figures was simple to read and remember and they made a deep impression on the people together with the sermon. The churchgoer get so to speak a sound- and image experience, a medieval reality who impress their world of ideas.When it's about the artistic formation of religious expression and characteristics it was undoubtedly a great advantage for the artists to use an animal code like a schemata.

Denna uppsats syftar till att analysera den klassiska, den objektiva och den subjektivaförsoningsläran och se hur dessa förhåller sig till den pluralistiska och inklusivistiskareligionssynen. Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka huruvida synen på Jesus som vägen till frälsning ide tre försoningslärorna förändras om samma försoningslära ställs emot pluralismen respektiveinklusivismen. I en koherensanalys undersöks huruvida någon av försoningslärorna inte är koherentmed pluralismen eller inklusivismen. Genom denna undersökning följer resultatet attsanningsbegreppet inte används på samma sätt i de olika religionssynerna och försoningslärornavilket leder till problem främst mellan den klassiska respektive den objektiva försoningsläran ochpluralismen. Det framkommer även att en viss form av pluralism - den restriktiva - är mer koherentmed försoningslärorna än andra former.

The globalization of political and economic processes is a growing moral concern for theologians and political philosophers alike. My thesis aims to outline, analyze, and compare church studies of globalization with global theories of justice.To do this, I draw upon recent studies of globalization made by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). The WCC and LWF are two global reaching church organizations. They have a common aim of uniting churches for ecumenical dialogue and are involved in social, economic, political, and ecological questions. The WCC and LWF analyze globalization by applying biblical and theological principles from the Christian tradition.

This essay is an attempt in analysing the establishment of the first Early Middle Ages castles in Scania. There are two types of castles in Scania during the eleventh century, keeps andringworks. This castle was built by three fixed elements of power: the crown, the church and the aristocracy. The result of the survey shows that A majority of the castles during theeleventh century in Scania where initiated by the church.The results also show two building phases of castles under the period. The first building phase begins in middle of the eleventh century and the second building phase begins in theperiod 1180- 1200.

The globalization of political and economic processes is a growing moral concern for theologians and political philosophers alike. My thesis aims to outline, analyze, and compare church studies of globalization with global theories of justice.To do this, I draw upon recent studies of globalization made by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). The WCC and LWF are two global reaching church organizations. They have a common aim of uniting churches for ecumenical dialogue and are involved in social, economic, political, and ecological questions. The WCC and LWF analyze globalization by applying biblical and theological principles from the Christian tradition.

Churches are seen as one of Sweden's most valuable cultural heritage. They bear witness to a living tradition and gives us knowledge of society at large and therefore people's lives at different times. These buildings possesses a high value, which is shared by the vast majority, and they are protected by law. The concept of modern churches is in this essay the churches built after 1940, which is not covered by law. The older churches has therefore a cultural and historical value which the modern churches lack.About 600 churches are built after the year of 1940 and the total number of churches in the country is 3400.

The purpose with this essay is to study if the exhibition, Maria-Drömmen om kvinnan has a gender perspective and if it contributes to the history of art. The study shows what kind of women the exhibition illustrates and what kind of perspective it has. By telling about the black Madonna I also show that there is another representation of the middle age women in the Roman Catholic Church at this time that the exhibition not have included. The study is also going to illustrate the difference between a genderperspektiv in art and a women?s perspective.

With this study we aim to learn more about the relationship between digitalization and the swedish church. We have interviewed two priests and two other persons ? one who got married about five years ago, and one who, at the time of writing, is getting married in a few weeks. In addition to the interviews we found some earlier research that were relevant to us, which we read and compared to the empirics we got from the interviews. In our study we have taken qualitative research into practice since we want our interviewees to really share their points of view on the organisation?s usage of digital media.