This qualitative research study aims to investigate how eight members of the Society of Friends (also known as Quakers) experience a divine presence in their Meeting for Worship. The purpose is also to find out how their identity as Quakers has been created, and to see how they look at their Meeting of Worship when it comes to ritual as a concept.The method used in this study is individual, semi-structured interviews and observations of Meeting of Worship. The results show a relatively homogeneous group of individuals from a secular upbringing who as adults sought out a community where silence is appreciated and used to achieve an experience of a divine presence. Berger and Luckmann's theories of socialization have been applied to the results and the discussion reveals how the secondary socialization has been essential in the process of forming the individual into being a Quaker. There is however one exception, in the form of one participant who grew up in the Society of Friends.

The ancient site of Skårby, situated about twenty kilometres south of Stockholm, includes one very large cairn enclosured by a stone wall with a small cairn attached to it. Cairns are originally thought of as graves, but resent research shows that they are more likely to have been religious objects. The constructions are seated on a small hill with a view over the lake Bornsjön which used to be a bay of the lake Mälaren. This place has been the object of Worship throughout the whole Bronze Age. Over the years the manifestation of the Worship changed, but the place for it stayed the same..

The purpose of this work is to map what musical praise and Worship means to different church members. What do they think of today's Worship? Are there music styles or any instruments that are not suitable? What do the members think of contemporary Christian music and the regular traditional music in church? Do we need to make changes or not? How does the Christian Music affect their spiritual lives? Finally, what do the members think of what the Bible has to say about praise and Worship? My method has been to interview four persons, who all are members in the Seventh-day Adventist church in Malmö. Beside literature and magazines, I have also listened to DVD sermons and searched on the Internet and in the Bible, to find out what others have to say about praise and Worship.Syftet med denna studie är att kartlägga vad lovsång betyder för olika församlingsmedlemmar. Vad anser de om dagens tillbedjan? Finns det musikstilar som inte bör finnas med i gudstjänsten? Eller finns det instrument som inte är passande i gudstjänsten? Vad tycker församlingsmedlemmar om den moderna lovsången kontra den traditionella? Behöver vi göra några förändringar eller inte? Hur påverkar den kristna musiken deras andliga liv? Och till sist, vad har de för syn på Bibelns lovsång? Min metod har varit att intervjua fyra personer som alla är medlemmar i Adventkyrkan i Malmö.

Public confession and declaration of grace in the mass, following the book of Worship of the Church of Sweden, is considered by many to be problematic, and hence the topic of frequent discussion. This is apparent already in the proposal for the existing book of Worship, as well as in those official proposals that have been presented in recent years for a revised order of Worship. This paper provides a summary account of the historical development of the public confession (and its attendant parts) from the early church into recent times, with a focus on the Church of Sweden, focusing on church regulation and official books of Worship. This account shows that a public confession existed in early Christian celebration of service/mass, and that public confession and declaration of grace as we know it today (in the Church of Sweden) has developed from the practice of private confession with a relationship to Holy Communion. In Sweden, the ambitions of the Lutheran program of reformation with respect to public confession did not materialize fully.

The Church of Sweden had barely 6.5 million members in 2012. Just over 1% of the members visit a church service regularly every Sunday. The number of visitors in Worship services has diminished continuously for a very long time. From 1990 to 2010, the annual number of visitors at the main Worship services has decreased by 50% from 9 million to about 4.5 million. The service activities can still be maintained at the current level because the many passive members still pays their membership fee.

This paper attempts to trace the journey of Adonis from ancient Mesopotamia, through Phoenicia and finally to Greece, and to see how his function and cult have evolved during this migration. It starts with a short summary of previous research regarding Adonis and goes on to describe the myths and the rites of Adonis as they were celebrated in Alexandria, Byblos and Athens. I then examine possible connections to ritual drama, the mystery religions and whether there is any evidence that the Adonia might have been a germination ritual.My conclusions are that Adonis loses his connection to the growing cycle and the ideology of sacred kingship with the move to Greece where the political system with independent city states is different, and that there has been too much focus on Adonis as a vegetation god. Since Adonis is connected with the ancient Near Eastern cults of sacral kingship it might be more rewarding to consider the death aspects associated with his cult and the possibility of ancestral Worship in relation to a ruler. This would make some of the otherwise puzzling aspects of his cult more understandable..

 Euro barometer surveys show quite an astonishing change in Turkish opinion towards European Union. In 2004, 73 % of the population considered EU as a good thing. In 2008, only 49 % were of the same opinion. At the same time, skepticism towards European integration is explained differently in earlier research. Some scholars claim that partisanship may explain attitudes of citizens better than ?cost and benefit? approaches.

The intention of this essay is to describe the problems with loss of books at three Swedish University libraries. It?s based on interviews with librarians. The library codes of ethics, the library law and the terms of reference of the libraries are central for my understanding. Interview results: Little was being done to stop theft.

The aim of this essay is to illustrate a modern phenomenon, the Olympic Games, by applying the ideas of Mircea Eliade concerning space, time and myth. This literature study is mainly divided in two parts, one descriptive and one analytic. In the first part Eliade?s ideas and some criticism, which has been pointed against his theoretical approaches as well as his character, are presented. In the second part an analysis is carried out, based on the previously presented ideas and elements essential for the Olympics; the idea of the Olympics, the place, the ceremonies, the competition and the concept of individual idolism.I have discussed what seems like gnostic tendencies in Eliade?s ideas, in the sense that both Eliade?s ideas and the concept of Gnosticism argue that knowledge is a necessary condition for salvation, as well as the fact that Eliade and his ideas have not always a pro-Christian approach.

The essay deals with the hill-fort on the mountain Halleberg, Sweden, its wall design, functionality, dating and its possible function as a central location and a place of Worship of the ancestors.The Halleberg hill-fort consists of a 1500 meters long at times cohesive stonewalls which together blocked the mountain from its surroundings. Hallberg's natural vertical scree and cliffs along with the masonry blocked the whole mountain from the surroundings.The hill-forts, with few exceptions are largely not investigated archaeologically and its functionality and role in the ancient society is based on outdated research on the subject. The current archaeological interpretation is that hill-forts served as temporary defense in times of unrest or served as center of power for a social elite. The prevailing view in the archaeological sphere is that the hill-forts had a variety of functions and that its functionality and role in ancient society has varied.Halleberg´s strongest wall sections are at the mountain's south-eastern part where the natural driveway, Storgårdsklev is located. Along with the massive masonry of the walls in Bokedalen Storgårdsklev functioned as the hill-forts main entrance.

In some postmodern philosophy and theology, the view of God has returned to the centre of the discussion. God is seen as a living reality beyond human conception. Some of the contemporary philosophers even relate to the negative or apofatic theology. They often do this as a contrast to the positive theology. The view of God in postmodern theology and philosophy is beyond our rational knowledge.