Spirituality and religiosity can play key roles in individual lives through influencing health, social relationships, political views, as well as many other facets (Newberg, D'Aquili & Rause, 2001; Milevsky & Levitt, 2004; Hirsh, Walberg & Peterson, 2013). As important as religious and spiritual beliefs are to societies, cultures, and individuals, little is known about which psychological factors determine choices of faith. Although there are likely many determinants of religious, spiritual, atheist or agnostic beliefs, this study explored four possible factors: critical thinking skills, need for cognition, need for emotional comfort/security, and need for closure. Participants included an undergraduate sample and a community sample. It was hypothesized that religious and spiritual individuals will have lower critical thinking skills, lower needs for cognition, higher needs for emotional comfort/security and higher needs for closure than agnostic and atheist individuals. Hypotheses also included potential interactions between these variables in predicting each faith path. Religiosity was measured using the I/E Religious Orientation Scale - Revised (Gorsuch & McPherson, 1989) and Spirituality was measured utilizing the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality (BMMRS) (Fetzer Institute, 1999). These two faith paths were also self -reported by participants after definitions of each were provided. Atheist and Agnostic beliefs were only measured through self-report. Results indicated that both measures of logic (critical thinking skills and need for cognition) and emotional comfort/security (Need to Belong and Religious Motivations) predicted various faith paths. Limitations included sample characteristics and small numbers of Atheist and Agnostic individuals. A better understanding of the motivations for choosing either spiritual or non-spiritual paths may assist in further explanation of the multiple roles each faith choice plays in individual lives.

<p>One's conception of human personhood deeply impacts one's understanding and practice of community. Contemporary culture lacks precision and agreement in defining the human person. Such ·anthropological agnosticism· also affects the church. leading to devastating consequences concerning its inner sociality. cultural engagement, and pursuit of justice. This dissertation argues that a significant step forward is to gain a better understanding of theological anthropology and apply it consistently to ecclesiology. Specifically. a theological understanding of the human person as a relational. rational. and eschatological creature leads to a conception of the church as relational. rational, and eschatological communities of the new humanity. This approach overcomes problematic dualisms and false dichotomies presently plaguing the church's inner life and outward mission, in part by accentuating the ethical dimension that pervades its whole existence. Primary conversation partners include Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Miroslav Volf. and Stanley Grenz. Alasdair Macintyre and Wolthart Pannenberg are also influential.</p> <p>Part I consists of two chapters. Chapter one explores the difficulties of defining the human person in contemporary culture and the resulting consequences for community and ethics. Chapter two analyzes six typological ways of construing community based IV upon conflicting views of the human person. It evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of each, concluding that none is fully satisfying theologically. Part II (chapters 3-5) constructs a theological anthropology in trinitarian perspective. It presents a threedimensional view of the human person as: a relational creature whose telos is to love God and fellow human beings; a rational creature whose telos is to know God and understand God"s world; and an eschatological creature whose telos is to serve God as a stewardpriest of (new) creation. Part III (chapters 6-8) constructs an ecclesiology corresponding to the themes developed in Part II. depicting the church as relational, rational, and eschatological communities of the new humanity defined and oriented by love. faith. and hope. The concluding chapter summarizes the arguments developed and their implications for Christian community and ethics. It then explores some preliminary implications of viewing the church as God"s new humanity. called to promote and embody the welfare and flourishing of all human beings.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Research on the topics of atheism, agnosticism, and irreligion has been limited during much of the last century. We explain the reasons for a lack of research in this field and discuss the recent interest in this topic. The most recent wave of research has been concentrated during the past decade and tends to look at the dual issues of who composes the religiously unaffiliated and why they choose this self-identification. Recent research has begun to take a much wider and deeper view on the subject. This includes research on particular segments of the population such as atheists, as well as understanding how the religiously unaffiliated are viewed by the broader culture. We conclude by describing important directions for future research. In particular, there is a need to break out the separate forms of irreligion and use creative new methodologies to find and study this significant portion of the population.

<p>Frågeställningen i detta arbete består av huruvida det föreligger en idéförskjutning inom ateismen med utgångspunkt från den kristendomskritik som främst anfördes av Ingemar Hedenius i mitten av 1900-talet. Med idéförskjutning hänvisar jag till en tydlig stark ateism ur ett kunskapsteoretiskt perspektiv. En sådan idéförskjutning skulle kunna vara att någon ny argumentation framkommit som ökar eller minskar sannolikheten för Guds existens, eller att man kommit fram till ny definition av ”säker kunskap”, som ur ett naturvetenskapligt perspektiv skulle kunna förändra begreppets betydelse. Jag har inom ramen för uppsatsen studerat några ledande aktuella debattörer genom litteraturstudier och belyst pågående debatt för att finna kärnan i deras argumentation. De ateistiska ståndpunkterna och argumentation som belyses kommer främst från Ingemar Hedenius, Christer Sturmark, Richard Dawkins, Michel Onfray och Sam Harris. Dessa författare bidrar med unikt fokus i sin argumentation, men stöder sig mot samma grundläggande syn på sann och säker kunskap. Jag har funnit att en idéförskjutning ej föreligger. Däremot har begreppets praktiska betydelse vidgats. På samma sätt som formen för det personliga andliga utövandet förändrats har även begreppets språkliga innebörd generaliserats i syfte att kunna argumentera för ateism i en värld där religionens inflytande på nytt ökar.</p>

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka den eventuella konflikten mellan sekulariserad och religiös etik och moral.  Studien tar sin utgångspunkt i religiös absolutism kontra sekulariserad relativism. Jag vill även ta reda på om det finns etiska grundtankar som flertalet kan vara överens om.

Frågeställningen i detta arbete består av huruvida det föreligger en idéförskjutning inom ateismen med utgångspunkt från den kristendomskritik som främst anfördes av Ingemar Hedenius i mitten av 1900-talet. Med idéförskjutning hänvisar jag till en tydlig stark ateism ur ett kunskapsteoretiskt perspektiv. En sådan idéförskjutning skulle kunna vara att någon ny argumentation framkommit som ökar eller minskar sannolikheten för Guds existens, eller att man kommit fram till ny definition av ”säker kunskap”, som ur ett naturvetenskapligt perspektiv skulle kunna förändra begreppets betydelse. Jag har inom ramen för uppsatsen studerat några ledande aktuella debattörer genom litteraturstudier och belyst pågående debatt för att finna kärnan i deras argumentation. De ateistiska ståndpunkterna och argumentation som belyses kommer främst från Ingemar Hedenius, Christer Sturmark, Richard Dawkins, Michel Onfray och Sam Harris. Dessa författare bidrar med unikt fokus i sin argumentation, men stöder sig mot samma grundläggande syn på sann och säker kunskap. Jag har funnit att en idéförskjutning ej föreligger. Däremot har begreppets praktiska betydelse vidgats. På samma sätt som formen för det personliga andliga utövandet förändrats har även begreppets språkliga innebörd generaliserats i syfte att kunna argumentera för ateism i en värld där religionens inflytande på nytt ökar.

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This essay is about the lyric authorship of the Swedish poet Hjalmar Gullberg (1898-1961), who was nicknamed “The Lyric Hegelian” due to his love of paradox. It focuses on certain traits in his authorship in its entirety, with a specific focus on a select number of poems. The primary concerns of this essay are questions of an existential nature raised by Gullberg’s poetry, as well as his poetry’s relation to his time and age. As a member of the Swedish Academy Gullberg was an important literary presence in his day, most likely influencing the outcome of several Nobel Prizes. Gullberg’s poetry is part classicist and part modernist, combining traditional forms with newer ones, and in doing so it bears witness to contemporary society entering a state of modernity. Gullberg held feelings of both appreciation and aversion towards his time and age. His poetry touches upon a multitude of topics and includes motifs that are both ancient and contemporary, and these are combined as the poet searches for meaning in ephemeral existence. The present essay traces the development of an existential worldview and a type of philosophy in the authorship, which are characterised by complexity and uncertainty; these change with time, and this development can be seen in the different collections of poems. A shift can be observed from a spirit of optimism and religiosity towards a contrary mindset of pessimism and disbelief. This essay argues that Gullberg’s authorship is representative of its time and age in the sense that the views expressed in the poetry seem to correlate to the development of society and the general mentality in Sweden and much of Europe during the twentieth century, with regard to the process of secularisation that took place. The poetry of Gullberg leaves us with many questions and few definite answers. However, its value lies in the eloquent treatment that it gives to the subject-matter which is presented, and in that it encourages reflection. Gullberg was a late representative of an older literary tradition and an early representative of a new one; accordingly he embodied an important change in Swedish literary history.

This essay is about the lyric authorship of the Swedish poet Hjalmar Gullberg (1898-1961), who was nicknamed “The Lyric Hegelian” due to his love of paradox. It focuses on certain traits in his authorship in its entirety, with a specific focus on a select number of poems. The primary concerns of this essay are questions of an existential nature raised by Gullberg’s poetry, as well as his poetry’s relation to his time and age. As a member of the Swedish Academy Gullberg was an important literary presence in his day, most likely influencing the outcome of several Nobel Prizes. Gullberg’s poetry is part classicist and part modernist, combining traditional forms with newer ones, and in doing so it bears witness to contemporary society entering a state of modernity. Gullberg held feelings of both appreciation and aversion towards his time and age. His poetry touches upon a multitude of topics and includes motifs that are both ancient and contemporary, and these are combined as the poet searches for meaning in ephemeral existence. The present essay traces the development of an existential worldview and a type of philosophy in the authorship, which are characterised by complexity and uncertainty; these change with time, and this development can be seen in the different collections of poems. A shift can be observed from a spirit of optimism and religiosity towards a contrary mindset of pessimism and disbelief. This essay argues that Gullberg’s authorship is representative of its time and age in the sense that the views expressed in the poetry seem to correlate to the development of society and the general mentality in Sweden and much of Europe during the twentieth century, with regard to the process of secularisation that took place. The poetry of Gullberg leaves us with many questions and few definite answers. However, its value lies in the eloquent treatment that it gives to the subject-matter which is presented, and in that it encourages reflection. Gullberg was a late representative of an older literary tradition and an early representative of a new one; accordingly he embodied an important change in Swedish literary history.

Syftet med denna kunskapsöversikt är att undersöka vad forskningen säger om argument för att ge religionsfrånvaro, ateism och icke-tro en plats i religionskunskapsundervisningen. Vetenskapliga källor i form av avhandlingar och artiklar ligger till grund för kunskapsöversikten och sammanfattningsvis pekar forskarna på att Sverige är ett sekulariserat eller möjligen postsekulariserat, pluralistiskt samhälle där skolan enligt läroplanen ska vara icke-konfessionell. Religionsutövningen har ändrat sin form och fått nya uttryck där andlighet och individualisering tar plats. Kursplanerna i religion i årskurs 1–6 saknar begrepp såsom ateism och icke-tro och observerad religionsundervisning i högstadiet och gymnasiet visar att de ickereligiösa ses som norm och att ämnesdiskussionerna mellan elever ofta utgår från ett vi och dem-tänk. Den insamlade forskningen lyfter flera argument för en breddad religionsundervisning såsom att ett utökat ämnesspråk kan skapa friare diskussionsmöjligheter. Fler elever kan identifiera sig med religionsämnet om även ateism och icke-tro betraktas som en form av tro, och icke-konfessionell religionsundervisning behöver omfatta även ett källkritiskt förhållningssätt. En vidgad begreppsförståelse skapar ett mer inkluderande klassrum där olikheter bemöts med större förståelse och respekt.