Lars Levi Laestadius (1800-1861) was active as a priest in the Swedish church in the northernmost parts of Sweden. After experiencing a transformative and life-changing spiritual breakthrough, which he himself has later called his rebirth and the moment when he received a living faith, he came to gather large audiences and give rise to a revival movement, which still bears his name today. Although Laestadius was active as a priest, he sharply criticized many conditions in the contemporary church. The purpose of this essay has been to investigate whether, and if so how, this criticism as presented in his sermons and writings can be linked to his Bible use, i.e. his reading and interpretation of the Bible and the authority he gives the Bible. For my study, I have closely read a large number of his extant sermons and published writings. The study also briefly summarises the central elements of Laestadius' theology, as well as what he perceives to be the Church's main mission. The study shows how his criticism is based on his use of the Bible and also how, through a far-reaching allegorical interpretation of the Bible, he uses different texts from both the Old and the New Testaments in his argumentation.

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Uppsatsen behandlar konst och visuella kulturer inom den evangeliska brödraförsamlingen, eller herrnhutismen, i Västsverige ca 1740-1810. Porträtt, kyrkomålningar samt dekorationstryck har studerats. Stora delar av den herrnhutiska ideologin och estetiken importerades mellan församlingsgrupperna, och de västsvenska objekten är analyserade med hjälp av framförallt tyska exempel. Ett nyckelord är passager – passager mellan ljus och mörker, ord och kött, död och liv, inre och yttre – vilka gestaltades genom såret, mandorlan, blomman, ögat och stjärnan. En styrka i bildkonsten var just mångtydigheten i dessa religiösa symboler, då de tillät betraktaren att läsa in symboliska betydelser utifrån den egna kontexten.  Syftet är att diskutera och belysa herrnhutismen ur ett helhetsperspektiv gällande estetik, ideologi och social kontext, vilket harmonierar med hur de själva uppfattade livet: Inom ramen för det tidigmoderna allegoriska paradigmet såg man helheter och samband i det stora och i det lilla. Genom att studera objekten utifrån uppfattningen om att helheterna existerar har jag velat öppna upp för och möjliggöra en tolkning av dess visuella kulturer utifrån den kontext i vilken de själva verkade. Synsättet påminner mycket om dagens systemteori och uppsatsen diskuterar också dessa likheter utifrån begreppen grace och integration. / The aim of this study is to examine the symbolism in art objects and visual culture belonging to the Moravian Church in western Sweden during the 18th century. The objects chosen are portraits from Gothenburg, church art from the countryside, as well as printed decorations in books and church service agendas. The Moravian church is one part of a general transition from an early modern society, through Enlightenment, towards romantiscism and secularization. The Moravian church was also to a high degree an international movement. Therefore the objects analyzed here have been related to examples from the international Moravian church, as well as to local examples without any obvious association to the community. One aspect of the determinant ideology of the Moravian church was their view of how practical life, the religious ideology and estetic ideals together formed aspects of a whole. Life was not seen as fragmented in parts. Instead its different forms of expression were all regarded as ways for the Divine to express itself, as well as ways for the people to experience and approach the Divine, an approach that goes within the frame of ”Ordo Salutis”. This ability to experience life as a whole is also a scientific approach used in the present study to interpret their art and symbolism. The study shows how a number of symbols (the eye, the star, the wound, the mandorla and the flower) all are aspects aiming to point towards the one main transition – the one between light and dark, life and death.