Syftet med denna kunskapsöversikt var att ta reda på hur litteraciteten påverkar elevers attityd till religion. Vi ville se hur klassrumssituation, media, styrdokument och läromedel har för effekt till elevers attityd till religion. Inte bara hur dessa faktorer påverkar eleverna utan också vad de faktiskt signalerar. Vi vill med denna kunskapsöversikt poängtera för lärare hur viktigt det är att arbeta språkligt för att motarbeta ett vi och dom-mönster som finns bland dagens ungdomar. Arbetet har utgått utifrån frågeställningen “Vad säger forskning om hur språkbruket i styrdokument, läromedel, media och klassrumssituation påverkar elevers attityd till religion?”.  Översikten grundar sig på nio olika källor hittade på Swepub, Skolverket och ERIC. Genom läsningen av källorna har vi kunnat konstatera att ungdomars språkbruk har en stor påverkan på hur de ser på religion. Den forskning vi har tagit del av har visat att kritisk litteracitetsförmåga kan vara verksam till en positivare bild av religion.

This thesis is a reception study based on the impression on Renee Cox's work 'Yo mama's last supper’, Edwina Sandy's bronze sculpture Christa and the book cover of Bettina Rheim's work I.N.R.I. / Crucifixion I. The focus for the study has been to look on contemporary images of Jesus that problematize Jesus' gender identity. In all the selected works, Jesus is portrayed as a woman. The reactions that arise in the reception study will then be compared to contemporary Christian theologians’ views on the body and gender to create a better understanding seek understanding between theory and what is experienced in the encounter with new interpretations of Jesus' gender identity. The questions the essay is based on is: What reactions appear in the reception of the images of Jesus? And: How can the reception of the images of Jesus be understood through the perspective of contemporary Christian theology on the body and gender? The introductory chapter presents the method of reception studies that will be used to find and categorize the reactions that the artworks invoke. A qualitative reading of selected theologians in feminist theology and gender theology will be conducted out to be able to compile their thoughts in the theoretical framework of this essay. The background in the essay consists of the theoretical framework of the theologians that in this essay will be represented by Rosemary Radford Ruether, Lizette Pearl G. Tapia, Graham Ward and Sarah Coakley. Their theological thinking will work as a tool to analyse as an analyse tool for the reception to see how people’s reaction can be seen through contemporary Christian theology. The results part consists of a retelling of the receptions I found where they are lined up to show what reactions the images of Jesus created. This is followed by the conclusion where the reactions that have arisen are paired together based on similarities and a discussion is conducted about how they can be connected to the theologians. Finally, it is followed by an ultimate discussion where a summary of the conclusion is given, a summary which has shown a lot of mixed emotions. The biggest part of them having a negative tone and shows the need for applying feminist and gender thinking into theology.

This thesis arises out of the recognition that Reformed theology in South Africa needs to respond creatively to the challenges of Liberation theology. One of the more pressing areas in which this challenge and response is felt is the area of the Bible and its interpretation, and hence we take as our focus the possibility of a Reformed-Liberation hermeneutic.

Bibliography: leaves 188-197. / This thesis examines the framework for a Black Christology constructed by Takatso A.Mofokeng in The Crucified Among the Crossbearers (1983) and evaluates this work with the Christological assistance of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The emergence of Black Theology in South Africa since the early 1970s is placed in the context of the black struggle for liberation and the philosophy of Black Consciousness. The result, theologically, is seen to be an anthropological concentration, an affirmative doctrine of oppressed humanity and a concern with human liberation. An identity with the suffering and liberative commitment of Jesus, together with a rejection of oppressive concepts of divinity, is shown to have led to a Black Christology based on engagement with the human history and struggles of Jesus. The message to whites is interpreted as a call to accept and repent of the guilt of the oppressors. Reflecting the early emphasis of Black Consciousness on the transformation of the black self-understanding, this is held to be Black Theology's first stage concerned with the perspective of the black oppressed as the privileged position from which to understand the Bible and the Christian faith. This biblical approach is seen to be common ground shared with most African Theologians, though some gave greater theological significance to the African experience. A second stage of Black Theology is then described, corresponding to a shift in the Black Consciousness movement towards critique of the material structures of society. Theologically the results of this shift are described as a more critical attitude to the biblical texts, in terms of their class interests, and the giving of greater weight to the black praxis of liberation as primary theological data. Bonhoeffer's Christology, unfolding in the context of the ethical demands made by his resistance activities, is then described to highlight the fact that in a situation of conflict and division, a Christological ethic reaches beyond solidarity to engage in vicarious action on behalf of others. Bonhoeffer is used to stress Black Theology's call to committed whites to stand in guilty solidarity with their people and repent on their behalf. It is then seen how Mofokeng draws on the work of J.Sobrino to engage contemporary liberation struggles with the history of Jesus and to give Christological significance to the struggles of those with whom Christ is in solidarity, as the work of his Spirit. It is also seen how Karl Barth is used to strengthen Mofokeng's concern with the birth of black people as acting subjects of their own history. With the insights of Bonhoeffer's Christological ethic it is concluded that Mofokeng overstates black solidarity, taking insufficient account of black divisions and conservatism. Mofokeng is seen not to apply his own historical methodology consistently, leading him to underestimate the theological importance of the failure of the poor to remain in solidarity with the dying Jesus, and the significance of the faithfulness of his women followers.

Bibliography: leaves 83-87. / This paper presents a study of the Exodus tradition of the Hebrew Bible with a critique from the perspective of a Feminist Liberation theology. It is recognised that Liberation theologies in general have adopted the theme of Israel's Exodus from Egypt as a paradigm for liberation from the particular forms of oppression being addressed by that liberation perspective (for example, Black theology, Third World theology, Feminist theology). The appropriateness of such a use of the tradition is discussed for the broad category of Liberation theologies as well as for Feminist theology specifically. We have chosen to view the Exodus tradition as a metaphor. The importance of a metaphorical approach to theology will be discussed in the first chapter. Briefly, we acknowledge that metaphor is an appropriate category for religious language, since it uses what is known in order to describe the unknown. This is most clear in descriptions of the divine: in the case of the Exodus metaphor God may be described as "the Liberator of the oppressed". Likewise, the Exodus narrative may be considered a metaphor of liberation. However, a metaphorical perspective reminds us that religious language is limited since a metaphor cannot be fully equated with the category being described. A further limitation is noted whereby a two-way relationship is established in metaphorical speech, so that the metaphor is given validity by that which it describes. From the point of view of Feminist theology, such limitations are profoundly important, since a refusal to recognise them results in irrelevance or idolatry. Our second and third chapters explore the use of the Exodus metaphor by Feminist Liberation theology and the limitations of the metaphor, respectively.

This essay explores how spirituality and the climate issue can relate to each other. This is done by analyzing pneumatology in two Christian traditions, feministic and Eastern. These are broad and extensive areas therefore a restriction has been necessary. The demarcation resulted in two theologians, one from each tradition. From the feministic tradition, the choice fell on Anne Claar Thomasson-Rosingh and her work Searching for the Holy Spirit: Feminist Theology and Traditional Doctrine. From the Eastern Church tradition, John D. Zizioulas and his work Communion & Otherness were chosen. Further Studies in Personhood and the Church.  The question for the essay is: -What impact can the view of the Spirit and creation have on the role of human beings in responsibility for creation?  The answer to the question is that there is a connection between how views on the Holy Spirit and creation can affect the role of human responsibility. When human beings become trapped in selfishness by asserting their own right before communion and turning away from both the self and creation, an avertedness arises. This is something both Thomasson-Rosingh and Zizioulas pay attention to.  Keywords: pneumatology, spirituality, Eastern Church, feminism, creation, Anne Claar Thomasson-Rosingh and Johns D. Zizioulas.

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Bibliography: leaves 150-158. / The Apartheid ideology and political system in South Africa has caused blacks to experience their blackness negatively. Being black is the reason for their pain and suffering. This is not merely a political problem but in its deepest sense it is a theological problem because it has caused doubt in the hearts and minds of blacks, as to whether they are created in the image and likeness of God. Apart from that Apartheid also presented itself as a command of God, and as such it is a pseudo- religion. In the thesis this problem is examined from a biblical-theological perspective. Chapter one looks at humans created in the image of God, the dignity which implies their right and their equality before God. After investigating the insight of a cross-section of theologians, it is clear that the dignity of all people irrespective of race and colour is beyond dispute. Chapter two examines the black experience against the biblical background. Despite the theoretical consensus regarding human dignity, blacks are experiencing their blackness in a negative sense. The reason for this is the negative anthropology of white theology. Chapter three discusses the emergence of the critical conscious- ness towards the negative anthropology. The Black Consciousness philosophy played a positive role in countering this negative anthropology. Black Theology used these insights to develop a positive anthropology. It brought awareness of human dignity, but it did not lead to action. Chapter four discusses the total liberation from all situations of oppression, exploitation and dehumanization. The basis for this liberation is found both in the Old and New Testaments. In this regard the Exodus Paradigm and the Nazareth manifesto play significant roles as biblical models for total liberation. From these paradigms it is concluded that Yahweh in the Old Testament is the Liberator of the oppressed, and that New Testament salvation in Christ, links up with the Exodus model in which God sides with the oppressed. Biblical liberation and salvation is not merely spiritual but involve the total human. Chapter five looks at the sources from which Black Theology draws in an attempt to define its positive anthropology. Apart from the already mentioned biblical sources and Black Consciousness ' it also draws from the black experience and the Traditional African Religions. The final conclusions are that black theology brought a new appreciation to the fact that blackness is a gift of God and not a curse. The liberation of humans, an important emphasis in black theology is firmly grounded in the scriptures and involves the total being. That black theology is not racism in reverse, nor is it an ideology, but a quest for humanity, firmly grounded in the biblical tradition.

Bibliography: leaves 82-86. / The Islamist/fundamentalist movements of the twentieth century, such as the Jama' ate Islami of Pakistan, the Ikhwan al Muslimin of Egypt, and the FIS of Algeria, have committed themselves to the ideal of attaining an 'Islamic state'. In their quest for the realization of this objective, they envisage a total mobilization of Muslim societies in accordance with "the Islamic shari'a law" under a universal state. The main architects of this ideal of Islamic state in recent times have been Sayyid Abu al-A'la Mawdudi and Sayyid Qutb. This thesis is an attempt to appraise these Islamist theories of statehood and governance in the light of traditional juristic theories of governance as well as modern and postmodern forms of democratic political formations. In this thesis I assert that the contemporary Islamist political blueprint, like traditional Muslim political philosophy is geared towards the establishment of Gemeinschaft (community) in the traditional sense, and not Gesellschaft (society/state) in the modern sense. State in the modern sense is to be understood as a complex form of social organization and public power that has authority independent from any particular office holder such as a king. The modern state is an association between the members of a society which assumes supreme authority to make and enforce laws that regulate social arrangements and social relationships. It encompasses various diverse groups, a multiplicity of religious communities, and largely disparate interests, under certain broad common goals. It is also a contention of this thesis that while Islamist political ideology condemns and challenges modernity and its modem forms of political and social organization, it has itself acquired very 'modern' traits of power, control, and statehood. It is further asserted that the juristic model of state, upon which the Islamist worldview is selectively based, is incapable of functioning as a power polity in the world of territorial states.

Bibliography: leaves 108-116. / Part I of this study introduces the problem and the feminist methodologies to be employed in the thesis. The argument is that biblical scholarship and interpretation was based on Western patriarchal androcentric and sexist approach which considered maleness as normative human behaviour. The feminist approach to the parabolic interpretation is introduced as a contrast to the normative male dominated Western scholarship. Feminist theology demonstrates convincingly that the androcentric and misogynist bias of patriarchal tradition is serious. Then again, American, European African women theologians realize the need has arisen to establish alternative norms and sources of tradition to challenge these biases, and women seek a reconstruction or re-envisioning of the theological themes that will free males from these biases. While sharing these concerns I want to discuss these issues from the point of view of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians whose founding person is Mercy Oduyoye. These women feel oppressed by their African culture, religion and White domination. The African context will be represented by the Lesotho situation whose areas of similarity in oral mentality, culture and mode of life between the Basotho people and the ancient Jewish culture are close. Part II presents a historical interpretation of the three selected parabolic paradigms. These are: The parables of The Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 25-37), The Lost Coin (Luke 15: 8-10) and The Unjust Judge (Luke 18: 1-8) . This presentation is exposed by a selection of three scholars who typify the approach and views of their generation in the interpretation of each respective parable. Part III focuses on critical analyses of the three parables. The structural, exegetical, hermeneutical and African feminist's analysis will be the burden of this section. The conclusion will be the culmination of the present study.