This study is about the mythological figure Lilith, a female demon from Sumerian mythology who later became thename of Adam's first wife in some parts of Judaic faith. According to medieval folklore, she also appeared as aseductive demon who killed her lovers, a danger to women giving birth and eater of children. As a political symbol, shehas become known in some circles as the first feminist and a strong female character who has been demonized due toher independence and strong will. In popular culture, she has numerous incarnations in various media. The purpose ofthis study is to examine her portrayal in the lyrics of the metal band Cradle of Filth. The main material is the band'salbum Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa, its narrative follows the bands version of Lilith. To fulfill the purpose, a contentanalysis is used, with a gendered theory as perspective. This paper also examines the relationship between the theory ofocculture and contemporary music.The results show how Cradle of Filth takes inspiration from many myths about Lilith, but mainly conveys the image ofLilith as a succubus, the demonic temptress that kills her partners. She is described as the perfect woman, and thisincludes being violent, hypersexual and ambitious.

This study focuses on how the religion of Christianity has been covered in Swedish textbooks between the years 1968 and 2018. The study further aims to compare and highlight the similarities and differences that time has had on how Christianity is covered, with regards to number of pages dedicated to the religion, what is said about the religion et cetera. Further the analysis shows that there are traits in the books that survive through time, and others that does not. A critical element to understanding these traits that highlights the description of Christianity, is understanding the tendencies that each textbook displays. The tendency in question varies from example not including women in certain aspects, only focusing on the good that Christianity stands for but choosing not to account for the “dark spots” in the history of this religion such as the crusades or the Spanish inquisition. Finally, there are also an interest in this study to show how the chosen textbooks also treats the didactic questions to see in what way that some fundamental aspects are covered.   In short it can be said that the book that represents the “earlier” period in this study shows signs or tendency to promote Christianity a bit more than the others. The meaning of this is simply put, that the textbook from 1968 praises the religion more and gives it a lot of space in the book, compared to the other ones. The textbook from 1997 however shows signs of the complete opposite. In fact, the 1997 textbook tended to show less of Christianity as a whole and give more room to acknowledging the “dark history” that happened in the name of Christianity, for example the crusades. The textbook from 2018 shows signs of a more “balanced” approach to Christianity of the three. A sort of middle path where there are signs of a better proportioned number of pages is given to the religion, and a recognition to both the good that Christianity stands for as well as the bad that has happened in the name of said religion.

This study is about a King of Sweden and his relationship to Martin Luther’s theology. Gustavus III was king in Sweden during the 18th century and he is mostly famous for being a friend of the theater and arts. This study investigates the religious relationship between the king and the image of Martin Luther’s theology. My main question in this study asks how Gustavus III described himself as a Lutheran Monarch. The method consists of a content analysis of primary sources from the late 18th century, mainly Helgdagsreduktionen from 1772 and the Eccelesatique-samlingar from 1789. The result shows that the King had churchly ambitions and was interested in liturgical questions. The result also shows Gustavus III worshipped former kings of Sweden which influenced how the king wanted to describe himself as a good Lutheran in the shadow of Gustavus I and Gustavus Adolphus. The household theology of Martin Luther shows the position of the king and how he absorbs this position in his writing to the subjects and the priests. The king’s function is viewed as a father that maintained the subject’s true path to Christianity. The image of Gustavus III is also central in this study because the idea of the early modern monarch was forged in the very foundation of the protestant reformation which Martin Luther started.

Through the Zohar, the major medieval kabbalistic work, the human body is used in order to symbolise the divine structure. Present throughout are also dire warnings against the dangers of the flesh – a sense of anxiety often surrounds matters of the body. This study examines how the central notion of the body as created in God’s image relates to the negative zoharic characterizations of the body and further, how notions of gender and Jewish religious affiliation are reflected in the zoharic views of the body. The results show that characterizations of the body can work to reinforce boundaries and define the own group. The female body is valued differently than the male, the Jewish differently than the non-Jewish body. The idealized human body belongs to the circumcised Jewish male who adheres to proper religious behaviour. The aim of this thesis is to enrich our understanding of the human body as depicted in the major kabbalistic tradition of the Zohar.

The essay describes how leaven was perceived during Israelite times. In what ways it came to be incorporated into the theology of the Hebrew Bible. The inheritance the leaven carries with it is used in various ways in Nt. The essay describes Paul's and Jesus' use of leaven and gives a context for why this use was reasonable. The essay theorizes that the knowledge that the leaven came from Egypt meant that it could not be incorporated into the Israelite cult without exception. Egypt is in some respects the image of idolatry because several gods are worshipped. This means that the sourdough gets a legacy that needs to be managed. The bread leavened with sourdough is necessary during a time when there is a shortage of food at certain times. A bread leavened with sourdough provides more nutrition and makes it possible to store food for a longer period of time. The essay shows how the regulation in the Hebrew Bible lives on in Paul's letter in Nt. Jesus' references to the leaven are more general, where the leaven represents the spiritual in man. Leaven also takes on a different meaning in Nt in that it is attributed both positive and negative qualities. Leaven goes from being regulated in the Hebrew Bible to becoming in the NT a representative of the spiritual in man.

In this essay, Ingeborg Wikander's book Fem år i Kina has been examined through a thematic analysis method. The result showed three distinct categories, each with their own subcategories, which are: Wikander and the women, Wikander’s piety and Wikander, homesickness and national romanticism. When the theoretical framework was applicated onto the study it showed that Wikander generalised and grouped all Chinese women into one category. A category Chandra Talpade Mohanty refers to as “third world woman”, which was a way for Western women to distance themselves from women of another ethnicity, which also can be referred as “othering” a group, creating an Us and Them. Drawing on Malin Gregersen’s reasoning about paternalism and social motherhood, one can see how Wikander took on a nurturing role in the relationships she engaged in while in China. Shirley S. Garrett’s liberation ideology in relation to missionary work is also visible in the letters and works from Wikander.

The thesis aims to present and evaluate Liselotte Frisk’s usage of the father of charismatic research, Max Weber’s, theories regarding charismatic leadership. It does this by examining, using textual analysis, chapters from two works meant to examine and categorize new religious movements. The two works are “Nya religiösa rörelser” and “De nya religiösa rörelserna-vart tog de vägen?”. Three specific New Religious Movements have been selected: the Osho-movement, the church of Scientology as well as Hare-Krishna. The study details Frisk’s usage of Weber’s theories based on an analytical model that in itself is based upon Weber’s own definition of what constitutes charismatic leadership. The study finds that while Frisk uses aspects of Weber’s theories, there are certain aspects that do not align. Rather than seeing this as a fault of Frisk in her application of Weber, it should, however, be seen as a sign of the fact that Weber’s theories are somewhat vague and difficult to adapt and use. There is a reason for why he has been challenged and questioned on his views and terminology concerning charismatic leadership when it comes to New Religious Movements. That being said, there are aspects of it that in the present author’s opinion are still worth to investigate and use when it comes to leadership in religious organizations.

The purpose of this essay is to examine religious themes in the novel The Well of Loneliness by author Radclyffe Hall. The novel has been analysed using a hermeneutic method, with focus on the religious world picture of the novel and the faith of the lgbt characters. Conclusions regarding the religious world picture is a world where God is closely linked to nature. All humans, including lgbt people, are a natural part of his creation. The hatred towards lgbt people can be traced to humans, not God. The novel centers around the religious beliefs of lgbt people outside the realm of institutional religion. Their religious beliefs are often closely linked to their lgbt experiences, and characterized by belief in a god who does not condemn them. Their close relationship to nature can be interpreted as a part of their relationship to God.

This thesis addresses devil beliefs in Karlstad diocese during the years ca. 1870-1950. The aim of thethesis is to shed light on devil tales that were told during the above-mentioned timeframe with thetheoretical framework of Ulrika Wolf-Knuts’s devil genres. Moreover, the thesis attempts todistinguish a folklore-devil affected by the Christian revival in Sweden during the 19th century. Thethesis thus contributes to a deeper understanding of devil tales in Karlstad diocese, the revival’ssignificance over folklore and comprehension of the Värmlandic and Dalslandic peoples’ culturalhistorical heritage. A hermeneutic as well as comparative methodology was used to navigate the source materialwhich consists of 20th century records of folk belief from The Institute for Language and Folklore(Isof) archives; these consists of stories told by people born during the second half of the 19th century.Furthermore, the records are complimented by a printed work by Carl-Martin Bergstrand,Värmlandssägner, wherein additional stories where analysed. The analysis shows that the source material fits well together with Wolf-Knuts’s devil genres,moreover, four new genres could be identified within Karlstad diocese. These contain mostlyinformative storytelling but are also complementary to Wolf-Knuts’s non-necessary devil genres.Wolf-Knuts’s theoretical framework can thereby receive an update considering these findings.Furthermore, the results determine that the peoples’ understanding of the devil is uniform in itsmultifaceted nature. The thesis puts out a hypothesis; the terminology when referring to the dark lorddiffers in places wherein the Christian revival had a greater hold. There, it was commonplace to usebiblical names for the devil. If the Christian revival is definitively responsible for this occurrence ornot could not be determined.

År 1100 var Sverige ett kristet land, i alla fall till namnet, men det skulle dröja ytterligare nära 700 år innan de svenska samerna helt övergett sin gamla tro och gått över till den kristna läran. Religionsskiftet skedde långsamt, och även om många samer döpte sig redan under medeltiden är det först under 1600-talet som man på allvar kan se hur den gamla samiska religionen försvinner till förmån för kristendomen. Denna uppsats syftar till att utöka förståelsen för hur detta religionsskifte gick till och hur detta upplevdes av de berörda samerna själva. Genom att analysera protokoll ifrån lappmarkens domböcker rörande religionsbrott (så kallade "trolldomsrannsakningar") har jag undersökt hur de åtalade samerna själva uppfattade sina brott och hur de försvarar sig själva inför rätten, samt hur stark kristendomens ställning var bland den samiska befolkningen under denna period. Jag har även strävat efter att få en tydligare bild av vilka dessa personer var, och om detta svarar mot den gängse uppfattningen om att de åtalade i regel var nåjder. Genom en kvalitativ hermeneutisk metod har jag kommit fram till att den gamla samiska tron under skiftet mellan 1600- och 1700-tal fortfarande var relativt stark i stora delar av de svenska lappmarkerna, och min undersökning visar också att det var i de södra lappmarkerna som den gamla tron levde kvar längst. Jag har också dragit slutsatsen att den svenska kyrkan var relativt tolerant mot religionsbrott hos samerna fram till år 1689 då missionsverksamheten gick in i ett nytt skede. Jag kan också konstatera att det inte finns någon homogenitet hos de åtalade samerna – ålder och social status varierar markant, och ingen av dem beskrivs som nåjder i källmaterialet / By the year 1100 Sweden was christianized, but the Sámi indigenous religion persisted among the Sámi people up until the mid 18th century. Up to the 17th century the efforts to convert the Sámi to Christianity was fairly weak, but increased pressure came after the protestant reformation. Death sentences could now be carried out for practicing the old religion. In this essay I have examined court protocols from trials regarding Sámi witchcraft, superstition and heresy during the period 1649-1739. I have analyzed the protocols in order to get a better understanding of how the religious change in this area came about, and how the Sámi people themselves regarded their crimes and their religious belief. I have also tried to find out how deeply rooted Christianity really was within in the Sámi community and in the Sámi area (Sápmi) during this period. It is commonly believed, that it was mainly the Sámi shaman (the noaide) who was charged and sentenced in these witchcraft trials and I have examined whether or not this really was the case by looking for common denominators and characteristics among the people on trial. By using a qualitative hermeneutical method in analyzing these documents I have learned that Christianity was not very deeply rooted in the Sámi community during this period and it is clear that it was in the southern parts of Sápmi that the old religion persisted the longest. I have also come to the conclusion, that the Swedish church was fairly tolerant towards the Sámi practising the old religion up to the year 1689, when the policy changed prominently. As for common denominators, the accused are all male and none of them are referred to as a noaide in the protocols. It is in this discovery I claim to bring something new to this subject field.