Denna uppsats undersöker olika perspektiv av den föreställningsvärld och de myttraditioner som förknippas med Japans kakure kirishitan och kristendomens tidiga historia i Japan. Av speciell vikt är den värld som ligger bortom denna. Detta är inte heller främmande inom inhemsk japansk religiös tradition. Utifrån denna kontext kan vi bättre förstå varför man också i Japan har funnit undervisningen om frälsningen i livet efter detta lätt att ta till sig som målet för tron. Den japanska Mariagestaltens status har stärkts betydligt på bekostnad av Sonen, då hon på många vis har övertagit rollen, fått en gudomlig status och blivit en himmelsk härskarinna. Deusu är inte heller den allsmäktige gudom och fadersgestalt som vi känner genom kristendomen då han är tvungen att vända sig till en ängel för att få råd om hur människosläktet ska räddas. Medeltida katolska traditioner har bevarats i Tenchi Hajimari no Koto, den enda doktrinära text författad av de underjordiska kristna själva. Det heliga dramat har dock i Tenchi Hajimari fått vissa japanska särdrag. Inför korsfästelsen pryglas till exempel Jesus med bambukäppar så hårt att de splittras. De skriftlärda som Jesus talar med i templet är inte längre skriftlärda judar utan buddhistiska lärare. Tenchi Hajimari no Koto kan framförallt vägleda oss att förstå samband mellan de underjordiska kristna och myter med koppling till kristendomen. Dessa har bevarats inom den lokala japanska folkliga traditionen fram till våra dagar. Den populära japanska buddhistiska modersfiguren Kannon har på många vis sammansmält med bilden av en Mariagestalt som förmedlas genom europeiska traditioner. Förvandlingen av Maria till Maria-Kannon har också inneburit att Mariagestalten har övertagit vissa buddhistiska egenskaper. Språkförbistringen beskrivs som en annan faktor som kan ha bidragit till den tidiga kristendomens förvandling i Japan. Buddhistiska termer, lånord och kristna symboler har sannolikt fått annan innebörd än den som missionärerna själv representerade. Gudsbegrepp och kopplingen till förfädernas roll inom religionen är påverkade av den lokala kulturen. / This essay examines different perspectives of the myth traditions and the world of faith among the Kakure Kirishitan, and the underground Christians of Japan. Of special interest is the coming world. However, the concept of afterworld is also familiar to the domestic Buddhist tradition. Being aware of this we can better understand why the teaching of salvation (and a life after death) is the most important target of faith also for believers within the domestic tradition. The only document from the time of persecution, compiled by the Kakure themselves, is the Tenchi Hajimari no Koto, ‘The Beginning of Heaven and Earth’, a text with topics covering the creation of heaven and earth, the angels, the fall of the ancestors of humankind, Mary, the life of Christ, and the end of the world. Even if the text is not a part of the living tradition of the Kakure Kirishitan today, Tenchi Hajimari no Koto can guide us, and help us to understand the relation between the Kakure Kirishitan of Japan and European Christian tradition. Myths referred to in Tenchi Hajimari, and other local myths related to European apocryphal tradition have survived until present days as tales in areas historically populated by underground Christians. Gradually the faith of the underground Christians tended to move away from a god who was a strict father and judge. Instead they turned to a forgiving motherly “goddess” of indefinite tenderness, Mary. Deusu, the Father, is not the almighty and omniscient God we know from Christian traditions, instead he has to consult an angel about the need to save the humankind. The popular merciful Buddhist mother figure, Kannon, has in many ways fused together with the image of the Virgin Mary, rooted in European tradition. The transformation of Virgin Mary to a Maria-Kannon has infused the image with some Buddhist traits. Language confusion is described as another important factor of the acculturation of the Early Christianity of Japan. Buddhist terminology, loanwords, and the interpretation and use of Christian symbols, has most likely given the teaching a somehow different meaning, than the one represented by the early missionaries themselves. The domestic concept of gods, which connects the role of the ancestors to religion have also embraced Christianity. The faith world of Kakure Kirishitan is influenced by folk beliefs, Shintō, and the surrounding Buddhist tradition. / Uppsatsen har skrivits inom ramen för masterprogrammet "Forntida religioner" som ges i samarbete mellan Högskolan i Gävle, Uppsala universitet och Högskolan Dalarna.

Tereza Kolmačková Votive offerings at selected Catholic pilgrimage sites: Theoretical reflection and anlysis of extant examples Abstract The aim of my thesis is to analyse votive offerings at Catholic Marian pilgrimage sites mainly from the early modern period. Firstly I discuss Marian images at pilgrimage sites to show who were the votive offering brought to and to describe a broader context of their placement. The thesis is then focused on analysis of textual evidence from the 17th century relating to the Czech pilgrimage site Svatá Hora and of extant objects mainly from Bavaria. Based on these sources the most common types of votive offerings seem to be painted pictures, models of body parts, statues and figures, candles and jewelry, other objects, however, occur as well. The votive offerings were mostly donated to express gratitude for a miracle. Therefore, the miracle process is also shortly discussed in my thesis. Votive offerings did not, however, only show the gratitude of a devotee but it seems that their promise was needed for Virgin Mary to perform a miracle. My analysis suggests that very important aspects of votive offerings were their performative character and the power to create and maintain relationships with Virgin Mary and other pilgrims.

Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka Miles Aldridges fotografi Immaculée#5 som gestaltar en Jungfru Maria som innehar ett uttryck av extas. Med hjälp av Panofskys ikonografiska metod och feministisk och psykoanalytisk teori analyseras verket för att utforska hur det religiösa verket kan tolkas i en samtida kontext. Slutsatsen innehåller en konklusion om att en förhistorisk kontext om Jungfru Maria och genomförda kritiska analyser visar att Immaculée#5 kan representera ett visuellt kvinnoförtryck baserat på bland annat sexuell voyeurism. / The purpose of the essay is to examine Miles Aldridge's photograph Immaculée#5, which depicts a Virgin Mary holding an expression of ecstasy. Using Panofsky's iconographic method and feminist and psychoanalytic theory, the work is analyzed to explore how the religious work can be interpreted in a contemporary context. The conclusion is that a prehistoric context about the Virgin Mary and critical analyses show that Immaculée#5 can represent a visual oppression of women based on sexual voyeurism, among other things.

1./1 Courtly Love in the context of ludic elements of courtly culture (Cantigas de Santa Maria and the troubadour chansonnier R) Matouš Jaluška Abstract Dissertation Courtly Love in the context of ludic elements of courtly culture (Cantigas de Santa Maria and the troubadour chansonnier R) strives to refine on the common notion that the me- dieval courtly poetry is a kind of game. It is based in the tradition of thinking about playing, which is based on the essay Homo ludens of Johan Huizinga and continues through works of Roger Cailloise, Jacques Henriot and Eugen Fink to the current trend of Game Studies. Close reading of the authorities in the introductory chapter shows that each of them assigns an im- portant role to the notion of discontinuity or rupture that enables them to establish the game as a non-binding and safe world. The concept of troubadour poetic creation as a safe activity is explored in the second chapter based on the works of the two founding figures of the trouba- dour tradition, Guilhem de Peitieu ("the Count of Poitiers") and Marcabru. The comparison shows that the safety of troubadour poetry is closely connected with the idea of binding or non-binding language. Binding speech is strongly linked to the image of female power and the ability of women to breed offspring and thus to keep...

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Between 1675 and 1698 more than 60 published works, ranging from ephemera – pamphlets, scurrilous libelli, dialogues, letters and articles – to multi-part volumes in-folio, were printed by the participants in a dispute over the antiquity of the origins of the Carmelite order. Though the broad contours of the quarrel between the Carmelites and Antwerp Jesuits who were their main adversaries is well known, it has yet to be analyzed in any significant detail. The following study undertakes such an analysis, first reconstructing the origins of the quarrel in the religious houses and print shops of Antwerp, next looking at the Carmelite perspective and the "argument from tradition" which buttressed the Carmelites' claims to antiquity, and lastly tracing the history of the "erudition" which allowed the Bollandists -- the Jesuit scholars responsible for that monument of hagio-historiography known as the Acta Sanctorum -- to mount their critique. An appendix presents a critical edition and translation of one of the better-known anti-Bollandist pamphlets, Novus Ismael.

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The Purpose of this essay is to seek an answer to whether or not a conflict exists between priests of the Assyrian Church, the Syrian Orthodox Church and the Coptic Church in contemporary Swedish society, as well as to examine the environment between the three. The theological dissimilarities will be studied (from a historical standpoint), along with the interviewed participants views on the division in Christianity which will be presented also. I choose to interview six priests/chorbishops who live and work in Sweden, and the result was analyzed according to the senior professor of peace- and conflict, Peter Wallensteen’s theories on conflict and conflict resolution, where important issues are laid out to identify the core problem, and theological differences are discussed and compared from a union perspective. The result of the interviews illustrate a clear response that the participants experience a lack of functioning collaborations (from the Assyrians Church view, a collaboration is absent from the Syrian Orthodox Church and the Coptic Church, and vice versa) and most of the participants experience negative consequences from the divide in churches, as they strive for unity in Christianity as a whole. The theological differences between the churches proves not to be as significant as expected, the actual predicament lies partly in language-and phrase division along with a general rejection of each other’s interpretations. In many instances all the churches mean to express the same things, but it is the explanation of expressions that vary and cause misunderstandings. Consequently it is imperative for these churches to develop functional communication to (amongst other issues) solve their interpretations. If not to unify, then to develop an acceptance for each other and the different understandings.

The Diploma thesis "Křivoklát Altarpiece" tries to process the monographical issues of a late gothic altarpiece retable. The altar has survived as a part of stylistically uniform area of Křivoklát's chapel. Author primarily studies this work of an outstanding quality in the context of the second half of the 15th century of the Central European artistic product. The work is compared with the artistic works of the same type. In addition to that the author tries to clarify iconographic issues of the altarpiece which are often mentioned in specialized literature. The Diploma thesis mainly focuses on the altar's sculpture decoration with the goal to clarify its stylistic origins and the time of its creation. Křivoklát Altarpiece represents one of the most important works coming out of Prague's Jagellonian court.

A deep visual analysis of Ludovico Carracci’s 1588 Madonna and Child, Angels, and Saints Francis, Dominic, Mary Magdalene and the Donor Cecilia Bargellini Boncompagni with an emphasis on the role of the patron, the significance of the locality, and the visual semiotics of the Virgin Mary’s gaze in prompting conversion in the repentant prostitutes of the Carmelite convertite convent associated with Ss. Filippo and Giacomo in Bologna, Italy. Including a commentary on contemporary social expectations of modest behavior and the painting’s deliberate incorporation of inappropriate female behavior towards a religious purpose. A discussion of uniquely Carmelite iconography, the use of Ignatian mental prayer in convents, and self-determination in imagery by a Bolognese aristocratic woman.