Denna uppsats söker svara på vad det kan finnas för olika kristna teologiska bilder som en kvinna som genomgått missfall kan relatera till och hur dessa bilder relaterar till en relationell gudsuppfattning. I uppsatsen analyseras, diskuteras och jämförs tre bilder hämtade från texter skrivna av teologen Lynda Serene Jones, teologen Susan Bigelow Reynolds och antropologen Linda Layne. Detta görs med hjälp av en innehållslig idéanalys utifrån feministteologiska utgångspunkter och en relationell förståelse av Gud hämtade från Elizabeth Johnson.  Resultaten visar att det finns åtminstone tre kristna teologiska bilder som relaterar till missfall och att de relaterar till en relationell gudsuppfattning på olika sätt. Den första är bilden av att den treenige Gud tar in döden i sig själv, vilket utgår från en relationell förståelse av treenighetsdoktrinen. Den andra är bilden av Maria Magdalena vid den tomma graven efter Kristi uppståndelse, vilket relaterar till vänskapsdimensionen av en relationell gudsuppfattning. Den tredje är analogin med Kristi lidande och tanken på barnet som offergåva till Gud, vilket bekräftar tanken på att de som lider är kopplade till det gudomliga livet genom Guds inkarnerande på korset.

This study focuses on the image of God in the common worship liturgy book that was taken into use by the church of Sweden in the year of 2018 and compare it with the image of God in the previous common worship book which was released in 1986. The end result shows that the big difference between these two liturgy books is that the liturgy book released in 1986 presents an image of God that focuses on the gender of God. Compared to the 2017 liturgy book that instead of focusing of the gender of God presents an image of God that presents how God acts, not who God is. End result has been viewed from two perspectives, a feminist theology point of view and an apophatic point of view. These perspectives combined with the end result from the comparative study has shown that of these two theologies the feminist theology fits best into the 2017 common worship liturgy book, compared to the apophatic theology. Although the study has shown that these two theological perspectives share more than just a few things. One of the most central similarities is that the language plays a big part in the centralities in both teological perspectives. In the apophatic theology the language is considered to be limited and that our human language lacks the potential to fully understand God. The feminist theology focuses on the fight against structures like gender, sex and power. When using especially these three parts it is possible to use language to find the patriarchal symbolic language that has an influence on us and effects us.

Arbetet är en feministteologisk studie av fyra kvinnliga gestalter från judendomen och kristendomens religiösa urkunder. Syftet med arbetet är att synliggöra kvinnor från religiösa texter och hur de får status för sin egen person eller gärning. Arbetet använder feministisk exegetik och kontextualisering med ett aktörsperspektiv som metod för analys. Målet är att undersöka hur de kvinnliga gestalterna beskrivs, vilken status de har, vilken handlingar de utför och hur det erkänns samt om det sker en förändring i status under historien och vad förändringen beror på. I arbetet står fyra kvinnliga gestalter i fokus: Sara, Ester, Rachav och Foibe från olika delar i judendomens och kristendomens religiösa urkunder. Som representant för den judiska urkundstexten är JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh från 2003 i översättning av The Jewish Publication Society. Där återfinns Sara och Ester. Som företrädare för kristendomens religiösa urkund valdes Bibelkommissionens översättning av Bibeln utgiven av Verbum förlag 2011 och här finns Rachav och Foibe. Analysen är uppdelad utifrån kvinnorna i kronologiskordning med gestalterna från Tanakh först följt av Bibeln. Varje gestalt studeras utifrån ett feministiskt perspektiv med fokus på kvinnornas agerande och status i förhållande till sin kontext. Sedan relateras gestalterna och deras beskrivning till ämnesplanen för religionskunskapsämnet i gymnasieskolan och vilka möjliga användningsområden de har i undervisningen. I resultatsammanfattningen och diskussionen kopplas resultatet till frågeställningarna, detta resulterar i slutsatser som att kvinnornas status förändras under historien vilket påverkas både av dem själva men även av yttre faktorer. Att kvinnorna är aktörer i sin kontext men även är beroende av andras agerande är slutsatser som kan dras av beskrivningarna kring de kvinnliga gestalterna från judendomen och kristendomens religiösa urkundstexter.

I Matteusevangeliet finner man bergspredikan, riktlinjer för hur lärjungarna ska bli Jesusföljare och kunna leva som förebilder. Verserna som denna uppsats behandlar befinner sig inom de sex antiteserna som är del av bergspredikans centralare delar. Denna uppsats behandlar den andra och tredje antitesen, äktenskapsbrott och skilsmässa. Äktenskapsbrott och skilsmässa behandlas i denna uppsats med en förståelse mot den judiska historiska kontexten under det första århundradet. Feministteologi jämförs mot den ideologi som tidigare författare tillskrivit sina översättningar. Uppsatsen undersöker om Jesus kan tillskrivas den moderna termen feminist baserat på hans agerande kring begränsandet av godkända anledningar för skilsmässa samt vad som utgör äktenskapsbrott. Genom en förståelse av den judiska kontexten och dess samhällsskikt beskrivs de olika möjligheterna samt förutsättningarna som krävdes för en skilsmässa. Detta skapar en större historisk förståelse för det samhälle som Jesus enligt Matteus verkade i. Jesus agerande måste förstås ur det samhälle och dess lagar som han befann sig i för att skapa en förståelse kring om hans agerande var något särskilt vid denna tid, om Jesus var en feminist.

The aim of this study is to explore how it might be possible to talk about God as powerful within a Christian feminist framework. This has been declared impossible by Mary Daly who, in her book Beyond God the Father (1973), strongly criticises the Christian tradition for being too deeply intertwined with patriarchy to be of any use for women seeking liberation from male oppression. This essay compares the works of two contemporary feminist theologians, with the aim to answer Daly’s criticism and seek for ways to talk about God’s power that considers this criticism as relevant while still remaining Christian. The method used is textual analysis, and the material consists of the books Cloud of the impossible by American process theologian Catherine Keller and Powers and Submissions by British Anglican theologian Sarah Coakley. The views presented on God’s power by these two theologians are introduced thematically. The three themes used are The relation between humans and God, The importance of language and The Male Trinity. These are then discussed in comparison to Daly’s standpoints. Keller promotes an image of God as radically relational and uses apophatic theology to show how limited our knowledge of any definite insights of God and the limitations of the human language is. Coakley advocates for submission to God through contemplation, which leads to insights about God’s genderlessness and makes space for God’s power to work within humans in order for them to overthrow gender inequalities. When compared to Daly this essay reaches the conclusion that there are ways to speak of God’s power in a “feminist friendly” way, such as through a form of submission to the creative power of God, although it has to be done with consideration to context and without forgetting the dark history of how the Church has misused power in the past.

I den här uppsatsen görs en postkolonial, feministteologisk och konstruktivistisk analys av det ursäktstal Svenska kyrkan framför till det samiska folket hösten 2021. Med hjälp av den postkoloniala feministteologen Kwok Pui-lan och den kontextuella teologen Marcella Althaus-Reid närmar sig uppsatsen frågan om det i ursäktstalet finns uttryck för koloniala tendenser eller möjliga befrielser från sådana. Analyses leder till ett utforskande av dynamiken mellan föreställningar om kön, sexualitet, den Andre och naturem, där dessa visar sig vara tätt sammanvävda i en dualistisk ontologi konkretiserad i heterosexuella antaganden. För att bli fri från koloniala tendenser krävs de gamla heterosexuella antagandenas undergång. Bara i den ömsesidiga enhetens harmoni skapas nytt liv.

The starting point for this thesis is to problematize the male-dominated language of The Swedish Hymnal and the understanding of gender it involves. The purpose has been: to clarify the understanding of gender and ecclesiology in The Swedish Hymnal and in the Swedish Church's General Synod and to develop an understanding of gender for the church in an equal society. To this end I have examined the understanding of gender of the hymn texts from a gender perspective as well as an ecclesiological perspective. I have also studied the meaning of the understanding of gender of the hymn texts in their wider cultural and social context. I have made use of theoretical approaches and strategies from feminism, feminist theology, ecclesiology, and theories about the importance of language in relation to the society in which it operates. The main result is that the understanding of gender of the hymn texts is markedly dichotomous and value discriminatory to women's disadvantage, and must be regarded as an obstacle to equality. With regard to the ecclesiology of the hymn texts I have used the model of the church - a community for the same conditions as an interpretative key. This has shown that even the ecclesiology of the texts is asymmetric to advantage of men. As regards the understanding of gender and ecclesiology in the Synod, I have found that the category of gender almost never is linked to equality. When placing the understanding of gender of the hymn texts in a wider cultural and social context it appears that the understanding of gender of the hymn texts underpins an understanding of gender that claims the specificity of each gender and a society where only words that connotes male human beings become a model for this community. This has epistemological implications. Finally, with a foundation in the survey results and the theoretical perspectives, I have developed a language without a dichotomous and value discriminatory understanding of gender. This language is characterized by the presentation of women and men in such a way that eliminates gender stereotypes and above all that the deity so as to connote both women and men. The main conclusion of my studies is that the problems with the gender understanding of the hymn book is a consequence of expressing the deity with markers that connotes male human beings, so that divine and manly interplay. In addition, a significant gender-blindness in the decision-making body of the church is a cause. Another conclusion is that the understanding of gender in The Swedish Hymnal has a structuring effect on society at large.Keywords: understanding of gender, equality, feminist theology, feminist ecclesiology, worship and equality, worship and language.

ABSTRACTIn the autumn of 2017 361 testimonies of sexualized violence and abuse from women, previously or currently active in the Church of Sweden, were published under the hashtag #vardeljus as a part of #metoo. Neither the church nor theology can ignore or avoid the subject after this publication. However, despite this obvious need to address #vardeljus theologically, there has been a lack of theological reflection within a Swedish context. Indeed, the questions of if and how theology continue to contribute to the legitimation and maintenance of structures that enable sexualised violence and how theology can help women exposed to sexualised violence remain largely unanswered. This study therefore aims to provide some answers. Firstly, it seeks to identify what needs are expressed in the testimonies from #vardeljus by examining the theological conclusions about these, as drawn by Anne Sörman, from a feminist theological perspective. Secondly, it analyses whether contemporary interpretations of original sin by Lutheran theologians Eva-Lotta Grantén and Anna Karin Hammar contain useful, relevant, and sufficient resources to meet these demands and acknowledge women who experienced sexualised violence in church environments. Thirdly, this study contributes to the future shaping of theology by concluding which complements are needed to ensure that theological interpretations of sin, such as for example those by Grantén and Hammar, are relevant also for women subjected to sexualized violence. By using feminist theological textual analysis, where key themes as represented by Susan Frank Parsons, Sólveig Anna Bóasdóttir, Rita Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Ann Parker are defined and used, this study queries whether these needs are acknowledged and met in interpretations of original sin by Grantén and Hammar. In this examination their usage of such theological concepts as original sin, sin, accountability and guilt are weighted against the #vardeljus-experiences of sexualised violence in order to establish whether original sin is a concept suitable for acknowledging women and including them in theology. Grantén and Hammar attempt to make original sin a useful and understandable concept for contemporary believers, although they differ in their interpretations of this concept. Grantén considers that original sin entails guilt which primarily concerns and affects the relation between an individual and God and only secondarily interhuman relationships. Hammar argues against the usage of original sin and guilt and instead proposes to use destruction and (original) accountability as contemporary-friendlier alternatives. However, neither Grantén, whose main concern is to study original sin as a cause to the existence of sin and evil, nor Hammar, who applies a more consequence-directed approach, manages to adequately acknowledge or adapt their interpretations after women’s experiences of being victims to sexualised violence. This study concludes that if contemporary interpretations of original sin aren’t supplemented with interpretations that illuminate differences within a group where everybody is a sinner, acknowledge women as victims, emphasise the need of identifying and holding perpetrators accountable, and, at the same time, offer tangible help to victims, then the resources that the concept of original sin offers are neither helpful nor relevant to women that are victims of sexualised violence.

The purpose of this essay has been to make a feminist study of the Church of Sweden lectionary 2002. I have been interested in two specific subject areas. The first is whether the biblical text have helped to highlight women´s experience, and if that is the case, in which way? The second area has been to investigate whether the texts have an oppressive or liberating tendency. In my study I have used Rosemary Radford Ruethers definition of experience which includes experience of the divine, experience of oneself and experience of the world, although they can be understood separately, they interact with each other. As for the second subject area I have used Elisabeth Shüssler Fiorenzas definitions of oppression and liberation. Oppression is defined based on the underlying or direct meaning that hinders or denies liberation. Liberation implies resistance and change by examining contradictions between the religious-cultural politics of “femininity” and the radical democratic politics of meaning and dignity. My study takes its approach from feminist theology and to it I connect two fields of method. One is feminist theological practices and the other is qualitative textual analysis. The analysis has been made from two biblical texts, one of the New Testament and one of the Old Testament. Both texts describe the biblical woman’s experiences in multiple ways which includes Radford Ruethers definition of experience. The text of the New Testament included a larger part of experience of oneself while the text from the Old Testament included as lager part of experience of “the world”. Both texts are liberating for women since they both meet Shüssler Fiorenzas definition of liberation. But the story of Rahab also has an oppressive tendency. Both women in each story contribute to their own liberation and in the story of Rahab also her family´s liberation. Another likeness in the texts is that both women have an experience of fear.

The purpose of this essay is to examine and interpret the usage and meaning of the greek word úποτασσω in the literary units in the New Testament called household codes (from the German word Haustafel included in Martin Luther´s Luthers Small Catechism). The verb úποτασσω is in the NRSV translated to be subject (Eph 5:22, Col 3:18) or accept the authority (1 Pet 3:1) and is used in the household codes as an exhortation to subordination for women. My examination and interpretation has been conducted through exegetical and redaction-critical analysis where I also have tried to cross-examine the christian writings on the topic with related texts on conceptions of gender in antiquity. I have studied the texts through the critical lens of feminist hermeneutics and from a feminist theological perspective. The aim of the study is to understand and interpret the texts from a historical-critical point of view, but my work also has a feminist-liberationist premise that hopes to find ways to constructively interpret texts that seem to diminish the full humanity of women and promote rigid culture-bound definitions of "male" and "female".