<p>Uppsatsen undersöker diskursen om Indien i Teosofisk tidskrift 1891-1894. Efter en introduktion till forskingsfälten, västerländsk esoterisk tradition och post-kolonialism, beskrivs den diskursiva framställningen av Indien i de svenska teosofernas tidskrift. Indien representerar en uråldrig visdom och ett samtida förfall. I den gamla sanskrit-litteraturen finner teosoferna svunna tiders andligt högtstående civilisation medan teosofernas samtida Indien är förslappat och i behov av revitalisering. Indien utgör även en motpol till västerlandet som är präglat av två andra sorts förfall: den andliga materialismen och en dogmatisk kyrkoreligion. Teosofernas uppgift blir att revitalisera Indiens uråldriga visdomar och förandliga väst i ett väst-östligt utbyte.</p><p>Denna bild av Indien har inte enbart påverkat nyandligheten utan även en bred västerländsk uppfattning om Indiens andlighet. Även inom hindu-nationalismen återfinns föreställningar som överensstämmer med teosofernas Indien-diskurs. Uppsatsen avslutas med en diskussion kring rötterna, betydelsen och spridningen av den teosofiska diskursen om Indien.</p>

Uppsatsen undersöker diskursen om Indien i Teosofisk tidskrift 1891-1894. Efter en introduktion till forskingsfälten, västerländsk esoterisk tradition och post-kolonialism, beskrivs den diskursiva framställningen av Indien i de svenska teosofernas tidskrift. Indien representerar en uråldrig visdom och ett samtida förfall. I den gamla sanskrit-litteraturen finner teosoferna svunna tiders andligt högtstående civilisation medan teosofernas samtida Indien är förslappat och i behov av revitalisering. Indien utgör även en motpol till västerlandet som är präglat av två andra sorts förfall: den andliga materialismen och en dogmatisk kyrkoreligion. Teosofernas uppgift blir att revitalisera Indiens uråldriga visdomar och förandliga väst i ett väst-östligt utbyte. Denna bild av Indien har inte enbart påverkat nyandligheten utan även en bred västerländsk uppfattning om Indiens andlighet. Även inom hindu-nationalismen återfinns föreställningar som överensstämmer med teosofernas Indien-diskurs. Uppsatsen avslutas med en diskussion kring rötterna, betydelsen och spridningen av den teosofiska diskursen om Indien.

The popular conception of John Calvin today is as a divisive figure within Christianity, who vehemently opposed some beliefs while demanding rigid acceptance of others. In this thesis, I intend to investigate the accuracy of that conception by exploring how Calvin approached ecumenicalism theologically and practically. This will cover Calvin's understanding of the Church, his cooperation and disagreements with other Christians, and evaluate what Calvin might contribute to an ecclesiology useful for the Church today. Calvin has gained a poor reputation in modern times both for participation in historical events, including the execution of Servetus, and also for the association of Calvin with the Calvinism that arose after his death in the Netherlands and then in the United States. Calvin is associated with a strong anti-secularism, rigid doctrine (particularly arising out of five point Calvinism), exclusive claims with strictly delineated in and out groups, and ultimately with conservative Christians who are frequently perceived as theocratic far right-wingers. These perceptions stand somewhat, although not fully, in contrast to the very human John Calvin, whose work was frequently designed to build up the Christian Church.

No description available.

The period of church awakening in Sweden during the first half of the nineteenth century, has had a great influence on the Swedish society. During that time certain persons are to be noticed. Peter Fjellstedt and Peter Wieselgren, priests in the Swedish Church, are among those who were of special importance. But even the British preacher George Scott and later the Swedish layman Carl-Olof Rosenius became aware of the importance of networking. They all felt a call from God to preach a message of redemption and restoration. The people of Sweden were at that time under a burden of poverty, drunkedness and social destitution and thousands of people were touched by the message and had their lives changed. This study is concentrated on the reason why this movement started and how it continued during the first 60 years of the nineteenth century. I look at the importance of the doctrine (läran), the spirit of time (tidsandan) and the networks (nätverken). The conclusion is that the inheritance of Luther together with European pietism has been the reason for the reception of the message among people in general. The networks played a great role especially all the letters written by Fjellstedt and Wieselgren.

No description available.

<p>The period of church awakening in Sweden during the first half of the nineteenth century, has had a great influence on the Swedish society. During that time certain persons are to be noticed. Peter Fjellstedt and Peter Wieselgren, priests in the Swedish Church, are among those who were of special importance. But even the British preacher George Scott and later the Swedish layman Carl-Olof Rosenius became aware of the importance of networking. They all felt a call from God to preach a message of redemption and restoration. The people of Sweden were at that time under a burden of poverty, drunkedness and social destitution and thousands of people were touched by the message and had their lives changed.</p><p>This study is concentrated on the reason why this movement started and how it continued during the first 60 years of the nineteenth century. I look at the importance of the doctrine (läran), the spirit of time (tidsandan) and the networks (nätverken).</p><p>The conclusion is that the inheritance of Luther together with European pietism has been the reason for the reception of the message among people in general. The networks played a great role especially all the letters written by Fjellstedt and Wieselgren.</p>

This paper seeks to analyze the three earliest Confucian thinkers and the foundational texts associated with them. In studying these texts this paper attempts to discover how these early Confucian thinkers conceived of Tian. This paper claims the early Confucian thinkers did not make as radical of a departure from the Ancient Chinese religiosity as many modern scholars have suggested. It has often been asserted that the tradition presented by these Confucian thinkers was entirely humanistic, altogether separate from the Ancient Chinese religiosityThis paper contests such claims,instead insisting that the early Confucian spirituality still viewed Tian as God and that the three earliest thinkers actually introduced new concepts which expanded, rather than diminished, upon the role of Tian.

Inkahealing är en relativt ny företeelse på den religiösa arenan, men har redan etablerat organisationer i elva västländer. Inkahealing har uppenbara ytliga likheter med New age-rörelsen, men ingen tidigare forskning finns på detta område. Målet med denna uppsats är ett jämföra Inkahealing med New age för att utröna var denna nya rörelse egentligen hör hemma. Undersökningen visar att det finns grundläggande likheter mellan Inkahealing och New age, med endast få undantag. En klar slutsats begränsas dock samtidigt av problematiken kring begreppet New age.

<p> This dissertation looks at an attempt in Buddhist history to theorize the role and status of the body as the prime focus of soteriological discourse. It studies a text titled <i>Explanation of the Hidden Vajra Body</i> (<i>Rdo rje lus kyi sbas bshad</i>), composed by Yang dgon pa Rgyal mtshan dpal (1213-1258). This work, drawing on a wide range of canonical tantric Buddhist scriptures and Indic and Tibetan commentaries, lays out in detail a Buddhist theory of embodiment that brings together the worldly realities of the body with their enlightened transformation. This dissertation analyzes the ways Yang dgon pa theorizes the body as the essential ground of the salvific path, and endeavors to provide a thematic guide to his rich and complex discussion of what the body is and does, from a tantric perspective. The thesis parses a key term, <i>dngos po'i gnas lugs</i>, that Yang dgon pa uses as an organizing principle in <i>Explanation of the Hidden.</i> If taken literally, the term means something like "the nature of things" or "the nature of material substance," but Yang dgon pa deployed the term specifically to refer to the nature of the human psychophysical organism, in its ordinary state. By way of this term, Yang dgon pa argues that the body itself makes enlightenment possible. In the course of this thesis, I consider the prior history of this category as it was gradually developed by a series of Bka' brgyud writers until it reached Yang dgon pa. Then, in light of this category, I explore Yang dgon pa's own vision of embodiment. This vision, I argue, reflects an attempt to refocus soteriological attention on the power of the body, over and above the mind, as the salient basis for non-dual knowing. Finally, I reflect upon the lasting contributions of Yang dgon pa's conception of the body to the ongoing exploration of such topics in the history of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist soteriology, as well as upon why some of the more radical elements of his thinking seem to have been eliminated in subsequent generations of his lineage.</p>