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.

Thousands of years ago in Ancient Mesopotamia there was an abundant Pantheon of gods and goddesses. Circa 3000–2300 B.C.E, separate cults started to form relating to two of these goddesses: Ninisina and Gula. They were quite similar, both associated with healing, as were several other goddesses in the area. Over time they all fused, and their names disappeared one by one, until one remained; Gula. Scholars of today often tend to see them all as one type of goddess, their names interchangeable. This essay researches Ninisina and Gula, and the intention is to see if they truly are the “same”. A number of hymns and healing spells are analysed and used to compare the goddesses. This comparison is based on three themes; “Healing”, “Praise” and “Prayer & Intention”, and finds that indeed the manner of their healing and their characters differ. The essay also discusses how central their roles as healers are. It is shown that even though healing is always mentioned in every chosen text, other traits are often emphasised more.

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The violent uprisings in Myanmar between 2012-2014 sparked a big interest in the media around the world. The uprisings which resulted in many casualties and the destruction of muslim owned shops and mosques left around 140.000 IDPs. In an interview with Time Magazine’s Hannah Beech, the leader of the group claimed to be responsible for instigating the violence, Ashin Wirathu likened muslims to animals and encouraged burmese buddhists to shun muslims. Since the article was released an independent american organization which sympathizes with Wirathu and his ‘golden burmese’ 969 movement created a web page dedicated to portray a nuanced image of the movement and to clear up what they have claimed to be a number of false reports propagated by western media. This essay investigates the american support movement by analysing their english web page through the method of content analysis and by applying a propaganda theoretical framework to the final discussion. The aim of the essay is to identify what kind of image of Buddhism and Ashin Wirathus 969 movement the support group wants to portray and to explain this in the context of Myanmars colonial and postcolonial history.

This paper aims to explore the connections between the rural communities of Early Modern Castile and the saints they venerated through their festivities, relics and advocations and the roles that these relationships fulfilled in their societies. The Castilians of the sixteenth century seem to have used their interactions with saints not only for the purpose of the salvation of their souls, but rather, as ways to ensure the survival of their population, to cement social cohesion and identity, or to preserve the memory of their communities. Through the topographic relations of Philip II, a fantastic source that reproduces the voices of members of rural communities of Central Castile, this paper analyses the boundaries between the utilitarian and the cultural in the worship of saints, and the limits of local culture and identity.

The aim of this thesis is to analyse how and to what extent Ku Klux Klan constructed a pan-Protestant interpretation of Christianity based on its “myth of America” (Americanism) during the years 1915–30. Using hermeneutic content analysis and a theoretical approach based on Gramscian “cultural hegemony” and historian of religions Bruce Lincoln’s theory of myth, I examine the construction through three analytical themes: the Klan and the myth of America, the Klan’s pan-Protestantism, the Klan and religious patriotism. The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s advocated a theological position where race and religious confession are intimately entwined, and its members hence believed that the white race is God’s chosen people and Unites States a God-ordained nation. Opposing the idea of multiculturalism, Klan members stressed the notion of America as a nation imagined to be threatened by Jews, Catholics, and blacks. Therefore, every white Protestant American had to unite in order to combat these alleged national and racial menaces. This worldview was permeated by aspects of love. It was mostly because of love to God, race and nation – not primarily due to hate – the Klan constructed its interpretation of Protestant Christianity. The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s truly imagined themselves as guard-ians, or Knights, of an endangered culture.

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No description available.

<p>Utgångspunkten för denna studie är att dokumentera och redogöra den traditionsbaserade utläggningsmetodologi inom islam. Fokus ligger på hur de traditionsbundna och de konservativa inriktningarna av sunni islam uppfattar denna företeelse.</p><p>Betydelsen av <em>tafsir </em>har kommit att spela en allt viktigare roll till stor följd av den debatt som förs kring islam och vilken förståelse eller tolkning som skall ha företräde. Debatten fokusera primärt kring hur Koranen bör förstås och tolkas, vilket visar sig i den alltmer utpräglade konflikten mellan traditionsbundna inriktningar och progressiva grupperingar. De progressiva grupperna menar att islam och Koranens förordningar måste förstås utifrån den kontext de tillkom i och således är många av dessa förordningar föråldrade och i behov av omtolkning, medan de traditionsbundna inriktningarna anser att islam och Koranens bestämmelser är universella och följaktligen inte tidsbundna.</p><p>Syftet med uppsatsen är att beskriva de principer som den traditionsbaserade tolkningsmetodologin utgörs av och att belysa hur dessa möjliggör att en korrekt förståelse av Koranen kan förvärvas.</p>