One of the major themes in the Book of Mormon is the promises of the Lord to the house of Israel. Even before Lehi and his family left the promised land, Lehi and Nephi prophesied of the future scattering and gathering of Israel. After the family of Lehi arrived on the Americas, prophets continued to teach about God’s covenants with Israel. The destiny of the house of Israel was a major theme in the books of 1 and 2 Nephi, and also at the end of the Book of Mormon in the teachings of Jesus Christ, Mormon, and Moroni.In Lehi’s prophecy about the house of Israel in 1 Nephi 10, he prophesied that the future remnants of the house of Israel would be scattered and then defined how they would be gathered together again. They would do so by coming to the knowledge of their Lord and Redeemer (see 1 Nephi 10:14, emphasis added). When teaching about the house of Israel, many prophets taught similar principles as Lehi. Additionally, many prophets—including Nephi, Jacob, Alma, Samuel, Jesus Christ, Mormon, and Moroni—alluded to Lehi’s same phrase when they taught about the house of Israel during their own ministries. In the various sermons about the covenants of God with the house of Israel, several prophecies and principles were repeated. All of the major writers on the plates knew that the remnant of Israel would be scattered. They also taught that in the latter days, the gospel would go forth first to the Gentiles, who would in turn gather the scattered remnants of Israel. The instrument and tool by which they would be gathered would be the writings of the Nephite prophets – the Book of Mormon. Most important, the Gentiles and house of Israel would be gathered by coming to the knowledge of Jesus Christ as their Redeemer. The Book of Mormon prophets understood these teachings and engraved them on the plates to come forth to the world in the latter days. This thesis surveys the teachings of the prophets in the Book of Mormon about the gathering of the house of Israel. It also discusses the allusions and references to Lehi’s prophecy about how the Gentiles and house of Israel will be gathered – by coming to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, their Lord and their Redeemer.

Gender is a broad subject, which many people have differens opinions on, and many teachers find themselves discussing the topic with their pupils within the religious classroom education. The topic of gender is often brought up when discussing the religions: Islam and Christianity. Therefore, this study aims to discuss the view on gender in the Swedish religious education about Christianity and Islam through analyzing previous research material. Thereafter, this essay presents the various possibilities and obstacles found in the material, in addition to answer questions regarding how gender topics are included within religious education. To this end, three studies, as well as an anthology regaring religious didactics, are presented by analyzing the presented obstacles and possibilities that the material discusses. To put this in context, the essay provides a brief background of today's post-secular society's view on Christianity and Islam in relation to their views in gender as well as a representation of the Swedish curriculum concerning the same. The essay concludes by stating how gender ought to be included and made visible within the ordinary religious education to benefit the pupils the most. Therefore, gender should not be tought at a seperate subject, and the importance of teachers begin critical towards the existing teaching materials cannot be overstated. Wit this in mind, teachers should use the existing teaching materials by letting pupils examine their lack of inclusiveness, and to dic¡scuss their flaws.

This thesis examines non-confessional religious education and upper secondary school teachers' experiences in this context. The purpose of the study is to explore how five teachers in five different upper secondary schools in Sweden interpret and implement non-confessional principles in teaching religious studies in today's society. The research addresses the following questions: How do secondary school teachers interpret the policy document's speech on non-confessional teaching? How is teaching practice in the subject of religion affected based on a non-confessional approach? What challenges emerge in the assignment of being non-confessional in religious education? The study gathers data trough five interviews with upper secondary school teachers from various regions in Sweden and is based on qualitative method with semi-structured interviews. The result of the thesis has been analyzed using thematic analysis. A theory used in this thesis is intercultural religious didactics. This theory emphasizes the importance of cultural diversity and interactions between different religious traditions. The result, which is based on the study's research questions, shows that the informants largely share a common understanding of a non-confessional education that emphasizes neutrality and objectivity without promoting specific religious or secular positions. The impact on teaching practices is reflected in a more tolerant classroom environment that promotes understanding of different cultures and perspectives. Challenges identified show that different religions are understood in different depths and that it is sometimes difficult to balance students' different opinions which can lead to discussions and conflict if the teacher is not providing new perspectives on the students' opinions. In conclusion, a non-confessional approach in school's religious education allows all religions and worldviews to be treated equally. Despite challenges arising from diverse student backgrounds, success lies in reflecting on teaching impact and fostering an open and tolerant classroom environment.

The aim of this study is to examine the different types of challenges and struggles that religious students face in the Swedish school system, more specifically the different struggles that occur within the Swedish subject of religious studies. This will be done by analysing different types of opinion forming articles that expresses how religious students are excluded from the subject and the school environment. The questions that will lead this study and determine which direction of development it will take, are the following. 1.     What are the problems and challenges being expressed in each of the opinion forming articles? 2.     Do the different types of religious traditions problems and challenges that are more characteristic for their own specific situation? 3.     How can these problems and challenges that are identified within opinion forming articles, be depicted, and further understood through the Kittelmanns operationalization of secularity/secularism? When it comes to the opinion forming articles that will be examined, a demarcation has been made to articles that concerns the Abrahamitic religions, i.e., Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. These articles will be examined with a qualitative text analysis and more specifically, with the methods of qualitative text condensation and discourse analysis. Karin Kittelmann has in her thesis (2015) concluded that a secular discourse exists within the classroom for the subject of religion within the Swedish schools, and that the secular discourse perpetuates itself as a hegemonic position. This study will use Kittelmanns operationalization of secularity and secularism to analyse the articles to further understand how the classroom environment relates to a society that has been strongly described as secular. The conclusion this study makes is that a strong secularism is present within the classroom for the subject of religion in Sweden, but also that this presence is crucial for understanding the secularity of Sweden.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how eight newly arrived Afghan high school students experience Swedish non-confessional religious education. This will be in contrast to how they experienced their previous confessional religious education in Afghanistan. Furthermore, the purpose is also to draw attention to whether these eight students have encountered challenges and opportunities with the religious subject at the Swedish non-confessional school. This study will answer two research questions related to this topic. The first question is: 1) In what way/s does the Swedish religious education system differ from the religious system they received in Afghanistan? The second question is: 2) What challenges and opportunities do these students think the Swedish religious education has for them? To answer these two research questions, a qualitative method has been applied, and interviews in two focus groups have also been conducted. There were four Afghan high school students in each focus group, which is a total of eight Afghan high school students who participated in this study. A sociocultural perspective and the concept of interculturality have been used in this study to analyze the results that have been shown. These two theoretical concepts are the basis for this study where we can interpret, and understand the results brought up. The results have shown that there are differences between Sweden’s and Afghanistan’s religious education systems. The results have also shown that the Afghan students faced both challenges and opportunities with the Swedish religious education.

The aim of this study is to investigate where young people in Sweden encounter life questions in a country that is secularized and where many struggle with their mental health. The study also investigates what impact this encounter with life questions has to young peoples mental health. Lastly the study discusses what space this subject gets in the Swedish religious education. In order to answer the questions this study is about; interviews were held with six different students of high school education in Sweden. They were interviewed about where they encounter life questions and they also got questions about where they search for answers and explanations to their life questions. No student had a religious background, but they did in some instances believe there is something bigger in the world. Something that can give them purpose to what happens after death or give them some sort of deeper meaning to life to cope with their life questions that they do not find answers to. The interviewed students then got to reflect about how their search for answers affect their mental wellbeing in a time when many young people in Sweden struggle with their mental health. They also got to reflect about if schools could have taught them more about how to cope with difficult life questions and if they needed more time to work with these skills. The results showed that young people in Sweden are affected by their search for answers to their life questions. It seems that few has gotten the skills they need to cope with life questions that has no clear answers and that seems also to be a reason to young peoples struggle with their mental health in Sweden.

This essay aims at examine the existing research on textbook analysis of Islamic studies in Swedish religious education (Religionskunskap) and the consequences this may have on education about Islam. The research questions this essay intends to answer are; How is Islam presented in different teaching materials according to previous research?, How are women in Islam portrayed in teaching materials according to previous research? and, What are the consequences of this portrayal of Islam according to previous research?. Through various similar essays and research databases, such as Libsearch, ProQuest and EBSCOhost, we found analyses of textbooks and teaching material and other research that elaborate on the research questions in this essay. Swedish school authorities have through investigations and reports found that teaching about Islam reproduces stereotypes. The supplementary research presented in this essay reach the same conclusions. This finding is a result of i.a. the Lutheran tradition in the Swedish school system, the Western context in which Islam is seen from an orientalist’s perspective and the Western media's coverage of Muslim countries' conflicts, all of which influence the Swedish education about Islam. In conclusion, the textbook analysis shows that the information on Islam in Swedish education is either wrong, angled, lack information or describe Islam as a religion with an agency. This causes an undesirable reproduction of stereotypes of Islam. Instead of counteracting stereotypes in the curriculum of the Swedish religious education, this essay shows that the outcome is rather the opposite.

I denna kunskapsöversikt problematiseras förståelsen för icke-konfessionell undervisning, så som den definieras och ser ut i den svenska skolan. I syftet att främja en likvärdig skola ska arbetet besvara följande frågeställningar: “Hur uttrycks idén om det sekulära Sverige i läroplanerna Lpo94, Lgr11, Lgr22?” och “Hur stämmer idén om det sekulära Sverige överens med skolverksamheten?”. Kunskapsöversikt består av sex stycken artiklar och en doktersavhandling som vi sammanställer för att besvara arbetets frågeställningar. Materialet är hämtat från EBSCO databaser och SwePub, samt annat material från kursmaterial. Med hjälp av religionsvetaren Ninian Smarts definition av religion utifrån sju dimensioner och utifrån forskning om kristna högtider och kristna fenomen i verksamhetsutövandet i skolan, nyanseras dikotomin om konfessionell och icke-konfessionell undervisning. Forskningen utgår främst från verksamheten i förskolor. Utifrån Nordin och Sunbergs läroplansteoretiska begreppsapparat, som utgår från DI (discursive institutionalism), nyanseras den Svenska skolans sekularisering. I vår diskussionsdel behandlas begreppen kulturarv och banal religion & nationalism samt görs en koppling till läraruppdraget. Med utgångspunkt i relevant forskning drar vi slutsatsen att skolan har en stark koppling till den evangelisk-lutherska tron genom en viss förståelse för begreppet konfessionell och därför också vad som är sekulärt.

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