| 1. |
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| 2. |
- Björck, Gustaf, 1956-
(författare)
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Förändring av Missionssynen? : Perspektiv på Svenska kyrkans mission 1945–2000 speglad av ledning och missionärer
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A change in missiology?: Perspectives on the theology of the Church of Sweden Mission 1945-2000, as reflected through leadership and by missionaries. Like orhermissionary organisations, the Church of Sweden Mission (CSM) has undegone farreaching change and development since its foundation in yhe nineteenth century, This study focuses on how missionaries and CSM's leadership have perceived the developments that have taken place. A survey was constructed and sent to all living missionaries during 2004-2005. Then six focus-group discussions were organised and various appeals for financial collections in local churches during the period 1945-1999 have been scrutinised. The methods employed are based on qualitative analysis (focus-groups), quantitative analysis (survey) and text analysis. A pilot survey, sent to a limited number of persons, was carried out in 2001 and provided guidance for the foumulation of questions both for the survey and for the focus-groups. Chapter 2 give Swedish historical perspectives on mission and missiology from the first beginning of interest in foreign mission around the year 1800 til 2000. Chapter 3 gives international perspectives on missiology after 1945 focusing two major international handbooks on missiology and a Norwegian handbook. Chapter 4: Survey to all missionaries 2004-2005. The answers to the survey showed a clear tendency in the shift of motivation from mission to dialogue and from evangelisation to diaconal and humanitarian goals. 38 per cent say that they have changed their own missiology. Chapter 5: Focus group discussions in 2005. The majority of the participants in the six different focus-group discussions stated that the CSM had gone through major changes both theologically and practically, during the period under study. Chapter 6: Appeals for collections 1945-1999. The analysis shows that evangelisation remained the overall motive that was given for the whole period. On one hand there was a widespread continuity over the whole period, and on the oter hand a certain change in diaconal motives from the 1970s onwards, which were more often presented side by side with evangelisation. All three studies point to a change from conservative theology, to first to liberal theology and then on to radical theology. The change being less clear in the collection appeals than in the survey and the focus-group discussions.
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| 3. |
- Carmesund, Ulf, 1963-
(författare)
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Refugees or Returnees : European Jews, Palestinian Arabs and the Swedish Theological Institute in Jerusalem around 1948
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this study five individuals who worked in Svenska Israelsmissionen and at the Swedish Theological Institute in Jerusalem are focused. These are Greta Andrén, deaconess in Svenska Israelsmissionen from 1934 and matron at the Swedish Theological Institute from 1946 to 1971, Birger Pernow, director of Svenska Israelsmissionen from 1930 to 1961, Harald Sahlin director of the Swedish Theological Institute in 1947, Hans Kosmala director of the Swedish Theological Institute from 1951 to 1971, and finally H.S. Nyberg, Chair of the Swedish board of the Swedish Theological Institute from 1955 to 1974. The study uses theoretical perspectives from Hannah Arendt, Mahmood Mamdani and Rudolf Bultmann.A common idea among Lutheran Christians in the first half of 20th century Sweden implied that Jews who left Europe for Palestine or Israel were not just seen as refugees or colonialists - but viewed as returnees, to thePromised Land. The idea of peoples’ origins, and original home, is traced in European race thinking. This study is discussing how many of the studied individuals combined superstitious interpretations of history with apocalyptic interpretations of the Bible and a Romantic national ideal. Svenska Israelsmissionen and the Swedish Theological Institute participated in Svenska Israelhjälpen in 1952, which resulted in 75 Swedish houses sent to the State of Israel. These houses were built on land where until July 1948 the Palestinian Arab village Qastina was located.The Jewish state was supported, but, the establishment of an Arab State in Palestine according to the UN decision of Nov 1947 was not essential for these Lutheran Christians in Sweden. The analysis involves an effort to translate the religious language of the studied objects into a secular language.
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| 4. |
- Egeland, Erik, 1974-
(författare)
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Christianity, Generation and Narrative : Religious Conversion and Change in Sidama, Ethiopia, 1974–2012
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This study presents narratives concerning religious conversion and change in Evangelical-Pentecostal Christian communities in the Sidama zone, Southern Ethiopia. The study is based on narrative data collected through field research, which mainly focuses on the period 1974–2012. This data is supplemented with previous research and unpublished sources.The study discusses how narratives about religious conversion and change intersect with transformations in Ethiopian society during the period. It describes and analyses narratives in order to show that individual narratives are part of collective stories. These stories become formative for common experiences and provide a distinct group identity as part of a social generation.The Ethiopian revolution in 1974 was a major turning point. The encounter with the revolutionary state resulted in narratives about challenges and persecution. On the other hand, this situation became the setting for mobility and connections, and created a communal identity between Christians.The stories about the period after the revolution in 1974 are conveyed in the present. After 1991, political transitions in Ethiopia created a new turning point which influenced narratives about religious conversion and change. The Christian communities experienced religious freedom and revitalisation, leading to growth and expansion. But the religious changes also led to competition and differences in and between Evangelical-Pentecostal communities. The changes created negotiation internally in Christian communities about denominational identities and about religious innovations. This setting intersected with an increase of new members who belonged to a younger emerging generation. This sets the study on the boundaries between generations, and where new narratives are renegotiated in the context of social change.The thesis consists of three parts; the first gives the reader an introduction to the research context of the study, a brief historical background and a discussion of methodology. The second part focuses on the period after the Ethiopian revolution in 1974. The last part discusses religious change in the Christian communities after the political transition in 1991, and into present.
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| 5. |
- Egnell, Helene, 1957-
(författare)
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Other Voices : A Study of Christian Feminist Approaches to Religious Plurality East and West
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation explores the contribution of feminist theology and feminist dialogue praxis to interfaith dialogue and theology of religions. Feminist dialogue praxis is studied through interviews and documentation from women’s interfaith projects; and feminist approaches to religious plurality through the works of a number of Christian feminist theologians, with special attention to Asian theologians, who in their theologizing consciously make use of their multireligious context.Just as feminist theology is a critical and a constructive project, so are feminist approaches to religious plurality. Women meet in interfaith dialogue in the shared experience of being marginalized in their respective religious traditions. But they also meet in a shared commitment to reshaping those traditions. There is a “common we” which is a starting point for dialogue.The dissertation argues that this “common we” is created through a methodology inspired by the women’s movement, where a central feature is creating a “safe space” for telling life stories and building relations. This safe space enables conflicts to be handled in a constructive manner, and differences to be respected.Marginalization, otherness, difference, relation and change, are themes that occur in feminist theological works on religious plurality. How to meet and understand “the other” is the crucial question in interfaith dialogue. Feminist theology starts in the experience of being “the other”, which gives a different approach to the question. The feminist discourse on difference can also provide an opening where religious difference is seen not as a problem but as a possibility.Interfaith dialogue among women is a discourse on the margins, and makes conscious use of its marginality. The margins offer a different perspective compared with the centre. The dissertation discusses whether this stance reifies women’s marginality in interfaith dialogue, or has the potential to bring about a shift, where the margins become the centre.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
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Gender, Race and Religion : Nordic Missions 1860-1940
- 2003
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Samlingsverk (redaktörskap) (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The Protestant missionary movement of the nineteenth century engaged women on a large scale in North America and in Europe, including the Nordic countries. It enjoyed an unparalleled success among married as well as unmarried women. Women played a central role both at home, as fund-raisers and as active agents in "heathen" countries. An important part of the transformative power of the missionary "project" was its sanctioning of transgressive behaviour as religions exceptions to gender rules. It was the pious woman's "duty" to overcome her "natural diffidence" in order that she might better serve the mission. It has been claimed that Nordic women missionaries through their work both at home and out in the field were not only liberating themselves from the constraints of the private sphere, but that they also contributed to the liberation of women in general by changing cultural premises. This anthology seeks to explore central aspects of this process based on empirical studies in relation to gender and the Protestant missionary movement in Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway.
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| 9. |
- Grenstedt, Staffan
(författare)
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Ambaricho and Shonkolla. From Local Independent Church to the Evangelical Mainstream in Ethiopia. The Origins of the Mekane Yesus Church in Kambata Hadiya.
- 2000
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis is a contribution to the scholarly debate on how African Independent Churches (AICs) relate to outside partners. It is a case study from the perspective of the periphery of Ethiopia, which explains the origins of the Mekane Yesus Church in Kambata Hadiya The diachronic structure of the study with a focus from 1944 to 1975 highlights how a group of Christians reacted to cultural pressure and formed a local independent church, the Kambata Evangelical Church 2 (KEC-2). The KEC-2 established relations with external partners, like a neighbouring mainstream conference of churches, a neighbouring mainstream church, an international organisation, and a mainstream overseas church and its mission. These relations influenced the KEC-2 to develop into a synod of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY). The diachronic approach is augmented by synchronic structural analyses, illustrating how aspects in the independent KEC-2, like polity, worship, doctrine and ethos were changing. The study contends that "Ethiopian Evangelical Solidarity" was a crucial factor in the development of the independent KEC-2 into a synod of the EECMY. As this factor helped the Ethiopians to transcend barriers of ethnicity, social status and denominationalism, it is not unreasonable to assume that the study has relevance for a wider African context. This thesis builds on material taken mainly from unpublished printed sources in various languages from archives in Ethiopia, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA. These are supplemented by interviews made by the author.
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| 10. |
- Gunner, Gunilla, 1953-
(författare)
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Nelly Hall: uppburen och ifrågasatt : Predikant och missionär i Europa och USA 1882-1901
- 2003
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In 19th century Sweden women preached in the popular revival movements as they did in the other Nordic countries, in Great Britain and the United States. One of the most famous preachers in Sweden was Nelly Hall (1848–1916). Internal and external evidence of her public life is the main focus of the study, and in this way it seeks to uncover the origin of her inspiration and to specify her connection to the spiritual movements of the time, at the same time that it analyses the reception and the debate of women as preachers in the period when she was active.Nelly Hall studied at the Royal School for Women’s Higher Teacher Education and worked as a teacher for ten years before she decided to enter into the ministry of preaching. She was influenced by the Anglo-American Holiness movement and had close contacts with the Salvation Army in London. From 1883 she travelled in the southern parts of Sweden. Thousands of people listened to her and as part of her ministry she practised faith healing. She went on preaching tours to Finland, Norway, Germany and the United States. When the Swedish Holiness Mission started as a small mission society in 1887 it was to some extent a result of the preaching work carried out by Nelly Hall. She was elected a member of the first board and worked as a mission secretary for ten years. Around 1900 there was a shift in her theological thinking and she became more absorbed by apocalyptic ideas. In 1901 she went for the second time to the United States and lived there until 1916 when she died in Brockton, Massachusetts. Little is known about the last fifteenth years of her life.The ministry of Nelly Hall and other women raised considerable public interest and in the Swedish context her time of ministry coincided with the emerging movement for the emancipation of women. Many were against women preaching in public and the discussions often occurred in the press. Parts of these discussions as well as several pamphlets in favour of women’s preaching are analysed in this study.
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| 11. |
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| 12. |
- Habib Zeiler, Johannes, 1976-
(författare)
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Crafting Lutheran Pastors in Tanzania : Perceptions of Theological Education and Formation in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The quest for theological education is embedded in the history of the churches in sub-Saharan Africa and is, at the same time, inherently linked to how the churches continue to evolve and shift in character over time. It relates to the self-understanding of the churches and their role in society, including their academic and pastoral obligations to adequately educate and train leaders to work in the localities. With its estimated 6.5 million members, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT) is today one of the largest Lutheran churches in the world. The role and impact of institutions for theological education are high on the agenda in the ELCT, not least as the various educational institutions for ministerial training are often seen as important means in the processes of theologising and strategising for the future.This qualitative study draws heavily upon interviews with Lutheran bishops and theological educators in Tanzania, and identifies leading motives and ideas behind their current engagements in the field of ministerial studies. More specifically, it shows how the informants reflect upon, argue about and negotiate their perceptions of higher theological education. It demonstrates by what means, techniques, and practices they claim to govern, guide, and form the students in theology. Formal ministerial studies are not carried out in a vacuum but in and through certain institutions, appropriately designed to serve their purposes. In order to gain academic accreditation, institutional and theological recognition, and to oversee the processes of quality assurance, the ELCT cultivates its links with relevant actors and institutions in Tanzanian society. Even the global networks and connections, such as other churches and missionary organisations abroad, play a significant role in this regard.Drawing inspiration from governmentality studies and the notion of governmentality, this study focuses on ‘how’ questions; it examines how the interviewees think about governing, and how they calculate, strategise, or respond to certain problems linked to the multiple forms and models of theological training. As such, the study focuses on how government operates, and examines what claims, hopes, and visions the informants have in mind when educating a new generation of clergy in a rapidly changing society.
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| 13. |
- Hallencreutz, Carl F., 1934-
(författare)
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Yngve Brilioth : Svensk medeltidsforskare och internationell kyrkoledare / utgiven av Katharina Hallencreutz
- 2002
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Bok (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Yngve Brilioth: Svensk medeltidsforskare och internationell kyrkoledare.Som docent i Uppsala, professor i Åbo och Lund och även som biskop i Växjö ägnade sig Yngve Brilioth med stor kraft åt forskning och var djupt respekterad för sin lärdom. Denna forskarbiografi av framlidne Carl F. Hallencreutz tar fasta på värdet av Brilioths vetenskapliga arbeten om framförallt svensk medeltid och dess kyrkliga liv. Brilioths forskning sträckte sig även till lutherdomen i Sverige, Svenska kyrkans gudstjänstliv, predikan och nattvard. Forskningen om den anglikanska kyrkan, den liturgiska förnyelsen och Oxfordrörelsen ledde till hans engelskorientering och förde honom i nära kontakt med engelsk kultur och politik.Yngve Brilioth bidrog effektivt till den ekumeniska rörelsens framväxt och konsolidering från Stockholmsmötet 1925 till Kyrkornas Världsråd i Amsterdam 1948 och mötet i Evanston 1954, då som ärkebiskop. Under 1930- och 40-talet var han en av de starkaste krafterna vid Erling Eidems sida i Svenska kyrkans högsta ledning som en del av en ekumenisk frontställning mot nazismen och ett stöd åt Bekännelsekyrkan i hennes kamp.Carl F. Hallencreutz (1934-2001) var professor i missionsvetenskap vid Uppsala universitet 1976-1997 och utgivare av Studia Missionalia Upsaliensia XXVIII-LXIX.
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| 14. |
- Henriksson, Lennart, et al.
(författare)
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A Journey with a Status Confessionis. Analysis of an apartheid related conflict between the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, 1982-1998
- 2010
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Ingår i: Swedish Missiological Themes. - Uppsala : Swedish Institute of Missionary Research. - 0346-217X. ; 98:1, s. 127-129
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation deals with the conflict between the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) - the worldwide Reformed movement - and the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (DRC) regarding the latter's support for and theological legitimizing of apartheid. One of the strongest measures possible was taken when the issue in 1982 was declared a Status Confessionis and the Dutch Reformed Church was suspended from the fellowship. To declare a Status Confessionis is to declare it an issue on which it is not possible to differ without seriously jeopardizing the integrity of the common confession as Reformed Churches. When the DRC in 1998 is said to have fulfilled the three conditions raised in 1982 they are welcomed back into the fellowship again. Between these years a vibrant, sometimes fierce, debate was ongoing involving not only the DRC and the WARC, but the so-called DRC mission churches, (i.e. the non-white churches emanating from the DRC), the ecumenical movement on national and international level, and many more. The conflict took place within the social, political and ecclesial setting of a rapidly changing South Africa. Although not a dissertation about apartheid, it - as a result of its all-encompassing influence on everything in South Africa - is an important underlying factor. To be able to handle these broad perspectives I have used Edwards W. Said's contrapuntal thinking. The main part of the dissertation is five chapters dealing with the conflict from five different angles - each of which adds new insights to the basic questions. I pose two sets of questions. One is dealing with the three requirements the WARC demanded the DRC to fulfil; what they really meant, whether they were fulfilled and about why the WARC despite much hesitation accepted the DRC back. The other is centred on a reflection on to what extent the DRC'S apartheid policy and its relation to its so-called daughter churches could be understood as a consequence of its mission policy. For reflection on the last question I make use of David Bosch's thinking around the emerging ecumenical missionary paradigm. Among the five chapters there are two - about the WARC and the Status Confessionis issue, and the question concerning whether the DRC really is changing – that stands out as being especially central. Still, in January 2010, the unity between the DRC and the former non-white churches, aimed at by way of the measures taken by the WARC, has not been reached. The symbolic saying 'the ball is now between the goalposts' can be questioned.
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| 15. |
- Holmefur, Niklas, 1964-
(författare)
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Den osynliga religionen : Analys av policy för svensk utvecklingspolitik 2010–2014
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Sweden boasts a rich history of cooperating with civil organisations in advancing international development cooperation with high rates of support from its citizens. Religious institutions are an active component of this government-civil society cooperation. In fact, the early beginnings of Sweden’s development work were closely intertwined with Christian mission enterprises, especially in the areas of education and health ministries. This background circumstance has led to an increasing unease about the interface between the secular exercise of public authority and religious groups’ vested interests. This dissertation aims to explore Swedish development cooperation policies for the presence of religion and for the evaluation of religion’s impact. It is theoretically placed within the sociological shift that emphasizes the visibility of religion, rather than secularising of religion. The dissertation analyses nine government development cooperation policies plus additional documents that further explore policy issues. While using quantitative and qualitative content analysis, the study searches for explicit references to: 1) religious agency, 2) religious identity, 3) religious rights as part of human rights, and 4) religious ideas. The results indicate that religion, in the four analysed categories, tends to be poorly represented, non-existent or anonymous under the generic term ‘civil society’. Evaluation of religion’s impact varies according to policy area, with the overall conclusion that Swedish development cooperation has an ambivalent relationship with religion. The dissertation further analyses the specific policy areas of civil society, economic growth, and sexual and reproductive health and rights. It finds higher sensitivity to religious components in parts. It compares results with those of other studies that have focused on religion in the selected areas. The dissertation concludes that Swedish development cooperation needs to develop a higher sensitivity to the religious aspects of development work. This will mean that the ‘secular’ and the ‘religious’ in development cooperation need further clarification from the theoretical premise of the new visibility of religion.
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| 16. |
- Janzon, Göran, 1945-
(författare)
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"Den andra omvändelsen" : Från svensk mission till afrikanska samfund på Örebromissionens arbetsfält i Centralafrika 1914-1962
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The Örebro Mission was founded by John Ongman in 1891. Missionary work in Central Africa began through Ongman’s local church in 1914, at first within other mission societies, but was later continued by the Örebro Mission. From 1921 the Örebro Mission developed its own work in Middle Congo and Oubangui-Chari within French Equatorial Africa. The aim of this thesis is to study how the process of change took place, starting with pioneering work undertaken by Swedish missionaries and resulting in the founding of independent Baptist churches. The analysis is based on the classic three-self policy, aiming at self-governing, self-supporting and self-extending indigenous churches. Using the principal-agent perspective in history writing, the role and significance of a number of key persons are focused. The interaction between the internal process and the cultural, political and ecumenical contexts is taken into consideration. The thesis shows that the three-self formula was used from the beginning as a theoretical goal, but also that its realization was seen in a very long time perspective. Several steps were gradually taken in that direction, but the study shows that contextual factors became as important incitements for the change as the missionaries’ own theologically based motives. It rather took “a second conversion” from a colonial mental framework to speed up the process in its final phase towards the creation of African denominations and the integration into them in 1962 of the Swedish mission structure and work.
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| 17. |
- Kristenson, Olle, 1953-
(författare)
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Pastor in the Shadow of Violence : Gustavo Gutiérrez as a Public Pastoral Theologian in Peru in the 1980s and 1990s
- 2009
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation is a study of the role of Gustavo Gutiérrez as a public pastor in the 1980s and 1990s in Peru. His collaboration with the Lima newspaper La República from the early 1980s gave him a figurative pulpit from which he addressed the Peruvian public on specific occasions. The fundamental question in the dissertation is: How did Gutiérrez respond as pastor to the Peruvian public and how did he express his pastoral concern? The study analyses materials that has not been object for previous studies, such as theological essays and articles in newspapers and periodicals. With inspiration from discourse analysis four discourses have been identified in Gutiérrez’ texts. These discourses interact and through this interaction Gutiérrez formulates his pastoral message. For the socio-political analysis two political discourses are used, the radical and the liberal. The radical political discourse deals with justice for the poor and liberation from oppression as a condition for peace and harmony in society, which are in focus for the liberal political discourse. With the Catholic theological discourse Gutiérrez sets the socio-political analysis in relation to Catholic doctrine and through the pastoral theological discourse he gives reason for hope and inspiration to action. As an advocate for a theology of life, Gutiérrez urges those who read and listen to him to break the pattern of death and opt for this theology of life. In his role as pastor, Gutiérrez speaks words of comfort and encouragement but also words of admonition and warning to those in power who have the capacity to transform society.
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| 18. |
- Kuhlin, Julia
(författare)
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Lived Pentecostalism in India : Middle Class Women and Their Everyday Religion
- 2022
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In recent decades, the Pentecostal movement in India has not only grown significantly, it has also become increasingly diverse. While the majority of the movement’s adherents still belong to marginalized groups in Indian society, middle-class Pentecostals are growing in number and changing the dynamics and identity of the movement. This dissertation explores middle-class Pentecostal Christianity as a lived religion in India. More precisely, the aim is to better understand how female members of middle-class Pentecostal churches express and experience their religion in the context of their everyday lives. In addition, it examines what it might mean to be a Pentecostal and middle class in contemporary India. The analysis suggests that, for the participants, it was a relational project to live as a Pentecostal. The women were engaged in a common effort together with God to realize shared goals connected to their religious lives, such as, working on the self and living according to God’s plan. While largely dismissing rigid and ritualistic religious behavior codes, the women were nonetheless in agreement on the importance of living a Christ-like life. However, in contrast to many other Indian Pentecostal contexts, this moral imperative did not involve withdrawal from “the world”. Rather, it was closely related to their emotional lives in that they strived to resemble Christ by being loving, humble, and grateful. The study also draws attention to how the women’s religion, to a significant extent, revolved around handling worries and concerns. Despite being in a privileged economic position that provided the women with a relatively comfortable standard of living, they experienced their everyday lives as unstable and insecure. The analysis shows how their religion was a resource that empowered and aided them in tackling these uncertainties while at the same time brought on a sense of vulnerability. The study is based on six months of fieldwork in the North Indian city of Gurugram. The participants were members of the two middle-class churches, Loving Assemblies of God and Church of All Nations. During the fieldwork, a combination of methods was used, namely, participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and diaries.
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| 19. |
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| 20. |
- Li, Jieren
(författare)
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In Search of the Via Media between Christ and Marx: A Study of Bishop Ding Guangxun's Contextual Theology
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation is the first academic treatment and systematic analysis on the theology of Bishop Ding Guangxun (K.H. Ding) who is an internationally- renowned Christian leader of the Chinese Protestant Church in contemporary China. It seeks to explore the development of Bishop Ding’s contextual theology with special emphasis on his political theology of accommodation and cultural indigenization. The author has argued that Ding’s theology should be interpreted not only from the explicit elements in China’s sociopolitical context of state-church relationships. His theology should also be viewed from the implicit element of his theological tradition of Anglicanism as well as his cultural heritage of Confucianism. This thesis argues that from his youth until the present, Bishop Ding has been consistently committed to a constructive accommodation between Christianity and socialism/communism. It demonstrates that the primary context of his ministry and doing theology has been in a totalitarian Communist state, where he struggled to secure the survival and advance the participation of the church in cooperation with the CCP-led modernizing process. It has determined that Ding’s contextual theology is a theology of accommodation that seeks to harmonize Christian social and ethical teaching with the ideals of Communist ideology. Finally, the author demonstrates that Ding’s theology exemplifies the principle of the middle way that corresponds with both the Anglican notion of via media and the Confucian doctrine of the Mean. In conclusion, the author defines Ding’s contextual approach as a hierarchical theology with a priestly voice which seeks doing theology from “above.” His model of contextualization reconciles two approaches to contextual theology: sociopolitical accommodation and cultural indigenization. Although Ding’s theology makes a unique contribution to our understanding of contextual theology as a global phenomenon, it also questions whether his model of contextualization will have continuing validity and survive as ecclesia Sinica in globalized postmodern China.
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| 21. |
- Loder-Neuhold, Rebecca
(författare)
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Crocodiles, Masks and Madonnas : Catholic Mission Museums in German-Speaking Europe
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation examines mission museums established by Catholic mission congregations in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland from the 1890s onwards. The aim is to provide the first extensive study on these museums in a way that contributes to current blind spots in mission history, and the history of anthropology and museology. In this study I use Angela Jannelli’s concept of small-scale and amateurish museums to create a framework in order to characterise the museums. The dissertation focuses on the missionaries and their global networks, their “collecting” in the mission fields overseas, and the “collected” objects, by looking at primary sources from mission congregations’ archives. In the middle section of the dissertation the findings of an analysis of the compiled list of thirty-one mission museums are presented. This presentation focuses on their characteristics (for example, the museum surroundings, the opening and closing dates, the role of the curators, and type of objects). From this list of thirty-one museums three case studies were selected for in-depth analysis: (1) three “Africa museums” of the Missionary Sisters of St. Peter Claver (SSPC) in Salzburg, Maria Sorg and Zug, (2) an ethnographically oriented mission museum of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) in the mission house St. Gabriel near Vienna, and (3) a mission museum of the Sacred Heart Missionaries (MSC) in Hiltrup-Münster. This study reveals the reasons for opening mission museums by presenting a list of ten intentions. Then I propose a conclusive definition of a European Catholic mission museum. Finally, short descriptions (“portraits”) in the appendix present and analyse all thirty-one mission museums. In presenting the broad diversity of these museums, the thesis contributes to the understanding of missionary congregations’ development in the late 19th and 20th century and their impact on the material and immaterial exchange between German-speaking Catholic Europe and overseas.
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| 22. |
- Lundberg, Magnus
(författare)
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Unification and Conflict. The Church Politics of Alonso de Montúfar OP, Archbishop of Mexico, 1554-1572.
- 2002
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation focuses on Archbishop Alonso de Montúfar OP (ca. 1489-1572). It seeks to explore two decades of sixteenth century Mexican Church History mainly through the study of documents found in Spanish and Mexican archives. Born outside Granada in Southern Spain, just after the conquest from the Muslims, Alonso de Montúfar assumed teaching and leading positions within the Dominican order. After more than forty years as a friar, Montúfar was elected archbishop of Mexico and resided there from 1554 until his death eighteen years later. From the 1520s onwards, many missionaries went from Spain to Mexico in order to christianise the native inhabitants and to administer the church’s sacraments to them. Many of the missionaries were members of three mendicant orders: the Franciscans, the Dominicans, and the Augustinians. Alonso de Montúfar’s time as archbishop can be seen as a period of transition and a time that was filled with disputes on how the church in Mexico should be organised in the future. Montúfar wanted to strengthen the role of the bishops in the church organisation. He also wanted to improve the finances of the diocesan church and promote a large number of secular clerics to work in the Indian ministry. All this meant that he became involved in prolonged and very animated disputes with the friars, the members of the cathedral chapter, and the viceroy of Mexico. One chapter of this dissertation is devoted to a detailed study of Archbishop Montúfar’s role in the early cult of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Tepeyac, which today has become of the most important Marian devotions in the world.
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| 23. |
- Lundkvist, Sven, 1927-
(författare)
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Tron och gärningarna : Svenska missionsförbundets bakgrund och utveckling till omkring 1970
- 2003
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Bok (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Svenska missionsförbundet är ett barn av 1700- och 1800-talens väckelserörelser. Det växte fram i ett samhälle som karakteriserades av förändring och uppbrott. Först efterhand skulle det finna sin nutida form. Vägen dit var inte utstakad och självklar. Väckelsens innehåll och utformning blev utgångspunkten för vad som skulle ske. Utvecklingen ägde rum i ett samspel mellan karismatiska ledare, med ibland skiljaktiga uppfattningar, och människomassor som anslöt sig dit där de fann mening med och innehåll i sina liv. Framställningen i det följande utgår från denna utveckling. Men denna utveckling påverkades starkt av väckelsens nedslag hos andra grupper och organisationer och av vad som skedde runt om i det övriga samhället.Vad var då väckelsen? Hur såg dess innehåll och former ut? Vilka händelser och utvecklingsdrag skulle påverka? Fick tron och dess innehåll konsekvenser för gärningarna, och i så fall hur, för den frikyrka som växte fram med stark kraft? Hur kommer Svenska missionsförbundet alltifrån sin tillkomst 1878 och dess ledare in i den bilden? Hur såg det ut på det lokala planet i dess samspel med vad som hände inom det ledande överskiktet? Vilka organisatoriska följder fick tron? Hur utvecklades Missionsförbundet sedan fram till sin nya konstitution 1964, som på ett sätt utgör en naturlig slutpunkt for en undersökning. Frågorna speglar en komplicerad men också fascinerande utveckling under de hundra åren mellan 1870 och 1970. Tron och gärningarna bör kopplas samman och kunna ge en möjlig tolkningsram för vad som skedde.
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| 24. |
- Lundström, Klas, 1952-
(författare)
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Gospel and Culture in the World Council of Churches and the Lausanne Movement with Particular Focus on the Period 1973-1996
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation is an investigation of the discussion on gospel and culture in the World Council of Churches and the Lausanne movement with particular attention to the period 1973-1996. In order to understand the discussion, eight analytic questions were used: (1) Why did gospel and culture become an important issue? (2) How were the term “gospel” and (3) the term “culture” understood? What was the understanding of: (4) the interaction between gospel and culture, (5) historical gospel transposition processes, (6) cultural identity, (7) the role and approaches of missionaries, and (8) the perceived limits to syncretism? The study argues that the debate appeared as a result of decolonization and an assertion of cultural selfhood of churches in the South. Both the WCC and the Lausanne movement adjusted constructively to this new situation and developed new approaches to cultural pluralism. The “gospel” was gradually extended in both movements to include social and ecological aspects. The full equality of all cultures was emphasised, and there was an understanding that cultures are ambiguous, containing both good and destructive elements. There were also differences between the movements. Two examples are: (1) The WCC focused on evaluating historical transposition processes and issues of cultural identity, while the Lausanne movement developed strategies for “unreached peoples”; (2) The WCC stressed the approach “Christian presence” and “social activism”, while the Lausanne movement stressed church planting and cultural identification of missionaries.
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| 25. |
- Makkonen, Oulia Adzhoa Sika, 1986-
(författare)
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They Will Call Me the Black God : Imaging Christianity and the Bible in African Film
- 2022
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis explores the ways in which African filmmakers have historically addressed Christianity and the Bible on the continent. It begins with the premise that on the African continent, marked political films (Mazierska) are embedded in transnational dynamics involving movements of economic and symbolic capital, ideas, discourses and multiple publics. Within these movements, questions of identity, and questions, of the cultural, political or religious are explored in conversation and encounter with Others. With this premise in mind, I ask how the films address Christianity and interpret the Bible; how they frame the religious in relation specific historical, cultural and political contexts; and what are the potential implications of the transnational dynamics and circulation of films. Although much research has focused on the representation of religions in African video and screen media especially in the 2000s, surprisingly little has been dedicated to earlier cinematic expressions and political cinema. To contribute to the history of the cinematic treatment of religion on the continent, four fictional films were chosen as case-studies: La Chapelle, (The Chapel, dir. Jean-Michel Tchissoukou, 1980, Republic of Congo), Au Nom du Christ (In the Name of Christ, dir. Roger Gnoan M’Bala, 1993, Côte d’Ivoire), La Génèse (Genesis, dir. Cheick Oumar Sissoko, 1999, Mali) and Son of Man (dir. Mark Dornford-May, 2006, South-Africa). The analyses reveal that filmmakers have portrayed and interpreted the presence of Christianity and the Bible in relation to legacies of colonialism and decolonisation. Their attitudes narrate the presence of Christianity and the Bible in terms of resistance, suspicion, negotiation, and appropriation. In doing so they oscillate between distancing from and rapprochement with developments in African Christianity and theology. The films’ narratives and aesthetics reflect tensions around the creation of discourses of African authenticity, but also around religious modernity. The political framing roots the contextualisation of biblical narratives in social and historical analyses that strive to provide responses to local instances of oppressions as well as a platform for a more universalist reading addressed to global publics. Finally, the films contribute to the construction of African religious realities and imageries and to the broader image of Africa.
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| 26. |
- Moen, Sveinung
(författare)
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The Mongwande Snake Cult
- 2005
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Bok (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Moen's work is one in a succession of recent studies of African traditions of knowledge, facing today's process of modernisation. The Mongwande snake cult is an example of how such traditions have survived intense influence from the modern schools and Christian mission. In the problematic situation of today it seems that these traditions are going through a revitalisation. The snake cult of the Mongwande is not a vanishing tradition, everything indicates that it has preserved its vitality and is continuing to be an important part of their belief, along with new Christian ideas and practises. Sveinung J. Moen's Monograph is a valuable contribution to the ethnography of the Congo.Axel Sommerfelt, Professor Emeritus, University of OsloWhen Sveinung J. Moen looked for the core of African culture among the Mongwande people in the northern Congo (Kinshasa) he scientifically made an interesting choice. The snake cult became the starting point of a broad analysis of society. The local Christian Church was confronted with the demands of customary rights. A pastor wanted to swear by the Bible, when he declared himself innocent of adultery. But he was forced to touch the snake skin lightly with his fingers. An exceptionally beautiful example of cultural encounter.Sigbert Axelson, Ph.D, Uppsala UniversityThis work gives a remarkable mission perspective on a deeply interesting local cult and makes an excellent and rational interpretation of the snake cult phenomenon with deep respect for the culture harbouring these expressions of faith.Aasulv Lande, Professor, University of Lund
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| 27. |
- Nyberg Oskarsson, Gunilla, 1948-
(författare)
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Le mouvement pentecôtiste - une communauté alternative au sud du Burundi 1935-1960
- 2004
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis is a contribution to a hitherto neglected area of research: The African Pentecostal Churches, that do not belong to those called African Indigenous Churches (AICs). It is a case study from the perspective of southern Burundi, the periphery of the ancient kingdom.The Pentecostal Movement in Burundi was born in the encounter between Swedish Pentecostal missionaries and the population in the southern part of the country. This study highlights what happened in that encounter.The thesis consists of six parts. The first is a survey of the Pentecostal Movement in Sweden. The diachronic structure of parts two to five focuses on the development within the Burundian Pentecostal Churches and their relationship to the Burundian society 1935-1960. In the sixth part the diachronic approach is augmented by structural analyses, showing how aspects in the Pentecostal Movement developed.The Pentecostal missionaries accepted in part the traditional world view, the belief in a spiritual world and non-rational explanations to misfortunes in life. They encouraged the Burundians to do spiritual experiences, and especially the baptism in the Holy Ghost. The Burundian evangelists and church elders played a decisive role. It was their task to reformulate the Pentecostal message in Kirundi, which was not spoken by the missionaries. They moulded the message into a Burundian Pentecostal message, at the same time respecting the teaching of the early missionaries.They succeeded in doing that so well that the Pentecostal Movement became a popular movement, in certain places the dominating Christian denomination, in spite of the parallel work done by the Catholic Church, encouraged and supported by the Belgian state.This thesis builds on material taken mainly from unpublished sources from archives in Burundi, Sweden, Rome, Great Britain and Denmark. These are supplemented by interviews, most of them made by the author.
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| 28. |
- Odén, Robert, 1969-
(författare)
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Wåra swarta bröder : Representationer av religioner och människor i Evangeliska fosterlandsstiftelsens Missions-Tidning, 1877–1890
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The thesis addresses how non-Western religions, as well as people, are represented in a periodical of the Swedish Evangelical Mission (SEM) – Missions-Tidning (MT) – during the period 1877-1890. The focus is on India and east Africa where SEM had its major mission fields.The thesis has been written with inspiration from discourse analysis. I have identified in MT two primary streams of thought related to the representations of non-Western people and to those of different religions and religious identities. The streams can be described as discourses or thought structures. Using these thought structures has proven to be constructive in the analysis of the texts of MT as both streams have been applicable in clarifying the complexities of the representations of religions and people. One stream I have characterized as being the oriental thought structure and the other as the pietistic thought structure. The oriental thought structure is broadly related to Edward Said’s writings on his oriental discourse and is defined by a number of essential ideas from his influential and thought provoking book, Orientalism (1978). The defining of the pietistic thought structure is based on a number of essential aspects of the culture and tradition of ideas central to SEM and relevant to its mission. In the thesis the two thought structures are made visible: separately as well as in conjunction with or in opposition to each other.Different themes are analyzed and form, as well as content, is examined. Among other things, representations of five different collective social identities or religions/religious belongings (for example Hinduism/Hindus and Islam/Muslims), statistics, illustrations and the relationship between Swedish missionaries and non-Western people are analysed. Furthermore, a central theme is the nature of the biographies of non-Western people presented in the journal.One of the conclusions of the thesis is that the pietistic thought structure contributes to positive, as well as negative, representations in MT. However, the pietistic thought structure is of decisive importance for the relatively complex individual narratives of non-Western people that emerge in the story of MT.
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| 29. |
- Olsen, Jørn Henrik
(författare)
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Kristus i tropisk Afrika : I spændingsfeltet mellem identitet og relevans
- 2001
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The title of this thesis is Christ in Tropical Africa - in the Tension Between Identity and Relevance. Within a few years Africa will be the greatest Christian continent, and African Christianity will then no longer see itself as a mere continuation of Western Christianity. On the threshold of the 21st Century, this insight challenges Christian theology and missiology which have for a long time answered the helm of the Western missionary movements. This contribution to the scholarly debate on cultural and religions identity issues deals with the question how the recent development ought to be integrated in a systematic reflection, and how Africans - especially African theologians - themselves attempt to highlight the necessity of a relevant and authentic African Christianity and theology.The post-colonial and partly post-missionary era has resulted in a sense of departure and transition which has created space for a renewed and adjusted conception of the question of identity. This dissertation present a critical discourse on African themes and questions concerning identity issues in the perspectives of studies in the areas of theology, anthropology, philosophy, and religion. The discourse shows the complexity of what is called identity, africanity etc. and threw critical light on a tendency of making generalizations and constructions. Dangers of constructions of which Christian African theologians have not always been sufficiently conscious. The interdisciplinary perspective of this study is widening the question of identity while it still constitutes a hermeneutical key to understand the concerns of Christian theology in the tropical part of Africa.African theology is situated in the tension between identity and relevance. This become obvious in African christological proposals. The thesis put a critical test question to the theologians who have contributed with new Christ-titles and -models: Have they both managed to give grounds for the significance of christology for human freedom and identity (the relevance of christology), and at the same time secured the continuity and agreement with the original theological content of christology (the identity of christology in the New Testament)? The question can only partly be answered affirmatively. In some cases the actual understanding of life and conception of reality in a certain context provides the decisive criterion in the interpretation of Biblical concepts and christological titles. This creates hermeneutic problems which are dealt with in the close of the thesis.
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| 30. |
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| 31. |
- Runestam, Staffan
(författare)
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Söderblomsstudier
- 2004. - 1. uppl.
-
Bok (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 32. |
- Rydinger, Mats
(författare)
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The Vulnerable Power of Worship A Study of a Power Approach to Contextualization in Christian Mission
- 2006
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation deals with the process of contextualizing the Christian discourse with a specific focus on worship and power negotiation. The study is based on literature, interviews and approximately six months of fieldwork in the U.S. in the years 1996,1998, and 2004. I focus on negotiation of power in the light of increasing Christian encounter with different cultural contexts and changing perceptions of mission. My point of departure comes form an understanding of missio Dei which implies the perception of mission as a vulnerable process. I thereby suggest an understanding of incarnation which gives priority to transformative processes in contextualization and which also acknowledges the limited and conditioned character of a Christian discourse. By referring primarily to Pierre Bourdieu's theories of power fields, it will be argued that the shaping of contextual theology is basically a way to challenge authority in the religious field. Understood as such, a process of contextualization is a way for agents in a religious field to negotiate their access to a shared value (God and Gospel), while focusing on contextual relevance as well as Christian identity. Although power negotiation might be seen as an integrated part of any process of contextualization, I here particularly explore how power is negotiated in contextualization in worship, and how this power negotiation challenges the understanding of authority and legitimacy in specific contexts. This is based on the understanding that worship, as a ritual, may be used as a strategy to negotiate power in the religious field. Focusing on the role of the worship leader, this understanding is even further exemplified and demonstrated. In the second and third parts of my dissertation I present and analyze two different worship services. Relating to different contexts they illustrate how ministers negotiate power in an effort to contextualize worship. By mapping the relationships of power, I describe how the ministers engage in the process of contextualization, dealing with different strategies of power negotiation, navigating between contextual relevance and Christian identity. Conclusively I find that in a perspective of worship, contextualization appears as a display of power which contributes to the alteration of authority in specific religious contexts.
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| 33. |
- Sarja, Karin
(författare)
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"Ännu en syster till Afrika" : Trettiosex kvinnliga missionärer i Natal och Zululand 1876–1902
- 2002
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In Natal and Zululand Swedish missions had precedence through the Church of Sweden Mission from 1876 on, the Swedish Holiness Mission from 1889 on, and the Scandinavian Independent Baptist Union from 1892 on. Between 1876 and 1902, thirty-six women were active in these South African missions. The history of all these women are explored on an individual basis in this, for the most part, empirical study. The primary goal of this dissertation is to find out who these women missionaries were, what they worked at, what positions they held toward the colonial/political situation in which they worked, and what positions they held in their respective missions. What meaning the women’s mission work had for the Zulu community in general, and for Zulu women in particular are dealt with, though the source material on it is limited. Nevertheless, through the source material from the Swedish female missionaries, Zulu women are given attention. The theoretical starting points come, above all, from historical research on women and gender and from historical mission research about missions as a part of the colonial period.Both married and unmarried women are defined as missionaries since both groups worked for the missions. In the Swedish Holiness Mission and in the Scandinavian Independent Baptist Union the first missionaries in Natal and Zululand were women. The Church of Sweden Mission was a Lutheran mission were women mostly worked in mission schools, homes for children and in a mission hospital. Women were subordinated in relationship to male missionaries. In the Swedish Holiness Mission and in the Scandinavian Independent Baptist Union women had more equal positions in their work. In these missions women could be responsible for mission stations, work as evangelists and preach the Gospel. The picture of the work of female missionaries has also been complicated and modified.
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| 34. |
- Sundberg, Carl
(författare)
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Conversion and Contextual Conceptions of Christ: A Missiological Study among Young Converts in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo
- 2000
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This study presents contextual conceptions of Christ among young urban converts, within the Evangelical Church of Congo (EEC). The basic data consists of interviews, conversion stories, gathered during fieldwork in 1995-1997. From the data explicit and implicit conceptions of Christ were deducted and accounted for in the study. The main analytical questions are: How do young people (aged 17-35) conceive of Jesus Christ when they witness in church that they "want to leave sin and follow Jesus," and how do these conceptions relate to the context. In order to produce answers to these questions the interview data have been related to the context of the young, including the Kongo traditional worldview, life in a society in crisis, traditional church life, charismatic prayer groups and the christologies of three African theologians, namely Bénézet Bujo, Kä Mana and Raymond Buana Kibongi. The study ends with a concluding chapter describing Jesus Christ as the true fulfiller of contextual offices: Yaya (the older brother) and Nganga (the traditional priest).
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| 35. |
-
Svensk Mission och kyrkorna som växt fram
- 2021
-
Samlingsverk (redaktörskap) (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Mission har varit en stark folkrörelse i Sverige. Hundratusentals människor över vårt land gjorde insamlingar, bad och läste med stor iver om missionens arbete i andra länder. Över tolv tusen svenska missionärer har sänts ut till över hundra länder. För många blev missionen ett livskall. Den första generationen var ofta pionjärer som startade nya församlingar medan senare generationer har byggt upp institutioner och assisterat de framväxande kyrkorna i ett omfattande utvecklingsarbete.Kyrkor med rötter i svensk mission har upplevt en kraftig tillväxt och har i dag över femtio miljoner tillhöriga, framför allt i Latinamerika och Afrika. Boken skildrar framväxten av dessa kyrkor och olika utmaningar som de möter i dag. I ett sjuttiotal personrutor presenteras ett urval svenska missionärer och lokala kyrkoledare, kvinnor och män.Boken Svensk mission och kyrkorna som växt fram fyller en lucka i senare decenniers litteratur eftersom den presenterar den ekumeniska bredden av svensk mission och de framväxande kyrkorna på olika kontinenter. Ett trettiotal författare har skrivit de olika delarna i boken.
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| 36. |
- Swantz, Marja Liisa, 1926-
(författare)
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Beyond the Forestline : The Life and Letters of Bengt Sundkler
- 2002
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Bok (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Bengt Sundkler, a Swede, was a well-known missiologist and historian of non-European churches, specialising in African church history. He had served as a missionary in South Africa and Tanzania, and later the northwestem diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania called him to be their first bishop. Bengt Sundkler was a multifaceted person and a true international, long before the era of mass globalisation, which he saw coming in his later years.
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| 37. |
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| 38. |
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| 39. |
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| 40. |
- Wejryd, Anders, 1948-
(författare)
-
Lutherhjälpen som försvann
- 2021
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- For several decades Lutherhjälpen was the primary tool of the Church of Sweden for international aid and assistance. The organization grew strong in 1950s and by the 1970s it had agents in all Church of Sweden parishes and working links with both the Lutheran World Federation and the World Council of Churches. As part of the consolidation of Church of Sweden from the 1980s and onwards Lutherhjälpen or, with the formal name, the Lutheran World Federation, Swedish Section with Lutherhjälpen, gradually moved closer to Church of Sweden Mission and Church of Sweden and became an organizational part of Church of Sweden. This development can be seen as finalized by 2013, which marks the end of the period studied in this thesis. The name Lutherhjälpen was not used after 2008 but was replaced by “Church of Sweden – international work”, and varieties of this name.This study aims at understanding why and how this development took place, how it was interpreted by different actors and affected, and what consequences this process possibly has had. The study builds on three different forms of sources, namely written material, interviews and autoethnography.The author has himself been involved in the developments as inter alia board member of Lutherhjälpen and moderator of the Church of Sweden National Board, which has made it important to discuss problems and advantages relating to such a closeness and has led to the decision to include an autoethnographic part in the study. The change of name can also be seen as a consequence of the active branding processes within the Church of Sweden initiated after the disestablishment of the Church of Sweden by January 2000. Therefore a discussion about branding and brand names forms an important part of the study.
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| 41. |
- Werner, Yvonne Maria, et al.
(författare)
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Nuns and Sisters in the Nordic Countries after the Reformation. A Female Counter-Culture in Modern Society.
- 2004
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Bok (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Female religious communities, and later also convents, accompanied the return of the Roman Catholic Church to the Nordic countries in the middle of the nineteenth century. These religious communities were mostly so-called active orders or congregations, who helped in parishes or ran private schools, orphanages or nursing homes. In the 1930s there were nearly 1,400 Catholic sisters working in Scandinavia. At the same time, there was a growing interest for regulated religious life within the established Lutheran Churches, and small communities – mostly female – were founded. In Finland, there was an unbroken tradition of orthodox monasticism. Until recently, however, monasticism was rejected as "Catholic" and thereby foreign to Nordic national identity. Religious communities were regarded as a tool of Roman Catholic propaganda, especially insidious to Nordic women. According to the mainstream Nordic tradition at the time, women’s calling was to marry and bear children. The female religious communities thus represented not only an alternative form of life but also a counter-culture in the Lutheran Nordic society. In the present book, we meet this female counter-culture in its various forms and expressions. The articles focus partly on Nordic Christian women, Catholic converts as well as members of the established Lutheran churches who were attracted to regulated religious life, and partly on sisters in Catholic religious congregations working in the Nordic countries. A common trait is that these women, although in various ways, traversed contemporary social and religious boundaries. By studying a variety of female religious orders and congregations, the authors have highlighted the frequently tense relation between "Catholic" and "Nordic" values, between tradition and modernity, and between Nordic and foreign. The long time period studied allows for the making of diachronic comparisons and to record transitions and changes in attitude and behaviour.
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| 42. |
- Wiking, Göran
(författare)
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Breaking the Pot: Contextual Responses to Survival Issues in Malaysian Churches
- 2004
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Protestantism in Malaysia is in many cases the result of labour migration from China and India in the 19th and 20th Centuries. Under the British colonial administration, it enjoyed a certain degree of protection. Furthermore, in the 20th Century, many Western missions started work in Malaysia often in order to strengthen and expand the ministry of existing denominations. This was particularly true of the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran diaspora group. Until the time of independence in 1957, the Protestant Christian religion had a promising future. But after independence, the situation has gradually deteriorated due to two parallel developments: the withdrawal of Western support and the resurgence of local religions like Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism that compete with Christianity. These developments in turn have brought an array of serious issues before the church in general and the protestant mainline denominations in particular. Each major issue is outlined and discussed from a survival perspective. The local responses to the new challenges turn out to be manifold and many-faceted. Five contextual theologians are presented and analysed. Each theologian’s approach to the contemporary issues assailing the church is examined. The theological output thus investigated is taken as an indicator of what kind the Malaysian churches are likely to develop into.
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| 43. |
- Yadala Suneson, Anita, 1985-
(författare)
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Indian Protestants and their Religious Others : Views of Religious Diversity among Christians in Bangalore
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This study gives an in-depth insight into ways that ordinary Christians in a multireligious context think about religious plurality. It examines how Indian Protestants reflect upon other religions and upon the situation of religious diversity.Methodologically, the study relies mainly on qualitative interviews with Pentecostal and Church of South India (CSI) lay members and pastors from Bangalore, south India. The interviews are analysed through thematic analysis.The study reveals a theological diversity among interviewees. The major differences are found among the clergy, while the views of Pentecostal and CSI lay interviewees show many similarities. The dominant theological perspective is evangelical and this forms an “evangelical lens” that colours attitudes to other religions. Additionally, a general Protestant perspective emerges that reflects a typically Protestant emphasis on Christ and the Bible, as well as a liberal Protestant perspective which focuses on social issues.Salvation, primarily understood in terms of eternal life for the individual, is central to the ideas interviewees have about the difference between Protestant Christianity and other religions. Perceptions of Hinduism reveal stereotypical views which portray it as an antithesis to Christian faith. Views of Islam are more positive, and similarities with Protestantism are perceived. Attitudes to different Christian traditions, and to Catholicism in particular, illustrate that the line between religious self and other can be drawn also between different forms of Christianity.An important finding of the study is that the use of religious images is a central issue for these Protestant Christians which affects their views of other religions and that it signals religious otherness to them. The dichotomy between religious self and other refers primarily to salvation and religious efficacy, not to everyday life. As people, Muslims and particularly Hindus are portrayed in a positive light. Interreligious friendship and unstressful everyday interaction characterise interviewees’ depictions of relations with religious others in Bangalore. The religious minority status becomes plainly evident in relation to mission. Interviewees negotiate between an ideal of active evangelism and social considerations. This study reveals that it is possible to combine theological exclusivism in theory with respect for the religious other in practice.
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| 44. |
- Åhman, Bertil, 1946-
(författare)
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Daniel Ndoundou : Väckelseledare i den Evangeliska Kyrkan i Kongo
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Daniel Ndoundou (1911 – 1986) was born in the southern part of French Equatorial Africa, close to the border of the Belgian Congo. At an early age he joined the Swe-dish protestant mission. As a young man he began to work as an evangelist and in 1946 he was ordained pastor. The following year a spiritual revival started and soon Daniel Ndou¬ndou became its leader, a position he held for the rest of his life.The aim of this thesis was to describe and analyse how Daniel Ndoundou carried out his ministry as a revival leader in the intersection between traditional beliefs and the new religion introduced by the protestant missionaries. He experienced the pro-cess of his country gaining its independence and the founding of the autonomous Evangelical Church of Congo. As a well-known counsellor and healer he received many pilgrims at his home. During revival meetings he sometimes preached to thou-sands of people. He had to take a stand on different movements of political and religious character that emerged especially during the colonial era.The thesis shows that the doctrines adopted by Daniel Ndoundou were close to those of the missionaries. However, he sometimes accepted and applied practices that were seen as controversial by his Church leaders. This was particularly evident when he invited people to the “Pool of Siloam” where he organized ritual baths for healing. The thesis also describes the legacy left by Daniel Ndoundou namely how the Evangelical Church of Congo manages the revival almost 30 years after his death. Many charismatic Christians play an important role and for the local pastor they are sometimes difficult to handle. The void left by Daniel Ndoundou is strongly felt by many church members since he was seen as the authority in matters relating to spiritual gifts.
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