This study examines digitally-mediated sermon listening practices by interviewing twenty-nine listeners from Swedish Protestant congregations. The analysis draws on Theodore Schatzki’s practice theory, focusing on the entanglement of human activity, material arrangements surrounding the preaching event, and the ends of practices—including how changes to any or all of the above impact the practice in question. The study found that listeners strove to uphold the listening practices they were accustomed to from their respective churchesand attempted to carry these over into the digitally-mediated preaching event. To a large extent,they succeeded in opening and managing a “third room of preaching.” Furthermore, the studyhighlighted the importance of knowing the ends of these listening practices. The study alsodemonstrated the significance of material arrangements and how changes in these arrangementssometimes led to the obstruction—or even breakdown—of listening practices. However, changesin material arrangements also inspired new practices—pointing to the need to rethink listeningpractices that are merely borrowed from in-church services.  

The war in Ukraine that began in February 2014 with the annexation of Crimea and escalated in February 2022 to the extent unseen in Europe since the World War II, cannot be adequately comprehended without taking into consideration its religious dimension. This dimension was correctly identified by the patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Kirill as “metaphysical.” This paper explores some aspects of the metaphysics of the Russo-Ukrainian war. It also tries to explain how and why the Russian Orthodox Church has contributed to it.

Motsättningar inom ett samhälle blir sällan skarpare än när människor avrättas för att ha brutit mot samhällsgemenskapens grundläggande normer. En ideologisk text som tillkommit i en sådan situation kan därför förväntas skildra kontrasten mellan samhället och den egna gruppen i tydligast möjliga ordalag, även om skillnaderna i faktiska värderingar inte alltid är så stora. Ett gott exempel på detta är Perpetuas och Felicitas martyrium, där vi har goda skäl att tro oss möta en ung kvinnas egen berättelse om sina upplevelser, känslor och visioner inför mötet med vilddjuren på den romerska arenan i Karthago. Med hjälp av Kathryn Tanners kulturteori kan vi urskilja de beteendemönster som framstår som normer och ideal i martyriet, och inse att de visioner och den oberördhet inför döden som etablerar Perpetuas auktoritet är väletablerade ideal även inom den grekisk-romerska kulturen. De värderingar som skiljer martyriets ideologi från det omgivande samhället är två: normen att vägra offra till de grekisk-romerska gudarna och föreställningen att alla människor, oavsett samhällelig status, äger en inneboende värdighet.

Arbetarrörelsen blev störst, men frikyrkorörelsen var först. När historien skrivits har dock ”störst gått först” och betoningen legat på arbetarrörelsens betydelse för demokratin och det moderna Sverige medan frikyrkorörelsen har haft en mer undanskymd roll.

Jesus sa ”följ mig” och idag har han fler följare än någon kändis på Instagram. Men vem var han? Bibelforskningen har sökt svaret på den frågan i 250 år. Förslagen är många: en politisk revolutionär, en hippiefilosof, en judisk rabbin, en bondeprofet, en karismatisk helare – eller bara Guds son. Den här boken tecknar en skiss av den historiske Jesus och diskuterar hur han är relevant för kristendomen idag. 

De ursprungliga skogarna i centrala och norra Etiopien har idag nästan helt reducerats till de heliga lundar som omger den etiopisk-ortodoxa kyrkans kyrkor och kloster. I etiopisk tradition utgår heligheten från taboten på altaret till kyrkan, vidare ut på kyrkogården och till områdets yttersta periferi. Kyrk-skogen tjänar som skugga och skydd för det heliga och ses som en integrerad del av kyrkans geografi. Den helige Gebre Menfes Qiddus liv (GGMQ) är en inhemsk etiopisk hagiografisk text. Den skildrar helgonets liv och kamp i den etiopiska vildmarken. Hagiografiska texter som GGMQ utgör i Etiopien inte främst historiska dokument, utan är texter som är en del av den dagliga gudstjänsten och som i hög grad formar de lyssnandes föreställningar och vägleder deras handlingar.

Avhandlingens syfte är att analysera hur GGMQ framställer relationen mellan helgonet och den naturliga omgivningen för att se om det finns en korrelation till hur den etiopiska traditionen har bevarat kyrkskogarna och betraktat dem som heliga platser som representerar vildmarken. Syftet uppnås genom en närläsning av texten i jämförelse med en rad andra relevanta texter och utifrån fyra utvalda temata som används som analytiska instrument, nämligen asketiskt tillbakadragande, att leva med naturen, identifikation med änglarna och försoning av motsatser. Analysen och det faktum att GGMQ är en av de mest vördade texterna, läst och lyssnad till i liturgins och kyrkorummets högtidliga sammanhang, visar att det finns starka skäl för att anta att den regelbundna läsningen av GGMQ har haft och har en betydelsefull inverkan på läsarnas och lyssnarnas syn på förhållandet mellan människa och natur och att texten på så sätt bidragit till att bevara vildmark kring kyrkor och kloster.

The purposes of this article-based thesis are to explore and understand preaching as a practice in general,and the practice of preaching in digital culture and spaces in particular. Informed by the practicetheory of Theodore Schatzki, it presents the results of a cross-case analysis of four di!erent case studiesof the practice of preaching in digital culture and spaces in Swedish protestant churches. Based on theanalysis, I argue that the deep relationality of the practice of preaching involves not just humans andtexts but also material arrangements and that this feature often is ampli"ed in digital culture and spaces.While there were examples of a decrease, overall, there was an increase in interaction, negotiation, andinterdependency. In light of this, I contend that the practice of preaching in digital culture and spacesis characterized by co-preaching. Moreover, I argue that some of the implications of co-preaching arethe enabling and encouragement of dialogue, imagination, and the priestly function of the priesthoodof all believers, but also an increased vulnerability for the co-preachers involved.

Secularisation, in the sense of radical differentiation between po-litical and ecclesial, is a key to understand the category of values. Thearticle outlines the modern theories about secularisation, places thecategories of values in the framework of these theories, and illustratesthrough the case study of the Russian Orthodox Church, how the ideaof values can be abused. When “traditional values” are weaponized,culture wars can evolve to real wars, like the one in Ukraine. Russia’scase of such an evolution cohered with the transformation of the So-viet militant secularism to the post-Soviet militant anti-secularism,on which the Russian political and ecclesial leaders have embarkedand which they have instrumentalized. Paradoxically, this is leadingto a self-imposed secularisation of the Russian Orthodox church andits alienation from the original Christian principles.

In this article, I am not addressing populism and freedom of expression per se, i.e. as two issues that I closely focus upon. Rather the perspectives are intertwined in the overall discussions and examples. Surveillance technologies can be used to stimulate populism and limit freedom of expression, as well as they can contribute to the opposite.The outcome does not only depend on the technology and its capacities, but on the persons, citizens, states, religious groups, and companies who use it. After centuries of technological innovations alongside industrialisation, the concept of surveillance has been associated with a Big Brother society, i.e. asymmetrical surveillance by the state or employer to surveil citizens or employees with different tools, visible or invisible. The aims of surveillance are a multitude: protection, security,efficiency, steering of behaviour and opinions, prevention of unwanted actions, et cetera. After the 9/11 terror attack in New York and Washington in 2001, the idea and implementation of surveillance technology has increased unimaginably, in parallel with a political view of the ‘war against terror’, and in parallel with possibilities for advanced technology that has become an essential part of how we, as humans, understand our life as individuals and as communities. One consequence of the paradigm is a certain gaze upon religious communities, where some become more visible than others.

Berättelsen om hur det moderna Sverige växte fram har länge varit förenklad. Övergången från ett förmodernt, patriarkalt samhälle till ett modernt och demokratiskt beskrivs gärna som medelklassens och centralmaktens förtjänst. Men något som ofta har utelämnats är de religiösa väckelsernas bidrag särskilt de extatiska och mer provocerande rörelserna.

I denna antologi ger fjorton forskare från olika discipliner exempel på hur gränsöverskridande väckelser har bidragit till den svenska moderniseringsprocessen. Här möter vi kvinnliga frälsningsofficerare, trosvissa missionärer, kyrkolojala hoofianer, entreprenöriella baptister, självreflekterande herrnhutare, extatiska pingstvänner och visionära Nås-bönder på väg till Jerusalem. Vi får bekanta oss med en rad andliga rörelser som utmanade de gamla samhällsformerna och banade väg för nya sätt att leva och ta sig an tidens frågor.

Ostädade väckelser breddar och fördjupar förståelsen av den svenska historien och vårt moderna samhälle.

A study among novice clergy shows that for some the encounter with local congregations in the Church of Norway has been quite demanding in that they have experienced a mismatch between the content and emphasis of their training and their everyday tasks. From a practical theological perspective, and drawing on knowledge and practice theory,the article discusses how this problem can be interpreted. It is argued that rather than being a matter of insufficient knowledge resources, this indicates a normative discrepancy between the theological and liturgical ideals that the novice pastor brings from his/her training, and local congregational traditions. Finally, there is a discussion of how the training can deal with this challenge.

This article analyzes prices and value as constituting a theological problem in early and medieval Christian thought. First, it looks at the patristic critique of wealth and market prices and shows that such critique was rooted in a concern with a disordered world. Next, it moves on to medieval just price theory and particularly the value theory of Franciscan theologian Peter of John Olivi (1247/8–1298). While Olivi’s legacy in the history of economic thought is well known, the problem of value as such has not been theologically analyzed. By relating Olivi’s concept of value to the older patristic critique of wealth, the article sheds new light on the problem of value: the historical treatment of market prices has cosmological and theological implications. This way, the article contributes to theological and historical analyses of the relationship between the Christian tradition and the market economy.

The global pandemic caused by COVID-19 has affected in nuanced ways variousreligious niches and subcultures. This article explores some reactions to thepandemic as they have been developed and articulated in the Russian OrthodoxChurch. These reactions are diverse and often not public. On the upper levelof the church’s leadership, the official standpoint of the Russian hierarchy isusually coherent with the official policies of the Russian state. On the lowerlevels, lay persons, priests, and even bishops often disobey the official line andpropagate opposition to the anti-COVID-19 measures.

The article explores the document For the Life of the World: Toward a Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church (FLW) in the contexts that had instigated its promulgation. It maps this document in the coordinates of the Orthodox political theology during the long twentieth century. FLW corresponds to a line in “the theology of the 1960s,” which advocated for liberal democracy and against anti-Westernism. The article argues that FLW fulfills the unaccomplished mission of the Panorthodox council in producing a comprehensive Orthodox social doctrine. It compares FLW with the social corpus adopted by the Russian Orthodox Church during the 2000s.

The preaching event is a complex process of communication and interpretation. The aim of this study is to describe and discuss how the preaching event is affected when it is digitally mediated and involves so-called “religious digital creatives” (RDCs). This is achieved through a case study of the preaching event at two Church of Sweden (CoS) congregations that offered pre-recorded, digitally mediated worship services. The research questions guiding the study were: “When and how do the RDCs engage in the preaching event?” and “How can the effects of this engagement be understood in the light of homiletical theory drawing on the works of Mikhail Bakhtin?” The study found that RDCs engaged in the verbalization phase of the preaching event in several ways—including visualization, direction, editing, enhancement, and contextualization of the sermon—and thus contributed significantly to the preaching event. Furthermore, the RDCs exhibited notable relational authority—an authority based on negotiation, interdependence, and interaction. Employing homiletical theory that draws on Mikhail Bakhtin’s work, I argue that the RDCs in this case study are best understood as co-preachers who contribute to expanding the polyphony of the preaching event.

Moral Infringement and Repair in Antiquity, is a series of publications related to a project on Dynamics of Moral Repair in Antiquity, run by Thomas Kazen and Rikard Roitto between 2017 and 2021, and funded by the Swedish Research Council, grant nr. 2016-02319. The volumes contain stand-alone articles and serve as supplements to the main outcome of the project, the volume Interpersonal Infringement and Moral Repair: Revenge, Compensation and Forgiveness in the Ancient World, forthcoming on Mohr Siebeck in 2023.

Supplement 1: Emotions and Hierarchies, contains four articles and chapters by Thomas Kazen. Three of them are republished in accordance with the publishers' general conditions for author reuse. The fourth has not been published before. 1. Emotional Ethics in Biblical Texts: Cultural Construction and Biological Bases of Morality 2. Viewing Oneself through Others' Eyes: Shame between Biology and Culture in Biblical Texts 3. Law and Emotion in Moral Repair: Circumscribing Infringement4. Retribution and Repair in Voluntary Associations: Comparing Rule Texts from Qumran, Collegia, and Christ Groups

Moral Infringement and Repair in Antiquity, is a series of publications related to a project on Dynamics of Moral Repair in Antiquity, run by Thomas Kazen and Rikard Roitto between 2017 and 2021, and funded by the Swedish Research Council, grant nr. 2016-02319. The volumes contain stand-alone articles and serve as supplements to the main outcome of the project, the volume Interpersonal Infringement and Moral Repair: Revenge, Compensation and Forgiveness in the Ancient World, forthcoming on Mohr Siebeck in 2023.

Supplement 2: Group Dynamics, contains four articles and chapters by Rikard Roitto, republished in accordance with the publishers' general conditions for author reuse, or by special permission. 

1. Rituals of Reintegration: Penance, Confession of Sins, Intercession 2. Reintegrative Shaming and a Prayer Ritual of Reintegration in Matthew 3. Enduring Shame as Costly Signalling 4. The Johannine Information War: A Social Network Analysis of the Information Flow Between Johannine Assemblies as Witnessed by 1-3 John

Moral Infringement and Repair in Antiquity, is a series of publications related to a project on Dynamics of Moral Repair in Antiquity, run by Thomas Kazen and Rikard Roitto between 2017 and 2021, and funded by the Swedish Research Council, grant nr. 2016-02319. The volumes contain stand-alone articles and serve as supplements to the main outcome of the project, the volume Interpersonal Infringement and Moral Repair: Revenge, Compensation and Forgiveness in the Ancient World, forthcoming on Mohr Siebeck in 2023.

Supplement 3: Forgiveness, contains four articles and chapters by Rikard Roitto, republished in accordance with the publishers' general conditions for author reuse, or by special permission. 

1. The Polyvalence of ἀφίημι and the Two Cognitive Frames of Forgiveness in the Synoptic Gospels. 2. Forgiveness, Ritual and Social Identity in Matthew: Obliging Forgiveness. 3. Practices of Confession, Intercession and Forgiveness in 1 John 1.9; 5.16. 4. Forgiveness of the Sinless: A Classic Contradiction in 1 John in the Light of Contemporary Forgiveness Research.

Vad innebär det att vara kyrka och församling i digitala rum? Det är den fråga som varit vägledande för forskningsprojektet Kyrka i digitala rum. Frågan rör både teologi och digital kommunikation och framförallt samspelet de två emellan. Syftet med projektet har varit att dra lärdomar av och utveckla kunskap utifrån församlingars erfarenheter av det intensiva arbetet i digitala medier under perioder av pandemirestriktioner. Det handlade dels om att teologiskt reflektera över den kyrka som framträdde och tog form, dels om att skapa ny kunskap om kommunikation. Dessutom utveckla och stärka församlingarnas närvaro och arbete i kyrkliga digitala rum.Kyrka i digitala rum var ett aktionsforskningsprojekt som har präglats av ett gemensamt forskande och lärande med företrädare från sju församlingar i Stockholms stift, Stockholms stiftskansli och Enskilda Högskolan Stockholm. I rapporten presenteras forskningsresultat som bland annat handlar om: hållbar närvaro i digitala rum; andakter och förkunnelse i digitala rum och digitala samtalsgrupper. Rapporten ger också en god inblick i hur akademi och församlingar kan samverka i ett gemensamt lärande och den kan därmed fungera som inspiration för dem som önskar arbeta med frågor om att vara kyrka i digitala rum.