Enskilda Högskolan Stockholm – förlag

Mitt ärende i denna guide är att hjälpa predikanter att använda AI-chattar på ett klokt och konstruktivt sätt i sina predikoförberedelser. Guiden är praktiskt orienterad. Den vänder sig kanske främst till dig som redan har viss erfarenhet av predikan, men som vill bli bättre på att använda AI-chattar som hjälpmedel i ditt predikoarbete. Jag skriver kortfattat, eftersom ett av mina mål med den här guiden är att den inte ska vara längre än att du har tid att läsa den. Boken är alltså inte en heltäckande introduktion till homiletik, utan fokus ligger på att visa hur du kan använda AI-chattar på ett sätt som hjälper dig i dina predikoförberedelser.

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.

The aim of this thesis is to analyse the theopolitical character of the Church of Sweden as it is expressed in its practices, and to contribute with empirically grounded and conceptual resources for ecclesiological reflections on the church's political role and identity. The overarching research question guiding this thesis is: How is the theopolitical character of the Church of Sweden enacted and negotiated in diaconal and liturgical practices in two congregations in deprived areas, and what insights does a theological analysis of these practices offer for a constructive understanding of the church's political identity and role? The thesis understands politics not primarily in terms of statecraft, but as the practices through which a common life is forged, shaped, and sustained. Methodologically, the study is a theological-ethnographic single-case study based on participant observation, shadowing, and semi-structured qualitative interviews. Practice theory is employed within an overarching ecclesiological framework, and the analysis proceeds through three movements: articulation, disturbance, and expansion. The study shows that the church's theopolitical character is enacted through roles and relationships constituted in diaconal and liturgical practices. Through these practices, the church appears as a provider of care and support, facilitator of trust, collaborative partner in the wider society, and a liturgical community in which social relationships are renegotiated. At the same time, these practices are marked by tensions of asymmetry, individualisation, segregation, and the reduction of difference to sameness. To deepen this analysis, the thesis develops the concept of iconic relationships, understood as relationships in which the meaning of the other is not fixed in advance but remains open and inexhaustible in the light of God's presence. The thesis concludes that the church's betrayal of politics occurs not primarily when it fails to enter public debate, but when it loses this iconic frame of reference.

This study traces Jesus' attitude to impurity within the historical context at the end of the Second Temple period, when practices of ritual purity came to play an increasing role in Jewish society and an expansionist trend gained in influence and support. The traditional focus on sayings material and criteria of authenticity in historical Jesus-research is modified, narrative traditions with implicit purity issues are appealed to, and extra-canonical traditions are included. The main areas examined are the most important "fathers" of impurity: "leprosy" (skin diseases), genital discharges, and corpse-contamination. Jesus is found to have acted in ways that could have been understood by some of his contemporaries as indifference to these types of impurity. His behaviour is shown on several points to clash with current purity halakhah and dominant expansionist ideals. In an attempt to interpret his actions within the Jewish context and culture of the Second Temple period, three explanatory models are provided. Jesus' attitude can be seen as part of a moral trajectory in Judaism. It can be understood as a response to a regional, Galilean dilemma. It can be viewed in a power perspective as an expression of Jesus' eschatological struggle against demonic evil. The result is that Jesus may be understood as operating within the purity paradigm of his time, yet seemingly indifferent in the eyes of some, pushing it to the breaking point. Such a reconstruction makes subsequent developments intelligible, in which various Christian currents drew conflicting conclusions. Those looking to Jesus' behaviour for some sort of guidance today may perhaps find contemporary analogies.

Det planetära nödläget aktualiserar de frågor om skuld, hopp och frälsning som står i centrum för rättfärdiggörelseläran. Avhandlingen undersöker därför denna lära i relation till nödlägets utmaningar. I dialog med den evangelisk-lutherska teologen Eberhard Jüngel utforskas hur nåden kan förstås som en räddande kraft som avslöjar lögnen om att vi människor skulle vara avskilda från den skapelse vi tillhör och är beroende av, och återinsätter oss i dess relationella sammanhang. Avhandlingens grundläggande antagande är att föreställningen om mänskligheten som åtskild från det mer-än-mänskliga är både ekologiskt och teologiskt problematisk. Frälsningsförståelsen behöver därför omtolkas så att frälsning inte framstår som ett avskiljande från världen, utan som ett hopp för hela skapelsen. Analysen identifierar som fruktbar Jüngels förståelse av syndens väsen som ett angrepp på den relationsväv som skapelse och skapare tillsammans utgör, hans tolkning av rättfärdiggörelsen som ett transcendent frälsande tilltal som sker i och genom relation, och den nyskapande potential detta tilltal bär. Begränsningarna rör främst hans teologis ensidiga språkcentrering, dess begränsade soteriologiska räckvidd och dess otillräckliga integration av skapelsens och offrens perspektiv. Genom denna analys utvecklas ett ekosoteriologiskt bidrag där rättfärdiggörelsen tolkas som en skapelseförvandlande nådeshändelse som talar sanning, frigör och återupprättar trasiga relationer. Därigenom bidrar studien med en vidareutveckling av luthersk rättfärdiggörelseteologi där mänskligheten försonas in i skapelsens helhet och fyller en lucka i tidigare forskning genom att uttolka den evangelisk-lutherska rättfärdiggörelseläran i ljuset av det planetära nödlägets existentiella och etiska frågor.

Öppna vyer - lång sikt betraktar det akademiska och religiösa landskapets vyer, men också naturens. Bokens bidrag handlar om den långa sikten bakåt i mänsklighetens historia, likaväl som visionerna framåt. Författarna, verksamma vid Enskilda Högskolan Stockholm, diskuterar teologiska och samhällsrelevanta frågor som på olika sätt relaterar till rektorn och vännen Owe Kennerberg. Med nyskrivna texter bidrar författarna i Öppna vyer - lång sikt till ett angeläget samtal om människans villkor i det förflutna, i nuet och i framtiden. Innehåll: Thomas Kazen, Vida vidder: Om religionens rottrådar, andlighetens utgångspunkter och människans moral Åke Viberg, En teologisk geografi i Jona bok Petra Carlsson, Teologin tar mark: Den ensamma flygturen är över Sofia Camnerin, Titta nära, se långt: Att göra teologi med teopoesi och teomusik Kjell-Åke Nordquist, Sápmi och svenska staten: Nu ska sanningen fram! Susanne Wigorts Yngvesson, Att arbeta i sitt anletes svett: Om arbete som lek, kallelse och vision Joel Halldorf, Den benediktinska arbetslinjen: Klostervisdom för det moderna arbetslivet Josef Forsling, Människans synd och Guds svar: Att läsa Urhistorien som problemformulering Hanna Stenström, Kan teologisk forskning och kyrkor mötas för att försvara demokratin? Reflektioner om EHS uppdrag i en skrämmande tid Joseph Sverker, Människan, digitalisering och teologisk utbildning på lång sikt Rune W Dahlén, Equmeniakyrkans bildarsamfund i strider och samarbete under 1800-talet Rikard Roitto, "Överlämna en sådan åt Satan": Uteslutningsriter i Qumran och i Paulus församling i Korinth Carl Johan Berglund, Öppna vyer i 200-talets kristna akademi: Origenes attityd gentemot grekisk filosofi och kristna apokryfer Sune Fahlgren, "De blevo ihärdiga ... i gemensamheten": Om kommunitarism i en ostädad väckelse - exemplet Jerusalemfararna från Nås i Dalarna Göran Gunner, Covid-19-pandemi och religionsfrihet Michael Hjälm, Varats gränser: Tillhörighet i vår tid

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 practice theory of Theodore Schatzki, it presents the results of a cross-case analysis of four different case studies of the practice of preaching in digital culture and spaces in Swedish protestant churches. Based on the analysis, Frida Mannerfelt argues that the deep relationality of the practice of preaching involves not just humans and texts but also material arrangements and that this feature often is amplified in digital culture and spaces. While there were examples of a decrease, overall, there was an increase in interaction, negotiation, and interdependency. In light of this, Manner-felt contends that the practice of preaching in digital culture and spaces is characterized by co-preaching. Moreover, Mannerfelt argues that some of the implications of co-preaching are the enabling and encouragement of dialogue, imagination, and the priestly function of the priesthood of all believers, but also an increased vulnerability for the co-preachers involved.

Gardens in the Wasteland is an ethnographic study of Christian formation within three Swedish church plants working against a backdrop of advanced secularisation. The thesis analyses the formative practices employed by these church plants with the intention of forming persons towards a lived Christian identity. Employing a situated learning theory framework, it traces the formative trajectories and negotiations that emerge from these shared practices, and also examines the articulations of callings and intentions within these church plants. The findings reveal that the establishment of a church plant of-ten stems from a sense of place-oriented calling that encompasses a vision of vibrant Christian life and community. These church plants cultivate formative practices -- aimed at certain teloi -- that guide individuals on their journeys towards a lived Christian identity. Through participation in these practices, individuals align themselves with the church plant's vision of Christian life. This identity formation process is not static but rather involves ongoing negotiations, both on a personal and community level, as individuals grapple with the meaning of Christian identity and faith amidst an increasingly secularised society.

Centered around a reflective narrative recounting the experiences of a participatory action research project into leading online small groups for adults in the Church of Sweden Diocese of Stockholm during 2021 and 2022, the dissertation argues for the need to reconceptualize and reemphasize teaching as an important aspect in Christian religious education. Employing creative non-fiction methods, the dissertation aims to broaden the scope of the initial Online Small Groups project, by inviting readers to join into a "learning journey." The narrative account is complemented with more traditional forms of analysis that connect experiences from online small groups in the Church of Sweden to similar research from Anglo-Saxon countries, noting especially how notions of community diverge due to different ecclesiological understandings. Insights are then synthesized into eight teaching strategies aimed at communicating actionable knowledge to small group leaders, before noting how the study complements research on Christian religious education and, particularly, the current debate about learning and teaching in the Church of Sweden.

Öppna vyer - lång sikt betraktar det akademiska och religiösa landskapets vyer, men också naturens. Bokens bidrag handlar om den långa sikten bakåt i mänsklighetens historia, likaväl som visionerna framåt. Författarna, verksamma vid Enskilda Högskolan Stockholm, diskuterar teologiska och samhällsrelevanta frågor som på olika sätt relaterar till rektorn och vännen Owe Kennerberg. Med nyskrivna texter bidrar författarna i Öppna vyer - lång sikt till ett angeläget samtal om människans villkor i det förflutna, i nuet och i framtiden. Innehåll: Thomas Kazen, Vida vidder: Om religionens rottrådar, andlighetens utgångspunkter och människans moral Åke Viberg, En teologisk geografi i Jona bok Petra Carlsson, Teologin tar mark: Den ensamma flygturen är över Sofia Camnerin, Titta nära, se långt: Att göra teologi med teopoesi och teomusik Kjell-Åke Nordquist, Sápmi och svenska staten: Nu ska sanningen fram! Susanne Wigorts Yngvesson, Att arbeta i sitt anletes svett: Om arbete som lek, kallelse och vision Joel Halldorf, Den benediktinska arbetslinjen: Klostervisdom för det moderna arbetslivet Josef Forsling, Människans synd och Guds svar: Att läsa Urhistorien som problemformulering Hanna Stenström, Kan teologisk forskning och kyrkor mötas för att försvara demokratin? Reflektioner om EHS uppdrag i en skrämmande tid Joseph Sverker, Människan, digitalisering och teologisk utbildning på lång sikt Rune W Dahlén, Equmeniakyrkans bildarsamfund i strider och samarbete under 1800-talet Rikard Roitto, "Överlämna en sådan åt Satan": Uteslutningsriter i Qumran och i Paulus församling i Korinth Carl Johan Berglund, Öppna vyer i 200-talets kristna akademi: Origenes attityd gentemot grekisk filosofi och kristna apokryfer Sune Fahlgren, "De blevo ihärdiga ... i gemensamheten": Om kommunitarism i en ostädad väckelse - exemplet Jerusalemfararna från Nås i Dalarna Göran Gunner, Covid-19-pandemi och religionsfrihet Michael Hjälm, Varats gränser: Tillhörighet i vår tid

The original forests of the central and northern highlands of Ethiopia are almost entirely confined to the "sacred groves" surrounding the churches and monasteries of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church. In Ethiopian tradition sanctity starts from the Tabot on the altar of the church and extends to the outer periphery of the compound. Church forests serve as shade and shelter for the sacred, and are seen as integral parts of the churchyard. The Act of Gebre Menfes Qiddus (GGMQ) is an original Ethiopic hagiographic text. It depicts the life and struggle of the saint in the wilderness of forests and mountains. Hagiographic texts like GGMQ are in Ethiopia not mere historical records, but texts linked to the daily liturgical services that shape and mould the perceptions and actions of their readers and listeners. The aim of the thesis is to analyse how GGMQ presents the relation between the saint and the natural environment in order to see if there is a correlation with how the Ethiopian tradition has preserved the church forests and has considered these to be sacred spaces representing the wilderness. The aim is achieved through a close reading of the text and its intertexts using four selected themes as analytical instruments: ascetic estrangement, coexistence with non-human creation, identification with the angels and reconciliation of opposites. The analysis, and the fact that the GGMQ is one of the most venerated texts, read and heard with great liturgical solemnity, show that there are good reasons to believe that the constant reading of GGMQ has made and makes a significant impact upon the readers' views on the mutual co-habitation of human and non-human creation and the development of an awareness of the need to preserve the wilderness and non-human creation.

This study examines the emergence of the Deuteronomistic covenant. It takes as its point of departure previous research, which has either regarded the covenant as directly influenced by nonbiblical treaty texts or as a product of an innerbiblical theological develop-ment. Using comparative analysis, Alm concludes that the covenant elements in Deuteronomy are influenced by both innerbiblical and nonbiblical materials, to varying degrees. To provide a possible explanation for the emergence of the covenant metaphor, blending theory is applied. This explains the cognitive process that created the metaphor, using knowledge of the relationship between subordinate and superior. Two aspects of this relationship are important, namely the relationship between a vassal and a great king - specified as the political relationship between the Assyrian people and their king - and the relationship between a people and a god - specified as the religious relationship between the people of Israel and YHWH. The knowledge of these two aspects, along with the historical circumstances of the exile, generate a cognitive blending process that creates the Deuteronomistic covenant metaphor, expressed as ISRAEL IS A VASSAL TO YHWH AS A GREAT KING. By combining comparative analysis of the relevant texts and blending theory to explain the cognitive process, this study offers new insight into the emergence of the Deuteronomistic covenant.

While Jesus and Purity (2002, corrected reprint 2010, 2021) aimed to present an unfolding argument, this volume does not aspire at such coherence. It consists of articles and papers on various issues of impurity in early Judaism. A few of these have been previously published, the rest not. Some chapters develop and further expand on topics discussed in Jesus and Purity and much focus lies on questions of the impurity of discharges and the practice of hand-washing before meals. Both literary and historical methods are used, as well as approaches based on cognitive science. The analysis covers texts from the Pentateuch, Qumran, the New Testament, and some Jewish Hellenistic authors. By bringing these articles together, they are made available and can be easily found by potential readers. Together with the recently published collection Impurity and Purification in Early Judaism and the Jesus Tradition (SBL Press, 2021), Issues of Impurity represents Kazen's continuous work on purity issues through two decades. The reader of both volumes will see how the author's views have gradually evolved through the years.

This analysis deals with Old Testament law in the form of legal symbolic acts, defined as non-verbal acts which fulfil a legal function when performed under the proper circumstances and when the legal function is different from the physical result of the act. Legal symbolic acts belong to customary law. Since the customary law of ancient Israel is not as well-known as the codified law, these acts provide important information regarding the customary law of ancient Israel. Legal symbolic acts are also conventional, i.e., they are not so much dependent upon their performance for their meaning as upon the general agreement attached to the acts by those who form the surrounding socio-cultural context. This invites a contextual approach to the texts in which the acts are described. Such a contextual approach also restricts the use of comparative material to an illustrative function. Only when the literary context cannot be used to conclude whether it is a case of a legal symbolic act or not, will the comparative material be used in a further, explanatory sense. The analysis focuses on the three aspects of performance, legal function, and historical explanation, and includes the following acts: raising the hand, shaking the hand, putting the hand under the thigh, walking through a divided animal, sharing a meal, piercing the ear of a slave, anointing the head with oil, grasping the horns of the altar, transferring the mantle, covering a woman with the mantle, removing the sandal, and putting a child on the knees.

The purpose of this study is to understand the symbolic acts that are performed by the prophets in the Old Testament. What do these characters intend with their various symbolic acts? Viberg attempts to show that these prophetic acts are part and parcel of their prophetic message, nonverbal communication that extends the rhetorical arsenal these prophets made use of in action, as they struggle to persuade. The task of this study is accomplished through an exhaustive exegetical analysis of the relevant texts, with a particular focus on the symbolism involved. The goal is to formulate the purpose and function of these acts, together with a description of the acts and how they have been construed by means of various forms of symbolism. The theoretical approach works on three levels: first, the text that describes the symbolic act; second, the performance of the act within the textual world; and third, the symbolic reference or representation of the act within the symbolic world of the act. These symbolic acts are also set in the larger contexts of nonverbal communication and the ancient Near East.

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. 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 Infringement. 4. 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. 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. 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 aphiemi 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

This dissertation o!ers a detailed analysis of birth metaphors in Job 1, 3, 10, 38, and 39 by using blending theory, supplemented by conceptual metaphor theory. It explores both metaphors that describe birth and those that use birth as a metaphor for other concepts, such as creation and death. It also concerns related concepts such as fetal formation, womb, and stillbirth. The metaphors are studied in their cultural and literary contexts, as well as how they are grounded in embodied experiences of birth. Blending theory explains various cognitive processes and can analyze both conventional metaphors and new, complex ones. It explains the debated expression of death as a return to the womb in Job 1:21, based on a cognitive process where something is understood through negated features of its antonym. A detailed mapping of the metaphors in Job 3 reveals, contrary to the dominant interpretation, that Job does not wish to curse all of creation but only the day he was born. Furthermore, it shows that the womb is blended with the grave and Sheol, but without projecting any positive associations of the womb to the realm of death. This study examines how conventional metaphors are replaced by new ones and demonstrates how the birth metaphors in Job 38-39 challenge the traditional combat motif, where God is seen as combating the sea and wild chaotic forces. The portrayal of God as a midwife includes an act of breaking the limit to the sea, which contradicts the combat motif. Rather than dominating creation, God is depicted as a midwife and a parent who is close to it, providing all wild creatures with food and freedom. Overall, the study underscores the central position of birth metaphors in these key chapters of Job. A close analysis of the metaphors contributes to the interpretation of the biblical text, from the understanding of specific Hebrew words to how innovative metaphors challenge both the beliefs of their time and current interpretations.

This thesis offers a novel interpretation of 1 Cor 11:2-16 in light of the Roman ritual practice of capite velato, a custom of covering the head with a garment during prayer, sacrifice, and divination. It traces linguistic and conceptual links between ancient descriptions and depictions of capite velato and 1 Cor 11:2-16, and demonstrates that this ritual gesture must have been familiar to Paul and his Corinthian interlocutors. With the aid of cognitive science of religion, this thesis explores the possible reasons for and implications of Paul's instructions on this Roman custom in First Corinthians. It argues that 1 Cor 11:2-16 preserves a clash of values between Paul and his addressees in regards to the correct procedure and efficacy of prayer and accessing of divine knowledge: some in Corinth had begun to argue that for the sake of uniformity, all members of the Christ association, including married women of all cultures, should strip their heads of everything when in prayer or when seeking divine knowledge to match the appearance of Roman men whom Paul had asked not to pray with garments over the head. In response to this, Paul found a way to argue that praying with a garment over the head is only shameful for men, but the same does not apply for women, and so women can keep their head-coverings and hair accessories on during prayer and prophecy. While these instructions may have been intelligible to the original readers, later interpreters of Paul, who had no knowledge of the Sitz im Leben that prompted 1 Cor 11:2-16, misunderstood and misappropriated Paul's instructions in this passage, mistakenly believing Paul to have been solely concerned with a faction of rebellious women in the Corinthian congregation. These assumptions have dominated the readings of 1 Cor 11:2-16, but this thesis offers an alternative interpretation that builds on a more accurate understanding of ancient customs and ideals related to ritual head-coverings.

The thesis attends to ecclesial matters of aid by analysing the ecclesiological problem of identity and meaning of ACT Alliance. African churches are participating in aid, and Ethiopia is a good case with its intensity of church-based aid work. ACT Alliance was an ecumenical initiative to act in solidarity with people in need through coordination and collaboration. ACT, i.e. Action by Churches Together, expresses the churches growing together in koinonia. In theory, this ecclesiologically informed idea was conceptualised as ecumenical diakonia. Christian aid agencies may suffer a mission drift and loss of identity causing inner secularisation in the churches thus endangering Christian commitment to the poor. Tensions in the study signify an ambiguity that this thesis investigates through the case of the ETH141 ACT Appeal to support South Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia in 2014 with two churches in Ethiopia shedding light on the issue. The ACT forum failed to attract church funding and mobilised state funding by a consortium with a principled humanitarian approach appropriate for refugee assistance. The Maedot of 1983 from the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church and the ECMY letter of 1972 from the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus supported integral human development while criticising a donor-based approach, based on a sense of Ethiopian ownership, Christian anthropology, and the gospel. The ETH141 resembles an international crisis model, i.e. relief assistance by ecumenical specialised agencies coordinating with other stakeholders without being: integrated with the churches, intended as intra-church aid, or set up for Christian mission. Tensions indicate superficial conflict but deep concord between aid and church, and deep conflict between exclusive humanism and the churches' mission to reach every person with the gospel and life of the church.

I denna avhandling analyseras användningen av termen episkopos och besläktade termer i kristna texter mellan 60 och 180 e.v.t. Kategorier från social identitetsteori relaterade till ledarskap -- såsom prototypikalitet, identitetsentreprenörskap, identitetsproduktion och identitetsfrämjande -- indikerar att det framväxande biskopsämbetet inom de kristna grupperna spelade en betydande roll i utvecklingen av en specifikt kristen identitet. Viktiga texter från Nya testamentet (Filipperbrevet, Apostlagärningarna, 1 Petrusbrevet och Pastoralbreven) och icke-kanoniska skrifter (Didache, Hermas Herden, 1 Klemensbrevet, Ignatiusbreven och Irenaeus Mot Heresierna, bok tre) undersöks. Alla dessa texter framhäver behovet av prototypiskt ledarskap, vilket betyder ledarskap som förkroppsligar gruppens normer. Texterna utvecklar också gruppens ideal som ett exempel på entreprenörskap: Vissa drag, såsom efterlevnad av halakha (förutom Didache), utesluts som uttryck för kristet liv. Dessutom ses det framväxande episkopatet, från Apostlagärningarna till Irenaeus, som en fortsättning på Jesus och apostlarnas uppdrag, och som en representation av det himmelska riket (Ignatius), så att kristen identitet är inbäddad i den episkopala strukturen (ett exempel på identitetsproduktion). Detta tyder på att det framväxande biskopsämbetet vidgade klyftan mellan kristna grupper och synagogor, med endast det enskilda undantaget i Didache.

Nödvändighetens teologi är en vänbok till Åke Viberg, lärare vid Enskilda Högskolan Stockholm och docent i Gamla testamentets exegetik. Vänboken är en samlingsvolym med bidrag från svenska och internationella kollegor, samt före detta studenter. När Åke Viberg nu går i pension så är det en epok som tar slut. Åke Viberg har undervisat på Enskilda Högskolan Stockholm sedan högskolans start 1994 (då under namnet Teologiska högskolan, Stockholm) och är den sista av de lärare som var med från begynnelsen. Boken har tre avdelningar: Jobs bok, Profeter och uttolkare, samt Praktiker och ritualer. Artiklarna tar avstamp i ett av Åke Vibergs kreativa perspektiv på texttolkning: "nödvändighetens teologi" (theology by necessity). Det handlar om hur texternas teologier växer fram och förändras i förhållande till de antika sammanhangens politiska och sociala omständigheter. Innehållsförteckning: Del 1. Jobs bok Katharine J. Dell, Jobsbokens "nödvändighet" i ljuset av exilen och babyloniska föreställningar om den enskilda människans lidande Paul K.-K. Cho, Job och skapandet av ett nödvändigt rum för teologi Lisa Plantin, Elihu -- en nödvändig komisk figur Del 2. Profeter och uttolkare Göran Eidevall, Visheten och profeterna: Om offerkult och dryckenskap Antti Laato, Tidigkristna uppfattningar om det jordiska Jerusalem Martin Landgren, Den ikoniske Agabos: Om profetism, Paulus och den tidiga Jesusrörelsen i ett pluralistiskt samhälle Carl Johan Berglund, Den gammaltestamentliga undertexten i tidigkristna apostlaberättelser Josef Forsling, Den aronitiska välsignelsen på svenska: Översättning som teologisk tolkning Stefanie Sporre, "Den livstolkande potentialen": Gamla testamentets profetiska röst i kristen predikan LarsOlov Eriksson, Om bibelkommentarers nödvändighet Hanna Stenström, När framtiden blir nödvändig för att orka leva i nuet Del 3. Praktiker och ritualer Thomas Kazen, Från Tora till lag: Hur grekisk och romersk jurisdiktion påverkade intra-judiska debatter Rikard Roitto, Mellanmänsklig förlåtelse i Nya testamentet: Teologiska och etiska idéer i samspel med sociala mekanismer Susanne Wigorts Yngvesson, "Ett spel i en smutsig ateljé": Synliga och osynliga rituella mönster i Ingmar Bergmans filmvärld Jonas Ideström, Ner på jorden -- praktisk teologi och teopolitik

Anders Frostenson var en av det förra seklets mest framstående svenska psalmförfattare. Att skriva ny psalm låg nära hans hjärta och därför grundade han AF-stiftelsen Psalm och Sång. Under 30 år har ungefär 100 personer deltagit i psalmskolor i stiftelsens regi, i syfte att fördjupa skapandet av ny psalm. I denna bok ingår ett urval texter som har tillkommit genom åren. Här finns igenkänning för vad psalm är, samtidigt som formuleringarna i psalm-paletten varierar. Utöver att vara poesi till musik, är psalm också uttryck för kristen tro. Här får vi ta del av hur rik denna levande skatt är via 73 psalmtexter, i många fall med korta presentationer av tillkomsthistorien.