Guds ord och konungens bud Teologi och politik i predikan i det svenska riket 1611–1648

Abstract

This B achelor's thesis explores sermons in E arly M odern Sweden from 1611 to 1648 as an educational tool, a channel for news, and a propaganda instrument for the state. It studies how sermons legitimised sovereign action and modified political and social realities during Gustav II Adolf's rule to the end o f the Thirty Years' War. The method followed is a socio cultural historical analysis of the content of the sermons and how the sermon legitimises or supports Lutheran doctrines and societal structures. The main results show that the sermons constituted an influential factor in the process of national consolidation, using Lutheran doctrine as a coalescing factor, restating collective moral responsibilities to be a loyal Swedish subject and supporting the ambitions of political power. This contributes to unde rstanding the religion politics society interface in the Swedish Realm in this period.