”TRO OCH TVIVEL” En studie om kristen tro i ett en gång sekulärt men numera postsekulärt Sverige

Abstract

This thesis explores how participants and leaders in “Alpha”, an introductory course to the Christian faith, relate to and practice faith in Sweden. Sweden has often been viewed as a secular country where religion has been seen as irrational, outdated, and as something that belongs to the other but not to the self. Through the eyes of Swedish Christian practitioners, this study explores what kind of relationship my informants have to Christian faith and God while also exploring how living in a secular or post-secular context affects their way of believing and interpreting God and the stories written in the Bible. Furthermore, understanding of the Bible is viewed in the light of the concepts “mythos” and “logos” which highlights where Western explanatory models fail to explain and understand mythological stories. This paper examines empirical data contributing to the secular and post-secular debate, empirical data was collected through participant observation during the course “Alpha” and semi-structured interviews with participants and leaders of the course. The main findings of this study show how my informants have adapted their faith to fit within, or stand out from, the dominant and secular explanatory model. This thesis is written in Swedish.