Digging for Roots : Perceptions of Secularity and Biblical Assemblages in the 1957–58 Public Debate on Women’s Ordination in Sweden
Mannerfelt, Frida LU
(2026)
In Biblical Interpretation
34(1).
p.13-36
- Abstract
- This article aims to ‘dig for the roots’ of the entanglement between secularity and the Bible in Sweden. By employing the concepts “religionization” and “biblical assemblages,” this study identifies and analyzes the interplay between perceptions of secularity and the Bible in the public debate on women’s ordination in the Church of Sweden (CofS) in the 1950s – a crucial decade in the secularization process of Swedish society. It identifies three different perceptions of secularity, all linked primarily, but not exclusively, to a certain biblical assemblage, and analyzes how these views of secularity and the Bible develop in contrast to each other, contrasts that are enhanced by religionization processes of selfing and othering, and the... (More)
- This article aims to ‘dig for the roots’ of the entanglement between secularity and the Bible in Sweden. By employing the concepts “religionization” and “biblical assemblages,” this study identifies and analyzes the interplay between perceptions of secularity and the Bible in the public debate on women’s ordination in the Church of Sweden (CofS) in the 1950s – a crucial decade in the secularization process of Swedish society. It identifies three different perceptions of secularity, all linked primarily, but not exclusively, to a certain biblical assemblage, and analyzes how these views of secularity and the Bible develop in contrast to each other, contrasts that are enhanced by religionization processes of selfing and othering, and the fact that the biblical assemblages are mediatized, functioning in accordance with media logic. Furthermore, the study shows how Yvonne Sherwood’s concept of a Liberal Bible plays out in the 1950s theo-political context of what today is considered one of the most secularized countries in the world. (Less)
- Abstract (Swedish)
- This article aims to ‘dig for the roots’ of the entanglement between secularity and the Bible in Sweden. By employing the concepts “religionization” and “biblical assemblages,” this study identifies and analyzes the interplay between perceptions of secularity and the Bible in the public debate on women’s ordination in the Church of Sweden (CofS) in the 1950s – a crucial decade in the secularization process of Swedish society. It identifies three different perceptions of secularity, all linked primarily, but not exclusively, to a certain biblical assemblage, and analyzes how these views of secularity and the Bible develop in contrast to each other, contrasts that are enhanced by religionization processes of selfing and othering, and the... (More)
- This article aims to ‘dig for the roots’ of the entanglement between secularity and the Bible in Sweden. By employing the concepts “religionization” and “biblical assemblages,” this study identifies and analyzes the interplay between perceptions of secularity and the Bible in the public debate on women’s ordination in the Church of Sweden (CofS) in the 1950s – a crucial decade in the secularization process of Swedish society. It identifies three different perceptions of secularity, all linked primarily, but not exclusively, to a certain biblical assemblage, and analyzes how these views of secularity and the Bible develop in contrast to each other, contrasts that are enhanced by religionization processes of selfing and othering, and the fact that the biblical assemblages are mediatized, functioning in accordance with media logic. Furthermore, the study shows how Yvonne Sherwood’s concept of a Liberal Bible plays out in the 1950s theo-political context of what today is considered one of the most secularized countries in the world. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/528a2ab3-09f3-4f99-9cda-623b73b8c40a
- author
- Mannerfelt, Frida
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026-05-04
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- biblical reception, Biblical assemblages, secularity, religionization, biblical assemblages, secularity, Bible, public debate, women’s ordination
- in
- Biblical Interpretation
- volume
- 34
- issue
- 1
- pages
- 24 pages
- publisher
- Brill
- ISSN
- 0927-2569
- DOI
- 10.1163/15685152-20262002
- project
- Scripture and Secularism: Mapping the Impact of the Bible on Conceptualizations of Europe
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 528a2ab3-09f3-4f99-9cda-623b73b8c40a
- date added to LUP
- 2026-05-04 09:00:04
- date last changed
- 2026-06-10 09:10:20
@article{528a2ab3-09f3-4f99-9cda-623b73b8c40a,
abstract = {{This article aims to ‘dig for the roots’ of the entanglement between secularity and the Bible in Sweden. By employing the concepts “religionization” and “biblical assemblages,” this study identifies and analyzes the interplay between perceptions of secularity and the Bible in the public debate on women’s ordination in the Church of Sweden (CofS) in the 1950s – a crucial decade in the secularization process of Swedish society. It identifies three different perceptions of secularity, all linked primarily, but not exclusively, to a certain biblical assemblage, and analyzes how these views of secularity and the Bible develop in contrast to each other, contrasts that are enhanced by religionization processes of selfing and othering, and the fact that the biblical assemblages are mediatized, functioning in accordance with media logic. Furthermore, the study shows how Yvonne Sherwood’s concept of a Liberal Bible plays out in the 1950s theo-political context of what today is considered one of the most secularized countries in the world.}},
author = {{Mannerfelt, Frida}},
issn = {{0927-2569}},
keywords = {{biblical reception; Biblical assemblages; secularity; religionization; biblical assemblages; secularity; Bible; public debate; women’s ordination}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{05}},
number = {{1}},
pages = {{13--36}},
publisher = {{Brill}},
series = {{Biblical Interpretation}},
title = {{Digging for Roots : Perceptions of Secularity and Biblical Assemblages in the 1957–58 Public Debate on Women’s Ordination in Sweden}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/15685152-20262002}},
doi = {{10.1163/15685152-20262002}},
volume = {{34}},
year = {{2026}},
}