Swedish Religion Education:
Objective but Marinated in Lutheran Protestantism?
JENNY BERGLUND
Södertörn University
Abstract
In this article, I use the experience of a Czech doctoral student to
discuss why religion education in Sweden can be understood as both
deeply Lutheran and at the same time neutral and objective. In do-
ing this, I look at the present syllabus in religion education, point to
some of the changes that have been made in relation to the previous
syllabus, and highlight some of the controversies that arose when it
¹± ¹°ımØ- ı- ｲｰｱｰ╆ * œ±© ¬³² 4¹ØŁı±æ °Øœıºı©- ØŁ³ª²ı©- -Ł 4¹ØŁ-
ish educational system in a historical context, pointing to its relation
to liberal theology and cultural Protestantism. In addition, I present
how teacher education is organized for religion education teachers
and how the academic Study of Religions has been an important part
©Œ ²æı± Ł³°ı-º °ØªØ-² ŁØªŁØ±╆ "² ²æØ Ø-Ł ©Œ ²æØ °²ıªœØ * °ØSت² ³¬©-
the protestant taste of Sweden’s ‘non-denominational and neutral’
religion education.
Keywords: RE, Sweden, non-confessional religion education, syllabus,
Church of Sweden, Lutheran Protestantism
A couple of years ago I was contacted by a doctoral student from the Czech
Republic. She was writing her PhD about religious education (RE) in Sweden
-Ł æŁ ÆØØ- Ł©ı-º RØœŁ¹©°ø ı- ŁıTØ°Ø-² ±ªæ©©œ± ı- ßıŁま±ı¾ØŁ ²©¹- ı-
the southern part of the country. On the phone she said that she was deeply
puzzled about what she had experienced and wondered if we could meet. I
º°ØØŁ╇ -Ł ª©³¬œØ ©Œ ¹ØØø± œ²Ø° ±æØ ²³°-ØŁ ³¬ ² ß½ ©UªØ╆ 4æØ ²©œŁ ßØ
²æ² ¹æØ- ±²°²ı-º æØ° 1æ% ¬°©łØª² ±æØ æŁ °ØŁ ß³ªæ Æ©³² ²æØ ŁıTØ°Ø-²
models of RE in Europe. She had been fascinated by the Swedish one, which
±²-Ł± ©³² ı- ²Ø°ß± ©Œ ÆØı-º ŁØR-ØŁ ± ª©ß¬³œ±©°½╇ ı-²Øº°²ıµØ╇ ¹ı²æ -©
©¬²ま©³² ¬©±±ıÆıœı²½╇ -Ł ı-ªœ³ŁØ± ²Øªæı-º Æ©³² ŁıTØ°Ø-² °Øœıºı©-± -Ł 】-©-ま
religious worldviews’, is non-denominational, and described as objective.
8æØ- ¹Ø ßز╇ ±æØ æŁ ÆØØ- Ł©ı-º RØœŁ¹©°ø ı- 4¹ØŁı±æ 3& ªœ±±°©©ß±
Œ©° ｳ ß©-²æ±╆ )Ø° ¬³¾¾œØßØ-² ¹± Ł³Ø ²© ²æØ Œª² ²æ² ı-±²ØŁ ©Œ R-Łı-º
²æØ ©ÆłØª²ıµØ 3& ²æ² ±æØ Ø¼¬Øª²ØŁ ²© R-Ł╇ ±æØ æŁ Œ©³-Ł ¹æ² ±æØ ªœœØŁ
】²æØ .تª ©Œ -³²æØ°-ı±ß‒╆ 4æØ ©TØ°ØŁ ±ØµØ°œ ؼ߬œØ± ²© ł³±²ıŒ½ ²æı±
5ØßØ-©± 7©œ╆ ｴｹ /©╆ ｲ 〉ｲｰｱｳ《╇ ｱｶｵむｸｴ © The Finnish Society for the Study of Religion