The Bible as a Political Tool

In this open access volume, Hanna Liljefors examines how the Bible was used by Sweden’s largest newspapers between 1979-1983 and 2019-2023, key periods before and after the Church-State separation in Sweden. By applying critical discourse analysis, Liljefors investigates which patterns emerge in political usages of the Bible, in a country often described as the world’s most secularized nation. Liljefors examines what happens to the Bible in media debates in a pluralistic and secularist society, which is at the same time affected by social processes such as mediatization and politicization of religion.Through various case studies, Liljefors explores the underlying ideologies that impact Bible-use by the media, highlighting the various texts, interpretations, and actors that dominate the debate. Liljefors examines the Church of Sweden, debates on welfare, immigration and integration, alongside the broader patterns and changes in the Bible’s usage over time. Ultimately, Liljefors places the analysis of the case of Sweden in broader developments regarding biblical reception in the West, to explore what Sweden offers for debates more generally about secularism, identity, and the relationship between the Bible and politics in the modern world.The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by Lund University.