Änglarna, dopet och barnen : En studie i Luthers och Swedenborgs angelogier

Sammanfattning: This study aims to clarify the angelologies of Emanuel Swedenborg and Martin Luther, using textual study as method, and to use comparative analysis to distinguish both differences and similarities between them. The theory I have applied is new historicism, which views the text as an artefact and holds that a text and its context influence each other in a constant give-and-take-relationship. As the topic of angels is vast, I have chosen to focus on the angel’s being and task within creation, their relationship to humans and especially children, and their relationship to baptism. In the process of the study several similarities and differences between Swedenborg’s and Luther’s angelologies have become obvious, many of which have been shown to depend on their contexts as well as their respective theologies and basic assumptions about what an angel in essence is. What has also become clear after conducting this study is that both Luther and Swedenborg saw angels as a natural part of human life and specifically life in the church.