"Jag kan inte tro, så jag hoppas istället" : En innehållslig idéanalys av konfirmanders trosberättelser

Sammanfattning: Using a substantive idea analysis, of five confirmands’s faith stories, this essay aimes to try to show indications that the secularization, that Sweden is characterized by today, is not solely due to people having a reduced faith or an absent faith. I want to show that there is a natural development in the religious language. This was done by answering two questions and using the developed analysis questions on the faith stories. By analyzing each individual confirmand’s faith story based on the four analysis questions: How does the confirmand describe God? How does the confirmand describe faith? How does the story relate to Sallie McFague? as well as How does the story relate to Janet Soskice? The analysis led to a number of conclusions. These cleary show that faith and what or who God is, is highly personal and an inner process. People today need new metaphors relevant to the their present, to describe the elusive and abstract. Since metaphors have a central function in the design of the religious language, it means that the religious language changes when the society changes. This indicates that secularizations in todays Sweden is not only about reduced faith or an absent faith.