To forsvar for teologien: trykkefrihet og teologiske tekstkulturer i svenske og danske tidsskrifter på slutten av 1700-tallet

Abstract

Defending Theology: Freedom of the Press and Theological Textual Cultures in Swedish and Danish Periodicals at the Turn of the Eighteenth Century

This article examines the relationship between theology and freedom of the press in the periodicals Läsning i blandade ämnen (Stockholm 1797–1801) and Minerva (Copenhagen, 1785–1801). Sweden and Denmark were subject to different press regulations in the last decades of the eighteenth century, not least concerning theological issues. The editors of the periodicals in question sought to contribute to general enlightenment, and each of them published texts thematizing theological and religious issues. Through close reading of theological texts from these periodicals, the present study aims to demonstrate how the different press regulations in the two countries entailed a need for different presentations of Christian ideas during a period when dogmatic Christian teaching was challenged. This will in turn shed light on the role of these periodicals as far as public opinion regarding theology and theological themes in general is concerned.