Presentation of doctoral students and PhD-projects

Anders Ek

“Augustine on the being of God. Transcendence and participation in De Trinitate.” The project addresses questions about the ontology of God and how they are expressed in the thinking of the Church Father Augustine of Hippo. Through a reading of the work De Trinitate I investigate how Augustine handles the tension between the transcendence of God and God being Being itself.

Samuel Gabrielsäther

“Mysticism as the Possibility of Theology”. This project investigates how to conceptualize a notion of time and space from the theological frameworks of Hildegard of Bingen and Catherine of Siena, particularly in relation to prayer, sanctification, and liturgy.

Simon Henriksson

“Rethinking Theology in a Post-Religious Age. Engaging Michel Henry's Phenomenology of Life.” The project focuses the French philosopher Michel Henry (1922–2002) within the framework of contemporary theological and philosophical debate about religion and secularity. The thesis focuses on the role of religious experience in Henry's phenomenological project.

Hasan Jaffrey

“From Unbelief to Belief”. This project focuses on al-Ghazali’s critique of philosophy in light of Mullā Ṣadrā’s thought and how Ṣadrā can respond to the accusation that philosophy leads to unbelief. The project also explores Ṣadrā’s understanding of revelation and reason, and its possible relevance for contemporary systematic theology.

Hanna Kinnunen

”Amor mundi/Contemptus mundi.” This project focuses on political-theological ideas about worldliness, taking its starting point in political theorist Hannah Arendt's concept of love of the world, amor mundi. The aim of the study is to highlight the critical potential of this concept by placing it in dialogue with a selection of theological perspectives that bring to light a tension between affirming and distancing oneself from the world and worldliness.

Gamze Köyluoglu

“Hüseyin Atay and the modern muslim reform movement.” The project highlights Hüseyin Atay's attempts to theorize about Islamic theology and its role in modern society. What is the new understanding of Islam that he advocates in relation to the other Muslim reformists and in what way does he stand out? What methods does he argue for and what are the central concepts in his thinking?

Olivia Saad

”Sovereignty in Islamic political theology.” This project explores the concept of sovereignty in modern Islamic political thought, with a focus on Sayyid Qutb. The sovereignty concept is connected to questions of what constitutes legitimate authority, legislation and exercise of power. Furthermore, the project explores how the Islamic concept of sovereignty relates to liberalism and democracy.

Samuel Åsberg

“A Pneumatologically Mediating Politics. The Role of the Spirit in the Political Theology of Amos Yong.” The project dwells on discussions concerning the ecclesiastical turn in political theology and deals more specifically with the relationship between pneumatology and the theological understanding of the church's political role in the thinking of the Pentecostal theologian Amos Yong.