Scripture and Secularism in Modern Scandinavia and Beyond

The aim of this special issue is to advance research on biblical reception in Scandinavian contexts and to offer new insights into the intricate relationship between religiosity and secularity more broadly. This is done by engaging with theoretical questions concerning religion, secularity, and biblical reception in the modern world. In this introduction, we contextualize the special issue in relation to previous biblical scholarship on the relationship between “the Bible” and “the secular” as well as research on the Scandinavian conditions. In addition to contextualizing the special issue, we introduce its content and contributors. Ultimately, the introduction argues that the Scandinavian conditions, with their distinctive yet globally resonant features, render the inquiry of the entanglement between “the Bible” and “the secular” relevant beyond the northern European periphery. By situating Scandinavian examples within global scholarly debates, the special issue contributes to both new empirical material and theoretical reflections that resonate across different contexts.