Simple Swedish Podcast - #290 - Religion i Sverige

Episode Date: August 4, 2025

Nivå: A2-B1 Lär dig om religion i Sverige samtidigt som du lär dig många viktiga ord på temat! --- Nästa Free 6 Week Challenge börjar den 18 augusti! Registrera dig nu för att säkra din plats (sista dag att registrera sig är fredagen 15/8) Klicka här för att läsa mer och anmäla dig. Gå på 30 lektioner inom 6 veckor Alla lektioner är optimerade för att träna på konversation Perfekt för att bygga självförtroende och flyt på svenska Om du klarar utmaningen får du hela depositionen tillbaka! --- Transkript Hallå där och välkommen till Simple Swedish Podcast avsnitt 290. Ja, 290 och det ska handla om religion. Lite mer specifikt religion i Sverige. Okej. Innan vi börjar ska jag tacka några patrons. Det är Sefika, Claudia, Essi-Noora, JB, Plan 9, John, Neil och Shveta. Så tusen tack till er för att ni stödjer den här podden. Ja, och jag kan också meddela att vi kommer starta våran nästa 6 Week Free Challenge den 18 augusti. Okej. Den 18 augusti startar nästa 3 Week Free Challenge. Okej. Och det här är för dig som redan kan en del svenska, kanske förstår mycket men har svårt att prata eller inte har så många möjligheter att prata. Så det här kommer kickstarta din svenska talförmåga. Talförmåga, alltså ens förmåga att tala. Alltså att man kan tala, att man kan prata. Så om du vill kickstarta det, alltså din talkapacitet kan man säga. Och verkligen börja prata mycket på svenska så är den här utmaningen perfekt för dig. Så jag lämnar mer information och länk i beskrivningen här. Okej. Så Sverige är ett av världens mest sekulära länder. Så vad betyder sekulär? Så sekulär är att det inte är så religiöst. Eh, ordet religiös, okej, det brukar vara lite svårt för folk. Religiös, religiös. Om jag är religiös, då betyder det att jag tror på Gud. ...för hela transkriptet, klicka här

Hello there and welcome to Simple Swedish Podcast, episode 290. 290 and it's going to be about religion. More specifically religion in Sweden Before we start I would like to thank some Patrons It's Chefika, Claudia, Esinora, JB, Plan 9, John, Neil and Sweta So thank you so much for supporting this podcast. I can also tell you that we will start our next 6 week freez challenge on August 18th. August 18th starts the next Free Six Week Challenge.

This is for you, who already know some Swedish, maybe understand a lot, but have difficulty or don't have many opportunities to speak so this will kickstart your Swedish speaking ability speaking ability, meaning your ability to speak meaning that you can speak, that you can speak so if you want to kickstart your speaking capacity, you could say and really start to speak a lot in Swedish, this challenge is perfect for you

so I'll leave more information and links in the description here ok, so Sweden is one of the world's most secular countries. So what does secular mean? So secular is that it is not so religious. The word religious, okay, it is usually a bit difficult for people. Religious, religious. If I am religious, then it means That I believe in God.

Or that I have a religion. I am a believer. So to be a believer is pretty much the same as to be religious. To be a believer, I believe in God or something divine I am religious, which means I have a religion I believe in a religion So listen to these words A religion and religious

ok, a little tricky word ok so Sweden is not very religious Sweden is quite secular maybe one of the most secular countries. But religion is still a part of everyday life. Maybe a little more cultural than purely religious. Because we have many traditions, many cultural aspects that come from Christianity Christianity means that you believe in Jesus, Christ So, then you are a Christian and religion is called Christianity And I thought we could start with some history about religion in Sweden. The Vikings believed in the Asa gods.

They had Asatron. Asatron was the religion of the Viking period. Before Sweden became the Christian. Before Christianity came to Sweden. Then people had Asa-belief, you know, Odin, Thor, Freyja, Balder, Loki, these Asa-gods, which are called Asa-gods. Asagudarna, which is called Asagudar. And then, around the 1000's, around the year 1000, so now it's the year 2025, so this was about a thousand years ago

then Sweden began to become the Christ so the Christianity began to come Yes and The Asa faith began to disappear so people believed less and less on the Asa gods and they began to believe less and less in the Asa gods and so You also hear that we say in Swedish to believe in something So if I have a religion, if I am a christian then I believe in God Okay

Then, in the 1500s, that is 500 years ago Then Then the Reformation happened and the Reformation was that Sweden stopped being Catholic and started becoming Protestant So Catholicism and Protestantism, I think, are two versions of Christianity,

two branches. Sweden became Protestant in the 1500s. Gust was Gustav Vasa who introduced Protestantism, who made it into a law. So it became illegal to be Catholic, simply. And Sweden was on the side of the protestants in the 30 years war in the 1600s One of the biggest wars in Europe's history, the 30 years war in the 1600s Between protestants and catholics, Sweden was on the side of the protestants and catholic Sweden was on the side of protestants and protestants won a lot in that war protestants are a lot, north, west europe scandinavia, north, germany, big britain, West Europe, Scandinavia, North Germany, Great Britain, France, I don't really know if it's more and more secular. In the 1500s and 1600s Sweden was very religious.

Religion was very important. But in the 1700s, 1800s and 1900s it became more and more secular. In 1860 it was legal to leave the church. In 2000 the church and the state were completely different. The church became completely independent. So the church became completely independent. And the church is where you go if you are a Christian. If I am a Christian, I go to the church. I go to the church to listen to the priest. So a priest is this have a meeting in the church

It's like... You can be in a specific meeting and that meeting often has a priest and you might know the other people in your congregation. That congregation has a Yes, a specific faith, a specific version of Christianity and so So as I said, Sweden is not very religious compared to other countries

But many people have some kind of faith The majority of Swedes think I have some kind of faith. You believe in something, maybe God, maybe something more spiritual, spiritual. But many believe in something, but most of them don't go to church that often so the Swedish church actually has many members 50% of all Swedes are members

in the Swedish church so 50% are members in the Swedish church but not many go to the church so often. Because, you have to go to the church on Sundays. It may be common in many countries that you go to the church every week, but in Sweden it's not that common Not unusual either, but it's not very common Most people, the majority, don't go to church every week and religion is not a big part of life

even if many people have some kind of faith and it is often quite private so people might not talk so much about religion or what faith they have so it is also quite private maybe and as I said, Christianity in Sweden is more cultural because we have many traditions that are Christian and for example we have bröllop

which means that to get married. So this ceremony, this ritual, you have when you get married, when you become husband and wife, is called bröllop. So bröllop is of course in Sweden a Christian tradition, but many people getathers in the church. You invite everyone in the family, maybe some friends too, everyone comes to the church and the priest stands with the child and has some water on the child's head. It is a dip. You dip the child. So it's called to dip the child.

You can say, are you dead? Are you dead? It means, did they kill you when you were little? Was it a bath? When you were a baby? So, a bath is a tradition. We also have confirmation so confirmation is when you are 14 years old and... yes, you go to the church

maybe in 2, 3, 4, I don't know you have to go to the church and have a few sessions there together with all the other youths that are going to be confirmed. And you are at some kind of camp and then you have a ceremony in the church and then you have a party at home. And you get presents so I remember that when I was 14 so

then it was confirmation and I didn't confirm I wasn't that interested but it was still quite popular to confirm yourself. And I know many confirmed themselves because they get gifts.

So most of them may not be so religious, most of them may not confirm themselves because they are so religious But it's a tradition, you get gifts So many people do it anyway And then we have the funeral Also a Christian tradition Begravning, also, när någon har dött. Då håller man en begravning för den personen. Så man begraver den personen. Så ja, man har dop i början av livet, konfirmation i tonåren, bröllop när man gifter sig,

och begravning när man lämnar jordelivet. wedding when you get married and funeral when you leave the earth. So it is Christian traditions that most people still do even if they are not very religious. And also people who are not religious. It is also common to get married in the church or have children. We have some vocabulary, we have gone through religion and having a belief, to believe in a religion You are a believer You can also be non-believer So if I am non-believer, then I am not a believer

Then I am an atheist, basically You can also be an agnostic If you are an agnostic, it means that you are not a believer, but you are not an atheist. You may not know or care about yourself. We have the word church. So church is the place that Christians go to to practice their religion So for example to listen to the priest You listen to the priest who preaches in the church You can pray in the church, that be is when you say a prayer, a prayer is like that you pray, you pray a prayer

it's like good God thank you for this and this I would like this and this Amen, yes So it is a prayer To pray, simply So you say that you pray to God And you can do that in the church If you are, for example, Muslim So you pray in a mosque So it is called a mosque, where Muslims go to practice their religion. We have a synagogue, is part of Judaism. So we call it Judaism.

And they go to a synagogue. And we have God. God is this... Yeah, I think you know what God is. We have Jesus. we have the Bible, a priest, a monk, a priest, a bride, a funeral, an atheist, an agnostic, a secular person, a religious person, ok? This word is a little difficult. Religious. Can you say that? Religious. Religious. Good. So that was it

about religion in Sweden. So please comment this episode. Is there something that is surprising to you? Something you reacted to? Do you have experience of religion in your country or in Sweden? How does religion differ in Sweden from your home country? Comment the episode and we'll see you next week and don't forget that August 18th starts our next Free Six Week Challenge.

Have a good one!