A brief history of protestantism in Sweden

The change for Lutheranism was a slow process. During the 16th century, the King acquired the power to confiscate church property. Later in the same century, King Johan III and his successor, his son with Katerina Jagelonica, Sigismund, who had become King of Poland and then became King of Sweden also, tended toward reformed Catholicism. In the same time, the Augsburgian confession, Confessio Augustana, a Lutheran document, was accepted by Uppsala church meeting as the official teaching in 1593. Sigismund's successor Karl IX, in his turn, was attracted by Calvinism, causing another setback for Lutheranism. So it was not until the 17th century that the church was dominated by Lutheran orthodoxy, and that was also the time when the ties to the state became even stronger.

2. Crisis, split up of Lutheran unity and freedom of religion

During the 18th and 19th centuries, the church was challenged by new movements from outside. First came pietism, which, if I'm correctly informed, was originally a movement within Methodism. Second came what we know in Sweden as "herrnhutism" which is a word formed from "Herrn Hus" (Mister Hus), the founder of the Moravian Church. So it was the Moravian Church that came to have influence in Sweden. There were conflicts that led to a split up of Lutheran unity, and a number of "free churches" came into existence. Freedom of religion was instated to a limited degree, and was initially reserved for foreigners under King Gustav III. From 1860 onwards it allowed also for Swedes and Geats to be members of a new denomination.

source: Svenska kyrkan - Wikipedia, den fria encyklopedin

----------------------------------------------

3. The "National" Church

The concept of national church came to Sweden from Germany in the beginning of the 20th century, but it was not until Einar Billing, bishop in Västerås 1920-1939, put stress on it, that things began to get serious. According to Billing, every nation had its own signum from God. This movement can be understood in the context of split up of Lutheran unity just mentioned. Mass attendance was no longer mandatory, and people didn't attend in such great numbers anymore. The church was no longer what it had been, and Billing wanted to revive it with a collectivist-nationalist turn, although it was a very fatal idea.

The Social Democrat Worker's Party (SAP, Socialdemokratiska Arbetarpartiet) came to power in 1933, and the stance of the party on religious freedom changed markedly after that. Arthur Engberg of SAP was now ecclesiastic minister. He was a cultural radical who, in the 1910's, had said that there could be no greater crime against the deepest and the best of a human soul than a state religion. But now that the SAP had come to power it was said that, "yes, the state church shall be abolished, but in another time".

source: En fri kyrka del 2 Av Maciej Zaremba 991203

--------------------------------

4. A case of politisation

The church had been subject to the whims of political power ever since protestantism started, and now the SAP turned it into a policy bureau of theirs.

A good example of how political power has changed the church is the question of female clergy. Regardless of the question itself, what I want to draw attention to is the way that the state literally commanded the church:

In the year 1951, all professors and docents, with one exception only, said that an order of female priests would be at odds with the teachings of the Bible. This the so called exegesis declaration was in part a protest against the investigation commissioned by the state on female priests; the latter which was seen as partial.

In the year 1957 a church meeting was held in all traditional order, at which the question of ordaining women as priests came up. The meeting discarded the proposal. The government then reminded the church that its representatives were also employees of the state, and that no discrimination on gender could be allowed. In the spring of 1958 therefore, the parliament legislated on the issue, and forced the church to ordain women.

translated from: Ämbetsfrågan i Svenska kyrkan - Wikipedia, den fria encyklopedin

The church was being exploited by the state to promote feminism. The demands of calling and competence were also put out of play, since the church had no other choice than to appoint female priests, and the women who applied were by default fans of the political regime. If the church refused to satisfy the state, it was breaking the law. There have been parrishes where people didn't want to accept a woman as their priest in very recent times, just a few years ago, but the state has decided what the church must do. This is just one instance of direct politisation, so I think you get the picture. Liberal priests are also being relocated from the cities to the rural areas to target traditionalism.

-------------------------------

5. A democratic church

In 1961, Kjell-Olof Feldt of the SAP - who later became minister of finance - said that anyone who wants to marginalise Christianity should guard the state church.

With the millenium shift, the church was in official terms "separated from the state" but that is just a cover up. Simultaneously, the parliament legislated that the Church of Sweden must be "evangelic-lutheran, open, democratic, national and a church for the people". The electorate is not made up of the members, but is the same as the electorate as a whole in Sweden, regardless of membership and religious inclination.

source: En fri kyrka del 2 Av Maciej Zaremba 991203

----------------------------------

6. Final remarks and Conclusion

The Church of Sweden is not separated from the state, but completely enslaved by it. I think it's just a question of time before all the clergy are forced to sanction the marriages of homosexuals in the name of God. At the same time, the state also controls what religious societies can be registered. Registered religious societies can receive massive funding, and the great lot of it goes to the Church of Sweden.

With protestantism, the Lutheran church of Sweden was subordinated to political power in general.