The period of church awakening in Sweden during the first half of the nineteenth century, has had a great influence on the Swedish society. During that time certain persons are to be noticed. Peter Fjellstedt and Peter Wieselgren, priests in the Swedish Church, are among those who were of special importance. But even the British preacher George Scott and later the Swedish layman Carl-Olof Rosenius became aware of the importance of networking. They all felt a call from God to preach a message of redemption and restoration. The people of Sweden were at that time under a burden of poverty, drunkedness and social destitution and thousands of people were touched by the message and had their lives changed. This study is concentrated on the reason why this movement started and how it continued during the first 60 years of the nineteenth century. I look at the importance of the doctrine (läran), the spirit of time (tidsandan) and the networks (nätverken). The conclusion is that the inheritance of Luther together with European pietism has been the reason for the reception of the message among people in general. The networks played a great role especially all the letters written by Fjellstedt and Wieselgren.

<p>The period of church awakening in Sweden during the first half of the nineteenth century, has had a great influence on the Swedish society. During that time certain persons are to be noticed. Peter Fjellstedt and Peter Wieselgren, priests in the Swedish Church, are among those who were of special importance. But even the British preacher George Scott and later the Swedish layman Carl-Olof Rosenius became aware of the importance of networking. They all felt a call from God to preach a message of redemption and restoration. The people of Sweden were at that time under a burden of poverty, drunkedness and social destitution and thousands of people were touched by the message and had their lives changed.</p><p>This study is concentrated on the reason why this movement started and how it continued during the first 60 years of the nineteenth century. I look at the importance of the doctrine (läran), the spirit of time (tidsandan) and the networks (nätverken).</p><p>The conclusion is that the inheritance of Luther together with European pietism has been the reason for the reception of the message among people in general. The networks played a great role especially all the letters written by Fjellstedt and Wieselgren.</p>

Secularization is an ambiguous concept. An important part of the Swedes' self-understanding is about a larger secularization process that forms the basis of Swedish society. The link between revival movements and secularization indicates a paradoxical relationship, since "revival" may have meant religious renewal; repentance or spiritual awakening. Spiritualism has been hijacked by religion, an individual spiritual center does not have to mean an "invisible religion". The release from the supremacy of religion can mean the prophet, the pope, the priest, the church or the state religion. This essay has a western and a secularized perspective, as the essay also emphasizes that secularization is a western phenomenon. The thesis examines Gustavi's congregation in the dioceses of Gothenburg during the years 1860 to 1903. The thesis investigates how the number of communion guests has changed during these years. The question is how much has the number of communion guests changed as a percentage from 1860 to 1903 as well as what the priests' views on the sects in the congregation were. The question regarding the number of communion guests has been answered by statistical calculations. The question of the priests' view of the sects within the congregation has been answered by reading the priesthood documents. The essay also provides a deeper understanding of the concept of secularization, as this concept is widely debated. The revival movements undermined the unified power of the state church. The collectivist state church was replaced by individualists who, in their revival, sought a spiritual awakening. In the Gustavi congregation there was a liberation from a religious authority.

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Lars Levi Laestadius (1800-1861) was active as a priest in the Swedish church in the northernmost parts of Sweden. After experiencing a transformative and life-changing spiritual breakthrough, which he himself has later called his rebirth and the moment when he received a living faith, he came to gather large audiences and give rise to a revival movement, which still bears his name today. Although Laestadius was active as a priest, he sharply criticized many conditions in the contemporary church. The purpose of this essay has been to investigate whether, and if so how, this criticism as presented in his sermons and writings can be linked to his Bible use, i.e. his reading and interpretation of the Bible and the authority he gives the Bible. For my study, I have closely read a large number of his extant sermons and published writings. The study also briefly summarises the central elements of Laestadius' theology, as well as what he perceives to be the Church's main mission. The study shows how his criticism is based on his use of the Bible and also how, through a far-reaching allegorical interpretation of the Bible, he uses different texts from both the Old and the New Testaments in his argumentation.

In 19th century Sweden women preached in the popular revival movements as they did in the other Nordic countries, in Great Britain and the United States. One of the most famous preachers in Sweden was Nelly Hall (1848–1916). Internal and external evidence of her public life is the main focus of the study, and in this way it seeks to uncover the origin of her inspiration and to specify her connection to the spiritual movements of the time, at the same time that it analyses the reception and the debate of women as preachers in the period when she was active. Nelly Hall studied at the Royal School for Women’s Higher Teacher Education and worked as a teacher for ten years before she decided to enter into the ministry of preaching. She was influenced by the Anglo-American Holiness movement and had close contacts with the Salvation Army in London. From 1883 she travelled in the southern parts of Sweden. Thousands of people listened to her and as part of her ministry she practised faith healing. She went on preaching tours to Finland, Norway, Germany and the United States. When the Swedish Holiness Mission started as a small mission society in 1887 it was to some extent a result of the preaching work carried out by Nelly Hall. She was elected a member of the first board and worked as a mission secretary for ten years. Around 1900 there was a shift in her theological thinking and she became more absorbed by apocalyptic ideas. In 1901 she went for the second time to the United States and lived there until 1916 when she died in Brockton, Massachusetts. Little is known about the last fifteenth years of her life. The ministry of Nelly Hall and other women raised considerable public interest and in the Swedish context her time of ministry coincided with the emerging movement for the emancipation of women. Many were against women preaching in public and the discussions often occurred in the press. Parts of these discussions as well as several pamphlets in favour of women’s preaching are analysed in this study. / <p>Contains a summary in English</p>

Syftet med denna studie har varit att undersöka vilka olika religiösa inriktningar som finns bland sverigefinländare idag och vilken religiös bakgrund de har. Ett annat syfte har varit att ta reda på om religionen spelar en primär eller en sekundär roll för identiteten jämfört med kultur och språk hos sverigefinländare, och om det finns skillnader i den religiösa identiteten hos första, andra och tredje generationens sverigefinländare, samt hur dessa förmodade skillnader kan förklaras. En annan målsättning med denna studie har varit att undersöka hur religiositet uttrycks hos första, andra och tredje generationens sverigefinländare genom religiös praktik. Det teoretiska ramverket består av Nancy T. Ammermans and Lori Peeks teorier om religiös identitet and Thomas Hylland Eriksens and Fredrik Barths teorier om gränsdragningsprocesser. Denna studie visar att det finns en stor mångfald vad gäller religiösa inriktningar bland sverigefinländarna och att även deras religiösa bakgrund skiftar. Resultatet av denna studie visar att religiös tro tycks vara viktigare för identiteten för första generationens sverigefinländare jämfört med andra och tredje generationen. En av förklaringarna skulle kunna vara att sverigefinländare av andra och tredje generationen är mer assimilerade i det sekulära, svenska samhället och även att andra och tredje generationens invandrare har en mer otydlig identitet och att de i vissa fall kan bli etniska eller religiösa anomalier. Trots mångfalden vad gäller religiösa inriktningar, visar studien att det även finns likheter, i synnerhet bland första generationens sverigefinländare. Första generationen tycks vara mer konservativ vad gäller bibeltolkning och religiösa värderingar, exempelvis. Ett av skälen kan vara att finsktalande präster från Finland, som arbetar inom Svenska kyrkan, har en bakgrund inom väckelserörelsen, som har haft stark påverkan på Evangelisk-lutherska kyrkan i Finland. Denna studie visar också att det finns ett levande och aktivt religiöst liv bland sverigefinländare idag, trots att assimilationstycket har varit stort. / The aim of this study has been to explore what kind of religious directions are to be found among Sweden Finlanders today and what religious background they have. Another aim has been to find out if religion has a primary or a secondary role for the identity compared to culture and language among Sweden Finlanders, and if there are differences in religious identity between the first, the second and the third generation and how these assumed differences can be explained. Another purpose with this study has been to explore how religiosity among Sweden Finlanders of the first, the second and the third generation is shown through religious practice. The theoretical framework consists of Nancy T. Ammerman’s and Lori Peek’s theories about religious identity and Thomas Hylland Eriksen’s and Fredrik Barth’s theories about boundary making processes. This study shows there is a great diversity in religious directions among Sweden Finlanders and their religious background is also shifting. According to the results of this study, religious faith seems to be more important for the identity for religious Sweden Finlanders of the first generation compared to the second and the third generation. One of the explanations could be that Sweden Finlanders of the second and the third generation are more assimilated in the secular, Swedish society and also because second and third generation immigrants’ identity is less clear and in some cases they become an ethnic or a religious anomaly. This study also shows that although there are differences between the religious directions, similarities also exists, especially between Sweden Finlanders of the first generation. The first generation seems to be more conservative when it comes to Bible interpretation and religious values, for example. One of the reasons might be that Finnish speaking priests from Finland, who work within Church of Sweden, have a background in the religious revival movements which has had a strong influence on the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. This study also shows there is a living and active religious life among Sweden Finlanders today, even though the pressure to assimilate has been strong.