Baptistic Theologies, 2009

Peace of Westphalia, was an attempt to bring a vital renewal of practical Christianity. Pietism represents a reaction against rigid intellectual scholasticism and an effort to return to experience, to holiness and to biblical convictions. 5 Astas Reidar, Kirke Historie del 1 [Church History part 1] (Oslo: Fabritius Forlag, 1974), p. 201. When the Protestant Reformation began in Germany, Denmark, which had controlled Norway through the Monarchy since 1380, became very interested as the discussions and the interest in the Reformation soon became a people movement. The Kings, beginning in 1523 to 1559, supported the Reformation movement both for political as well as religious reasons. Many of the kings wished for the abolition of the Roman Catholic Church so the Reformation played directly into their hands. Reformation in Denmark became a reality in 1536, when King Kristian 3 rd , a Lutheran, put the Catholic Bishops out of the country and replaced them with Lutheran superintendents. The King now became the church’s head and protector. In 1537, Peder Palladius came home to Denmark from his studies in Wittenberg with his Ph.D in theology and became the overall supervisor of the Lutheran Churches in Denmark and Norway. On 2 nd September 1537, the ‘Danish Church Order’, signed in Copenhagen, and also legal in Norway, gave the responsibility to teach the Lutheran faith to the superintendents, not the King. Two years later Geble Pedersen, from Denmark, was ordained to be the first superintendent, with his office in Bergen. 6 Peder A. Eidberg, Detfolket som kalles Baptister. En underspkelse av Det Norske Baptistsamfunn bakgrunn, tilgivelse, historie og egenart til jubileet 1902 [The people called Baptist. A research of The Norwegian Baptist Union, background, existence, history and identity for the anniversary of 1902] (ET from Norwegian, unpublished Ph.D. thesis. University of Oslo, Stabekk, 1998), p. 13. 7 Reidar, Kirke Historie Del 1, p. 208. 104 Baptistic Theologies Valkner states that Pietism is the most attractive ‘Christian type’ we have had. 8 Kopperun states: ‘While the orthodox pastors taught about God to its church members, the pietistic pastors taught the simple and awakening words from God’. 9 Pietism brought two things into focus. In the first place it emphasised a born again experience and resulting Christian life. In the second, this Christian life should be free from sin and the influence of the world from without. Many pastors within the Lutheran Church became affected by Pietism, but as a result met with persecution and often disbarment from their churches by the Bishops. 10 Three results of Pietism left lasting impressions upon Norwegian spiritual life. First, more and more of the Lutheran pastors became aware of pietistic teachings, and various groups were formed. Secondly, Pietism gave inspiration and impetus to missions work, especially in the north of Norway and later to Greenlan