Baptistic Theologies, 2009

January 1884. 70 Although he felt discouraged, he had been the means of the beginnings of Baptist work in Norway. Conclusion Based upon the evidence presented in this paper, one can conclude that changes and new developments never happen in a vacuum. As the ‘soil’ was prepared, it is important to look back and summarise the key events, and see how these movements that have been analysed played an important part in the preparation for the establishment of Baptist work in Norway. First of all. Pietism made a crucial contribution, in my opinion, to the awareness of the Norwegian people that other thoughts and ideas concerning spiritual things were available. People were not spiritually satisfied. Being baptised as infants, married and buried in the Lutheran Church was no enough. Through Pietism they became aware of the experiential and biblical alternative to the State Church. They were tired of hearing about God, but longed to hear from God. Secondly, the Moravians exemplified the importance of personal conversion, the right of the laity to preach and teach biblical authority, their zeal in evangelisation, and their desire for missions, especially among the State Churches - elements that are vigorously held among Baptists even today. really dissolved and 2 new Baptist churches in Skien constituted. This is something to think about seriously when it concerns Baptist history in Norway. Has it been a historical coup here?’ ET translation from Norwegian, Eidberg, Det folket som kalles Baptister. En underspkelse av Det Norske Baptistsamfunn bakgrunn, tilgivelse, historie og egenart til jubileet 1902, p. 82. 68 Ibid., p. 100. 69 Ibid., p. 101. 70 Ibid., p. 102. 120 Baptistic Theologies Thirdly, the Zionittene, established through the ardent searching of the Scriptures, along with the Moravians emphasised the importance of a personal conversion based upon faith in Christ. They rejected infant baptism and maintained that the local congregation should consist only of saved people. They established the biblical concept of ‘the priesthood of all believers’ and saw the Lord’s Supper as a memorial meal, breaking with the traditional sacrament administered by the Lutheran Church. Again we see Baptist distinctives emerging. The Haugian revivals influenced the nation as a whole, whereas the other movements were more local in nature, confining themselves to the southern part of Norway commonly called the ‘Bible belt’. This revival was intended to revive the State Lutheran Church; Hauge never left the Church. The ‘call’ to preach personal conversion and to seek to bear fruit as evidence of conversion were Hauge’s main emphases. The people who were affected by the revival formed various groups known as ‘vennesamfunnet’ (fellowship of friends) which later gave impetus to the Free Church movement. One of the biggest contributions was the abolition of the ‘Konventikkelplakaten’ in 1842 forbidding lay peop