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Kris och kristnande: Olof Ekmans kamp för kristendomens återupprättande vid Stora Kopparberget 1689-1713. Pietism, program och praktik
Dalarna University, School of Humanities and Media Studies, History. Svenska kyrkans forskningsenhet. (Utbildning och lärande)ORCID iD: 0000-0003-1510-5385
2015 (Swedish)Book (Refereed)Alternative title
Crisis and Christianization : Olof Ekman's struggle to restore Christianity by the Great Copper Mountain 1689-1713. Pietism, program and practice (English)
Abstract [en]

As different Lutheran states tried to secure and implement the heritage of the Reformation at the beginning of the 17th century, criticism soon emerged. The confessionalization did not seem to be a success. Despite increased control and attempts to educate the population, people quite simply did not seem to become more pious. The critics belonged to a new group of readers that had discovered medieval mysticism as a source of increased piety. Johann Arndt (1555–1621) became the central figure in this movement, as his widely popular books about true Christianity were a sort of popularization of medieval monastic mysticism. This new group also eagerly read translated books written by puritan authors, as these delivered more specific guidelines for holier lives. It was in this context of new “middling” groups of pious readers that programs for reform were written by authors like Theophil Großgebauer (1627–1661), Philipp Jacob Spener (1635–1705) and Olof Ekman (1639–1713).This study focuses on the Swedish vicar Olof Ekman and his role as an important pioneer for pietistic ideas in Sweden. Ekman is famous for a program called Promise at Sea (Sjönödslöfte), which was published in 1680. In the first part of my study I mainly focus on this book and its context. Ekman’s program became a Swedish parallel to the Pia Desideria program, published by the main pioneer for pietism in Germany, Philipp Jacob Spener, in 1675. Pia Desideria was the starting point for the pietistic movement as it emphasized reading of the bible, conventicles and a new belief in the future. Ekman and Spener both strove for the activation of the individual’s faith into social practice. The main difference was that Ekman published his text as an exhortation to the young ruler Charles XI (1655–1697), who became the sovereign and absolutist ruler of the Swedish Empire in the same year as the program was published. For Ekman the road to improvement of public piety ran through asystem of public education, financed by the state. In the politically fragmented Holy Roman Empire of Germany, Spener did not have similar possibilities to trust the state as a force for change. Spener had to rely on the church as the key to reform. Interestingly, however, Spener shared Ekman’s hope for the Swedis hking as an ally for creating a more pious life among the lay population. Pia Desideria was never meant for the Swedish Empire. The first part of my study primarily analyses Ekman’s program and its contexts. Ekman’s main inspiration came from the Rostock theologian Theophil Großgebauer’s program Wächterstimme aus dem verwüsteten Zion of 1661. The Promise at Sea was written as a promise to God after Ekman survived a shipwreck on the Baltic Sea in 1679 on his way home to Sweden after fulfilling his duties as a Field Superintendendent for the Swedish Army in Livonia. In that part of the Swedish Empire Johann Fischer (1636–1705) was Superintendent for the church. Fischer was a friend of Spener’s, had studied in Rostock and was influenced by Großgebauer. In the province of Livonia Fischer had received support from the Swedish king to realize Großgebauer’s ideas about popular education in schools, financed by the state. These schools were intended to raise the population from serfdom and place the peasants in Livonia at the same level as other peasants in the Swedish Empire. Serfdom did not exist in Sweden. It is obvious Ekman wrote his program with his experiences from Livonia fresh in mind. As Ekman had published a program that encouraged the state to promote pietism, he became recognized by pietists around August Hermann Francke (1663–1727) in Halle around the year 1700. Joachim Justus Breithaupt (1658–1732) tried to arrange for a translation of Promise at Sea into Latin. Pietists around Francke had ambitions to translate Ekman’s program that advocated a form of state pietism, as they themselves received strong support from the state of Prussia. At the same time, it is striking that Spener’s Pia Desideria was not translated into Swedish at the time.The second main part of my study focuses on how Ekman fulfilled his duties as a pastor in the parishes by the Great Copper Mine in Falun in central Sweden. This town was dominated by industrial activities and was sort of a problem child to the church. The local population worked hard in the mining industry. Wage-labor, high risks of getting injured in the mine and uncertainties on the copper market were just some of the things that contributed to the local challenges Ekman had to face. His program for greater piety was a guideline as he strove for the improvement of teaching in church, popular education in school and better church discipline. For example, Ekman organized the enlargement of the sacristy in one of the main churches in Falun in order to have enough space for teaching and confessions. Ekman tried to obtain funding from the king for wages to what were known as the “extraordinary” teachers of general education in school. At the time in Sweden, basic education was generally performed at home. In Falun many children were fatherless because of the dangerous mine, and thus needed public education. He also published a commentary of Martin Luther’s “Small Catechism”, specifically aimed at his parishioners at the Great Copper Mountain. Ekman’s textbook was the first Swedish catechism that was based upon Spener. Ekman was heavily influenced by Spener’s Latin version of his catechism and Johann Fischer’s version of the so called Frankfurter catechism. Ekman was also the first person in Sweden to introduce a more elaborate version of what was known as the order of salvation (ordo salutis) in a textbook for ordinary people. This order consisted of a series of conceptual steps on the path to salvation. In a town characterized by lack of outer certainty, there was a greater need for an inner path to salvation. I present how Ekman developed this general theme in funeral sermons, where the possibility of experiencing eternal blessings on this earth was put forward as a way to stimulate a holy life. The biblical words from Isaiah 54:10: “For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee” were often used to his mining congregations as a promise of heavenly realities already in this life. Interestingly, Ekman’s funeral sermons have a close similarity to Spener’s. Earlier research has shown that, in an innovative way, Spener emphasized the possibilities of experiencing heaven on earth in his funeral sermons. Another area I investigate in my study is how Ekman also tried to lead his congregation to salvation according to the pattern of the order of salvation in his dealings with church discipline. He strove to reach inside of people in an attempt to evoke true feelings of repentance. Ekman did not want to use hard methods for fear of creating hatred against himself, as this would lead to a situation where the sinner stopped listening to his preaching. In summary, this study explores for the first time an early Swedish parallelto the early German development of pietism. The study is also groundbreaking in terms of putting pietism and the early mining industry in context with one another. Pietism is presented as a local form of a general Swedish confessionalization for facing the social realities created by early industrialization.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Göteborg: Makadam Förlag, 2015, 1. , p. 265
Series
Forskning för kyrkan, ISSN 1652-8581 ; 26
Keywords [sv]
kyrkohistoria, pietism, ortodoxi, konfessionalisering, reformprogram, Falun, stormaktstid, allmän skola.
National Category
Religious Studies History
Research subject
Research Profiles 2009-2020, Education and Learning
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:du-19449ISBN: 978-91-7061-166-7 (print)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:du-19449DiVA, id: diva2:853745
Funder
Riksbankens JubileumsfondAvailable from: 2015-09-14 Created: 2015-09-14 Last updated: 2021-11-12Bibliographically approved

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