Abstract
The issue to be discussed here is how society’s views of the Laestadian revival has changed over the course of the revival movement’s first 100 years. The article claims that society’s emerging view of the revival is characterized by two different positions. The first period is typical of the last part of the nineteenth century and is characterized by the fact that the evaluation of the revival took as its point of departure the instigator of the revival, Lars Levi Laestadius (1800–61). The characteristic of Laestadius himself would, it was thought, be characteristic of the movement he had instigated. During this first period, the revival was sharply criticized. This negative attitude gradually changed from the turn of the century onwards. The second period is characterized by greater openness towards understanding the revival on its own premises. This openness showed itself at first in Swedish publications that treated the revival in an exotic fashion with the aim to arouse greater interest in the Swedish cultural life in the north. This interest in the distinctive qualities of the revival was later also expressed in Norway, thus contributing to a change of view in how society viewed Laestadianism. Typical of the second period is that it was primarily in the ecclesiastical environment that a new interest in the revival established itself.
Highlights
The issue to be discussed here is how society’s views of the Laestadian revival has changed over the course of the revival movement’s first 100 years
The issue to be discussed in this article is how the public view of the Laestadian revival changed during the revival’s first 100 years (1850–1950)
The Laestadian revival originated in northern Sweden during the late 1840s, and was led by the parish minister of Kare suando, Lars Levi Læstadius (1800–61)
Summary
The issue to be discussed here is how society’s views of the Laestadian revival has changed over the course of the revival movement’s first 100 years. The issue to be discussed in this article is how the public view of the Laestadian revival changed during the revival’s first 100 years (1850–1950). This was even the case for a fairly long time after 1905, especially with regard to a reli gious movement that united people from three Nordic countries (Sweden, Finland and Norway).
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