Thursday, October 26, 2023

It is the 26th of October, 2023. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org. I’m Dan van Voorhis.

 

Ok- so, stay with me. Today is the day on which Laurentius, or “Lars” Petri, died in 1573. We have a show for him in the archive. But I thought I would take his anniversary to tell the bigger story of the Reformation in Sweden and the important role Lars and his older brother Olaus had in this curious Reformation movement. [Also, as I recently traveled to Sweden and spent so much time in Swedish history, I think it’s a cool story to tell].

Ok- from 1397, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway were united in the Kalmar Union. But as the Reformation loomed, it would play a role in its dissolution.

The Swedish Catholic church was fairly popular. There wasn’t the pressure from rural populations to rebel as in other European towns, but literature brought back to Sweden from Wittenberg would prove to be the game changer. And this was brought back by two brothers, our Olaus (born 1493) and Lars (born 1499). They had been at Wittenberg in 1518 and studied under Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon. They almost didn’t make it back home as their ship was wrecked and stuck on Gotland Island.

Finally, back home, Olaus became an outspoken preacher and critic of the Catholic Church while Lars served as a teacher. When Christian II of Denmark was crowned king after taking Sweden in 1520. Christian promised to be in the opposition and invited them, including Olaus. Many of the opposition were invited to a party at a castle where they were double-crossed and murdered in what is called the “Stockholm Bloodbath.” Olaus escaped because a German from Wittenberg recognized him and misidentified him as a German, and his life was spared.

While this led to anti-Danish sentiment, it was only in the literate urban centers that the Reformation doctrines took hold. Olaus and Lars were translating as fast as they could, and enough support for the Reformation led to Olaus being made a councilor to Gustav Vasa, who led the Swedish independence movement and was crowned King of Sweden in 1523. Vasa was not a convinced fan of the Reformation but needed to pay back his German supporters. The easiest source of revenue was the Church- and many Bishops had fled because they were loyal to King Christian.

So, Gustav Vasa supported Olaus and Lars and their compatriots, gave them access to the printing press, and pushed them to take control of the ecclesial coffers.

The Petri brothers would agitate for a Lutheran and independent church, but Vasa and his sons would fight for control of the church. Nevertheless, what would ultimately usher in the Reformation in Sweden was the tireless work of the Petri brothers, who translated the Bible into Swedish and published a hymnal and church order. By controlling the daily worship of the Swedes for decades, a slow Reformation from below ultimately outlasted the tenuous Reformation “from above” or “from the Crown.”

By 1560, both Gustav and the elder Petri, Olaus, had died, but the controversy would continue.

Vasa’s sons would be tutored by Calvinists, to the chagrin of the Lutherans. One of them, Erik, became King after Gustav but was challenged by the new Swedish Archbishop- Lars Petri. Lars was successful in getting Erik deposed, but he was followed by his brother Johann. Johann had married a Polish Catholic princess, exciting Catholic powers with the hope of a renewed Catholic Church. But two things happened- first, in order to assuage the Lutherans, the new King Johann allowed Lars’ Church Order to become the official standard for the churches.

Secondly, Jesuit missionaries came to Sweden, and this caused suspicion amongst the populace (Jesuit conspiracies have hounded the Society of Jesus since its inception). This would lead to the acceptance of an officially Lutheran confession of faith. The next century would see the ascension of Gustavus Adolphus and a Lutheran identity into the modern age (and the story of how that all fell apart is a story for another show). Amidst the 16th century vacillations fits, and starts, it was the brothers Petri whose influence- both directly and through translation and printing that swung the nation towards the Reformation and the Lutheran church. We remember them on this the anniversary of Lars's death on this day in 1573.

 

The last word for today is from Olaus Petri- his translated hymn, “Thy Sacred Word, O Lord, of old.”

1 Thy sacred Word, O Lord, of old

Was veiled about and darkened,

And in its stead were legends told,

To which the people harkened;

Thy Word, for which the faithful yearned,

The worldlings kept in hiding,

And into human fables turned

Thy truth, the all-abiding.

 

2 Now thanks and praise be to our Lord,

Who boundless grace bestoweth,

And daily through the sacred Word

His precious gifts forthshoweth.

His Word is come to light again,

A trusty lamp to guide us;

No strange and divers teachings then

Bewilder and divide us.

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 26th of October 2023, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who blames the Jesuits for, amongst other things, the sinking of the Titanic, the Beatles break up, Purdue’s loss to Ohio State, and the nail stuck in his car’s tire. He is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who misses that hotel Swedish breakfast with lingonberry on pancakes and herring on toast. I’m Dan van Voorhis. 

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be OK.