FEB 2 6]: BK~TU16 .M66 1884 " Montgomery, M. W. 1840-1894 A wind from the Holy Spirit in Sweden and Norway "A Wind from the Holy Spirit" IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. j Rev. M. W. MONTGOMERY, SUPERINTENDENT OF WORK AMONG SCANDINAVIANS BY THE AMERICAN HOME MISSIONARY SOCIETY. AMERICAN HOME MISSIONARY SOCIETY, BIBLE HOUSE, NEW YORK. 1884. To the Secretaries of The American Home Missionary Society : The following pages are my report of the religious condition 'and needs of the Scandinavians, embracing their situation in Sweden and Norway, and in the United States. Such glimpses of Swedish life and customs are given as may be side-lights on the chief theme. Respectfully submitted, M. W. Montgomery. Minneapolis, Minn., October 1, 1884. mows PRINTING ANO B0OKBIN0INS COMPANY, NEW YORK. u A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT" SWEDEN AND NORWAY. ACROSS THE SEA. This is the way this European journey came about : It was a Decem- ber day, 1883. The new Congregational bouse of worship at New Uhn, Minn., was to be dedicated on that day. The Home Missionary there, Rev. Christian Mowery, a Swiss by birth, and his brave co-laborers were to be made glad. New Ulm has had more history than most towns of her age : an Indian massacre in 1862 ; a destructive cyclone in 1881 ; and formerly the reputation of not welcoming the Bible and Christian churches. Now she is a thriving town of 3,000 souls, mostly German, and has, besides a Turner Hall of vast proportions, four churches — Roman Catholic, Lu- theran, German Methodist, and Congregational — and a Lutheran academy. Her people are industrious, very hospitable, have given liberally toward the building of these churches, and are tolerant of any views, religious or irreligious, and deny that they have ever been otherwise. This particular day was Italian in its charms. December played that she was May ; the clouds had migrated southward with the birds, and un- dimmed Sol was ushering in one of his wonted sunny and charming Minnesota winters. Some friends from Minneapolis, who had specially prayed for the work in New Ulm, were en route to attend the dedication. The " Omaha Line " had given special rates, and the Chicago and North- western Railway had also placed a special car at the disposal of the party. From Minneapolis there were : Hon. and Mrs. E. S. Jones ; Rev. and Mrs. E. S. Williams (he the Superintendent of the Minneapolis City Missionary Society, and she the President of the Woman's Minnesota Home Mission- ary Society) ; Mrs. A. B. Nettleton, wife of the editor of the Minneapolis Daily Tribune ; Mrs. Montgomery and myself. At other points the party was joined by Rev. H. H. Hart, Secretary of the State Board of Charities ; 4 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT Rev. P. B. Fisk, of Carleton College ; Eev. J. B. Fairbank, and Rev. H. A. Bushnell (born at historically orthodox Say brook, Conn.). Rarely do hours of travel pass more delightfully than on that trip. Missions and merri- ment mingled. When the company rose from the bountiful tables at Ka- sota, they found that Judge Jones had anticipated the bill for all. I was tired. Not from that trip ; the nervous system had long been calling imperatively for a release from care. Judge Jones (a director in the Minnesota Home Missionary Society) saw it. When an opportunity occurred to say a word privately, he laid his hand upon my shoulder and said : " You must take a rest ; it must be in Europe ; there's no rest like a sea- voyage and European travel ; you must go. If you will go, I'll take care of a large share of the expense." Up to that moment a trip to Eu- rope had been to me only a far-distant, possible joy. The Directors of the Minnesota Home Missionary Society gave their cordial approval of Judge Jones' suggestion. An inquiry of the Secretaries of the parent Society at New York brought a telegram from Dr. Barrows: "We here all think favorably of your going ; " and Dr. Clapp wrote : " Go, by all means." It was clearly the Lord's will. Rev. George A. Hood was secured for superintendent, ad interim, and I prepared for the journey. At the January meeting of the Congregational Club of Minnesota, two Scandinavian speakers made very interesting addresses on recent religious movements in Norway and Sweden : Professor S. Oftedal on the progress- ive movements in the Norwegian Lutheran church, and Rev. George Wiberg on the Swedish free church movement. At the close Professor Oftedal wittily said : " The Lutheran church is now ready to receive the Congregationalists ; " and Mr. W T iberg, in answer to the inquiry, " Why do Scandinavians attend church better than Americans ? " made the happy reply : " Because they are so much better people ! " Rev. M. M. G. Dana, D.D., of St. Paul, gave the Scandinavian brethren the right hand of fellowship, and presented the following resolution, which was adopted : Eesolred, That our beloved brother, Rev. M. W. Montgomery, in his proposed trip to Sweden, be requested to bear the Christian salutations of the Congregational churches of Minnesota to the Mission churches in that country, and to express to them our be- lief that in doctrine and polity we are substantially one ; to greet them as our brethren in Christ ; and assure them of our hope that at no distant day formal and friendly re- lations will be established between us and the interchange of Christian intercourse, and express to them the desire we cherish that they and like churches in this country may yet, through their representatives, meet together in some general conference for pur- poses of fellowship and co-operative effort. The officers of the American Home Missionary Society sent the fol- lowing letter : New York, February 19, 1884. To our Brethren in Christ in Sweden, Greeting : — This will introduce to you the Rev. M. W. Montgomery, of Minneap- olis, Minnesota, U. S. A. , who visits your country for the purpose of bearing the IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. S greetings of the Congregational brethren in the United States to the Mission churches of Sweden, and to assure you of our Christian fellowship and co-operation in the work of extending the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. . . . Wishing you grace, mercy, and peace, we are, dear brethren, Faithfully yours, David B. Coe, Alex. H. Clapp, Walter M. Barrows, Joseph B. Clark, Officers of tlie American Home Missionary Society. Letters of introduction were also kindly given me to persons in various parts of Sweden, by Rev. E. Aug. Skogsberg, pastor of the Swedish Mis- sion church in Minneapolis ; by Professor S. Oftedal to his brother in the Norwegian Parliament ; and a general letter by the beloved professors at Yale Seminary. Judge E. S. Jones went on to New York and saw me on board the steamer Erin, of the National Line, sailing direct for London, February 26th. After twelve and one-half days on the Atlantic, most of the time in a raging wintry storm and very rough sea, we landed at London Wharf, March 10, 1884. SCANDINAVIANS IN THE NORTHWEST. Scandinavians are the people born in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland, and their children. They are to play an exceedingly important part in shaping the future of the Northwest — Wisconsin, Minnesota, Dakota — and are to have no small share in the development of Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Utah. In very recent years the Ter- ritories lying yet farther west are receiving large accessions from the Scandinavians. Into the polygamous communities of Utah, too, many from these nationalities are inveigled. They are found also in every State and Territory. My first year's experience as Superintendent of Home Missions in Min- nesota fully convinced me that in that State, at least, the religious condition of the Scandinavians is of vital importance to the best interests of the commonwealth. A fair estimate is that at the present time one-fourth of the entire population of Minnesota is Scandinavian. The immigration since 1880 has been much larger than ever before. Their political prominence is significantly shown in the fact that of the 75 counties in Minnesota, 30 have Scandinavian treasurers, 25 Scandinavian registers of deeds, 17 Scandi- navian judges of probate, 14 Scandinavian auditors, and 7 Scandinavian sheriffs; while the Hon. Knute Nelson, a Norwegian, is the Eepublican member of Congress from the fifth Minnesota district, and Mr. Hans Mattson, U. S. Consul at Calcutta, is said to be a Swede from Minneapolis. Minnesota has nearly twice as many of these people as any other State, and they are also much the most numerous of any class of foreigners within her borders. This very large element of so desirable a foreign population 6 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT furnishes one of the reasons, and not the least, why many of her citizens think Minnesota is one of the best States in the Union. The American Home Missionary Society could not properly ignore a people so intimately linked with the future growth of several States and all our Territories. The religious situation among them should be accurately known, and, if need be, the Society should help to support the preaching of the gospel among them. Accordingly somewhat extensive inquiries were made of Home Missionaries and agents of the American Sunday- school Union concerning the habits and religious condition of the Scandi- navians in the United States. A DESIRABLE PEOPLE. The information gathered may be summarized thus : The Scandinavians are, all things considered, among the best foreigners who come to American shores. For a republic where there is civil and religious liberty, and espe- cially where these principles are the very corner-stone of the State, that for- eign element is most desirable which most readily swings into the current of American life, and becomes inspired with the genius of American insti- tutions. They who love liberty and religion will make the best citizens for this republic. Just such are the Scandinavians. They are almost universally Protestants ; comparatively few of them are sceptics. They have been reared to. believe in God, the Bible, the Sabbath, and in salva- tion through Christ. They ardently love the principles upon which our republic rests, and hence are intensely loyal. In politics they are gener- ally Republican. They have large, strong bodies ; are industrious, frugal, eager, apt, modest, intelligent. Very many American homes are blessed with the services of Scandinavian girls whose ways are likely to be honest, quiet, faithful, cleanly, and pious. Scandinavians are not exclusive nor clannish as to occupation or location. They are in every profession — are ministers, lawyers, physicians, teachers ; are also in every business — farm- ers, manufacturers, merchants, bankers, artisans, miners, and day-laborers. They come here to stay ; buy real estate, build good houses, found acade- mies and colleges ; and tens of thousands more from the " Land of the Midnight Sun " are following them hither. CONTRASTED WITH OTHER FOREIGNERS. In several respects the Scandinavians are in marked contrast with some foreign elements among us. They are not peddlers, nor organ grinders, nor beggars ; they do not all sell ready-made clothing nor keep pawn-shops ; their religion is not hostile to free institutions ; they do not come here temporarily, and, while seeking for gain, live a foreign life, praying all the while that their bones may yet lie in the lands from which they came ; they do not seek to break down (what there is left of) the American Sab- bath ; they do not make the United States the plotting-ground against the Government of their native land ; they do not seek the shelter of the IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 7 American flag merely to introduce and foster among us ideas in direct variance with all the most precious interests of our land — socialism, nihil- ism, communism ; and they are not always intimating that the lands from which they came and their entire civilization are so much better than the country of their adoption. This republic — the hope and inspiration of the world — has nothing to fear from Scandinavians, but very much to gain. After a careful observation of these people in this land and in their native countries, I am clearly of the opinion that they are more nearly like Ameri- cans than are any other foreign peoples. In manners and customs, politi- cal and religious instincts, fertility of adaptation, personal appearance, and cosmopolitan character, they are strikingly like native Americans. No peculiar physiognomy is stamped upon them to point them out the world over ; they find the English language easy, and quickly acquire it and lose their own brogue. The first generation of American-born Scan- dinavians, when they reach the age of twenty years, cannot generally be distinguished from Americans by either appearance, language, or customs. In vices they are also much like Americans. Intemperance is some- times said to be their national besetting sin. Like other Northern nations, they have a partiality for the stronger liquors as against wines and beer ; and yet too many of them accept anything that will intoxicate. As regards profanity, gambling, and licentiousness, they are much in need of the con- verting power of the gospel. SCANDINAVIAN CHURCHES. All foreign-born Scandinavians have been reared, nominally at least, in the faith of the Lutheran church. Nearly all Norwegians and Danes are Lutherans. There is no distinctively free church movement among them except Methodists and Baptists. For a quarter of a century these de- nominations in the United States and in England have been doing mis- sionary work in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, and when these nation- alities immigrate hither the names "Methodist" and "Baptist" are more or less familiar to them. The Norwegians in the United States are divided into four branches of the Lutheran church, called the Lutheran " Con- ference," Lutheran " Synod," "Hangars" Synod, and . The two for- mer are very strong, earnestly favor education, and each has its own pre- paratory schools, colleges, and theological seminaries. They all claim to be loyal Lutherans, and yet they vigorously contest with each other on doctrinal points, vestments, and polity. The Danes also are quite gen- erally Lutherans. Probably one-half of the Swedes in this country are Lutherans ; of the rest the larger number belong to " Mission " and "Free" churches, of whom more is to be said hereafter. The Baptists and Methodists have many churches among them. The foregoing facts show that so hopeful an element in our Protestant body politic deserves in their " new home land " every help which American Christians can give to them, and that this fertile Scandinavian soil will 8 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT richly reward sowing the gospel seed. And yet it was far from clear in what way the American Home Missionary Society could best aid Christian Scandinavians in spreading the gospel among their countrymen. How to render the aid where most needed ; how to do it most economically ; how to avoid blunders — these were the questions which were not yet an- swered. Among no other class of foreigners speaking a foreign language have we met with similar conditions. HINTS. The first action of the Society was to appoint Rev. George Wiberg (a native of Sweden who had been in this country for many years, and a member of the Swedish Ansgarii synod) general missionary for Minnesota, to preach among such Swedish free congregations as were unable to sup- port preaching. When he came to Minnesota he told us that a very large proportion of the Swedish churches in this country were, in all essential features of polity, doctrine, and general methods, like our Congregational churches ; and also that there were many such churches in Sweden. When doubts were expressed as to the correctness of this statement, he replied that there was no word in the English language which would correctly designate the general features of the Swedish " Mission " and " Free " churches except the word "Congregational," and that there was no im- portant difference between them except those of name and language. Soon after an article appeared in Tlie Congregationalist, by Rev. H. A. Stim- son, which stated that there were in this country some eighty Swedish churches which were essentially Congregational. This surprising infor- mation made it still more evident that the facts in the case should be fully known before intelligent action could be taken by the Society. GOING TO SWEDEN. For these reasons it was thought best that during my travels in Europe I should visit Sweden and Norway, and there inquire into the religious situation in those countries ; the religious history, training, present views, prejudices, and cm-rents of thought among the good people who are send- ing so many tens of thousands of their promising sons and daughters to make their homes among us. This problem could be studied to better advantage in those countries than here, because the situation there is the key to the existing conditions here. Since the immigration from Scandi- navian countries has come to large proportions only within the past twenty years, and reached its highest mark in 1882, it is clear that the currents of religious thought prevailing in their native lands must be substantially the same among these so recent arrivals here. There, we should find the roots and fountains of these religious movements ; here, the far-reaching branches and the distant overflows. In this natural way it was thought that we might open with the right keys the problem of religious work among the Scandina- vians in this country. The result has more than fulfilled our expectations. IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. SCANDINAVIAN POPULATION. Table showing the Number of Persons in the United States in 1880 who were Born in Sweden, Norway, or Denmark, and the Distrd3ution of each among the States and Territories : States and Territories. Swedes. Norwegians. Danes. Total. Minnesota Wisconsin Illinois Iowa Dakota Nebraska New York Michigan Kansas Utah California Pennsylvania Massachusetts Missouri Indiana New Jersey Colorado Connecticut. Texas Ohio Oregon Washington Maine Idaho Rhode Island Nevada Montana Louisiana Florida Wyoming Mississippi Maryland Tennessee Arkansas Arizona New Hampshire . . . Georgia Alabama Kentucky Virginia South Carolina District of Columbia Vermont Delaware North Carolina New Mexico West Virginia Total 39,176 8,138 42,415 17,559 3,177 10,164 11,164 9,412 11,207 3,750 4,209 7,575 4,756 3,174 3,121 1,622 2,172 2,086 1,293 1,186 983 648 988 323 776 317 280 270 231 249 302 177 257 211 106 131 138 119 95 49 63 51 68 71 24 39 21 62,521 49,349 16,970 21,586 13,245 2,010 2,185 3,520 1,358 1,214 1,765 381 639 373 182 229 354 168 880 178 574 580 99 276 56 119 174 78 79 74 56 108 25 33 45 79 23 24 21 29 5 19 10 6 10 17 3 6,071 8,797 6,029 6,901 1,447 4,511 3,145 3,513 1,838 7,791 3,748 945 576 970 583 1,264 507 428 489 642 385 296 273 586 55 350 190 285 259 188 99 128 98 98 131 30 53 69 73 60 60 45 35 36 58 23 38 107,768 66,284 65,414 46,046 17,869 16,685 16,494 16,445 14,403 12,765 9,722 8,901 5,971 4,517 3,886 3,115 3,033 2,682 2,662 2,006 1,942 1,524 1,360 • 1,185 887 786 644 633 569 511 457 413 374 342 282 240 214 212 189 138 128 115 113 113 92 79 62 194,337 181,729 64,196 440,262 10 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT YEARLY IMMIGRATION. Table showing the Number of Immigrants to the United States from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden for each Calendar Year from 1863 to 1883 inclusive, as Compiled from the " Reports of the Bureau of Statistics," Washington, D. C. 1863. 1864. 1 1865. 1866. 1867. 1868. 1869. 1870. 1871. 1872. 1873. 1,492 712 227 70 1,400 2,179 3,119 2,961 1,149 3,258 2,851 7,258 1,862 7,849 4,784 1,436 1,739 5,316 2,019 6,461 13,958 22,438 4,282 17,718 24,115 46,115 3,041 12,356 12,009 27,406 2,346 11,307 11,659 25,312 3,758 10,348 14,645 28,751 5,095 18,107 11,351 Total 14,495 8,491 34,553 Denmark Norway . . Sweden . . Total . 1874. 3,188 6,581 4,336 14,105 1875. 1.951 4,465 6,031 12,447 1876. 1,624 6,031 5,204 12,859 1877. 1,617 4,333 4,774 1878. 1879. 1880. 1881. 1882. 10,724 2,688 3,532 8,788 8,951 12,769 9,747 5.2161 9,488 23,054 26,967, 27,197 21,295 6,17616,65946, 723 55,892 60,413 32,596 14,08o!29,679i78,555 91,810 100,379 63,638 The number of immigrants from these countries to the United States for the first five months of 1884 was 15,812. Summary of Immigrants by Decades from 1820 to 1880. 1S21 to 1830. 1831 to 1840. 1841 to 1850. 1851 to 1860. 1861 to 1870. 1871 to 1880. Denmark 169 91 1,063 1,201 539 13,903 3,749 20,931 17,885 117,798 34,577 Norway and Sweden. . 226,488 Total 260 2,264 14,442 24,680 135,683 261,065 Grand total from 1821 to 1883 inclusive, 438,394. All the foregoing statistics are incomplete in one particular, viz., that they do not include the Finns, who should be classed among Scandinavians. Finland being a part of the Russian dominions, the census includes the Finns with the Russians, and hence they cannot be shown separately. A MILLION AND A HALF SCANDINAVIANS IN THE UNITED STATES. Thus it appears that by the census of 1880 the Scandinavian foreign- born population in the United States was 440,202 ; also the surprising fact that during the four years since that census was taken, viz., 1880-83, 334,382 more came, being over three-fourths as many as had accumulated from the immigration of all previous years. Adding these figures we IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 11 have 774,644 foreign-bom Scandinavians in the United States on Jan- uary 1, 1884. To represent the children of these, born on American soil, we must at least double the above figures, making (in round numbers) 1,500,000 persons as the Scandinavian population of the United States in 1884. Next in order are the Scandinavians, an interesting element, as they are massed so strongly in a certain district that they cannot fail to impress themselves upon the population and affect the type there to a marked extent. The persons of Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish nativity in the country in 1880 were 440,262 in number. Of these, 350,914, or more than three-fourths of the whole, are in a group of eight North- western States and Territories. ' The Western States (so called) and Territories present by far the most inviting field for the study of race influence in America. We find that this section is not only the most profoundly affected by foreign immigration, but that its increase in popula- tion from other causes is fastest. Moreover, on account of the probability that it will some time contain a much larger portion of the population of the country than any other region, it is likely to do most to fix the permanent national type and character. . . . If we join to the German element in Wisconsin the 102,631 persons in the State of Scandinavian parentage, we have, in the product and its influence, a promise of a fair and stalwart race. Hardly so blonde in type will be the future man of Wisconsin, however, as hia neighbor the Minnesotian. . . . THE PROMISED LAND. The Scandinavian people, the Norwegians at their head, have poured into Minne- sota as if it were a land promised them by their deities. They have, in the south- western part of the State, taken possession of entire townships where no other people live. . . . The stream of immigration pouring into Dakota gives promise that the population will repeat the characteristics of Minnesota. 8 ENQUIRIES IN LONDON. In London I called upon Rev. Joseph Parker, D.D., and inquired whether it was true that there was a great free church movement in Swe- den which was essentially Congregational. He replied that he knew noth- ing about it, and advised me to inquire at Memorial Hall. Secretary An- drew Mearns said that they had quite recently heard a rumor similar to that which had reached the Congregational brethren in the United States, but whether the facts were as reported, he could not say. London being so near to Sweden, and communication between them being so frequent, it seemed quite impossible that, if such a movement really existed, or, at least, had acquired any considerable strength, our English brethren should not have heard of it ; and Mr. Mearns' reply quite prepared me to expect that the reported awakening would prove to be either very small or pos- sibly of an unexpected character. 'The Century, September, 1884, p. 764. s Ibid., p. 767. 12 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT ARRIVAL IN SWEDEN. Henceforward the journey was by way of the Continent. Leaving Copenhagen, an eastward sail of sixteen English miles across Ore Sound lands me, April 5th, on the soil of Sweden, at the city of Malmo, situated on the extreme southwestern point of Sweden, and the third town of that country in point of population (36,670) and importance. The first man whom I met after setting foot on the Swedish shore was so drunk that he was attempting to monopolize the entire pavement. Thence to Stockholm by railway, going diagonally across Southern and Southeastern Sweden and passing through Skane, Smaland, Jonkoping, Ostergotland, and Nykpoing. Had I then known of the great Mission congregation at Malmo, of the Mission theological school at Winslof (within six English miles of which I passed), and of other places along the route in which I afterward came to have a deep interest, they would have had an eager American visitor. Southern and Central Sweden are very much like Min- nesota in climate and in the multitude of charming lakes that dot the land, but in the matter of good soil they are very unlike. ROCKY SWEDEN. In Southern Sweden there is considerable excellent land ; the farm buildings are large and the farms well cultivated ; there is also a discour- aging proportion of great rocks — acres and miles of gray, rough, ban-en rocks. The stony features increase as you go northward until it may be said that the northern half of Sweden and most of Norway are rocky and mountainous ridges, exceedingly discouraging to the farmer. Farms can be made only in patches here and there ; oftentimes a single and very small farm is rock-bound on all sides. To the landless and poor Scandina- vian, the "West, with its scores of miles of uninterruptedly fertile soil which he may possess almost without price, must seem a panorama of the Gar- den of Eden. Sweden abounds in rapid streams of pure water ; its lakes are full of fish, and the scenery is often very beautiful. But whatever in- hospitable lands there may be in Sweden and Norway, and whatever allure- ments in the New World, the Scandinavian keeps an undiminished love for what he affectionately calls " the Old Homeland." RAILWAY DINING. The Swedish method of dining railway passengers is a great improve- ment on the American plan. Passengers enter a dining-room characterized by extreme neatness and tasteful, appetizing arrangements. A long table in the center of the room, decorated with festoons and flowering plants, is laden with well-cooked food, steaming hot, of every variety that keen appetites require. The dishes and table ware are in piles on the same table. Each passenger goes to this table and gets such dishes, knives and forks, etc., as he may need, then helps himself (while standing), filling his Or SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 13 plate with whatever he likes best, then retires from the table, and either eats standing or goes to a side table and sits, as he prefers. The Swedes will probably stand, unless the meal be dinner. When one course is fin- ished a servant removes the dishes, and you go again to the chief table and select your next course, and so on, to satiety. For dinner there are usually provided two kinds of soup, two to five kinds of fish, two kinds of meat and vegetables, jellies, preserves, cake, and puddings, with butter and bread of the very best. At a side table will be found most excellent tea, coffee, and milk. The room is very quiet ; there is no hurry (although the time allowed is not more than in the United States), no crowding or call- ing for food. Each one quietly gets and eats what he likes best, and is happy. The charge will be about forty cents ; or you can take only a lunch for much less. One neatly dressed, attentive, and modest girl will by this plan serve a large number of passengers, and another maiden will receive the pay. There is economy of time, quietness, and general satisfaction to travelers. STOCKHOLM. Stockholm is called the "Venice of the North," the "Thousand Islands City," etc. ; has 190,000 population, and is growing very fast. Three facts will show the drinking habits of the people : (1) At the Eydberg Hotel, the second best in the city, the bill of fare in the dining-room covers eight long pages, of which six pages give the list of drinks. (2) In the beau- tiful dining-room of the Grand Hotel (there is no better kept hotel to be found anywhere), on a side table where the " smdrgasbord " ' (pronounced smar-gos-boord) is kept, there is a barrel-shaped silver tankard, about two feet long, in which are six faucets, from which may be drawn as many sorts of strong drinks, and to which all who go to that table have free access. (3) During a walk on one street, on a Monday forenoon, I counted six men so drunk as to be lying in the gutters. Yet there are encouraging features. The Blue Ribbon army has begun active work there ; they have temperance publications ; are eagerly watching the results of our experi- ments in prohibition in Maine, Kansas, and Iowa ; and the Fx - ee Mission churches are universally against intemperance. An intelligent and candid resident of Stockholm gave it as his judgment that excessive drinking was, in that city, the special vice of the poorer classes, while gambling was the more prevalent and ruinous sin among the wealthier classes. My letters of introduction opened the way to every avenue to information after I got on the right track, which was not found without difficulty. A POOR INTERPRETER. Securing the services of a professional guide and interpreter, I called upon Secretary P. Ollen, at the office of the "Swedish Mission Union" — ' You must go to Sweden to find out what that is ! — Ed. 14 A WIND FROM THE HOLT SPIRIT the English name of the missionary society for home and foreign missions. For some reason, which I did not then understand, I got very little infor- mation in my interviews with him. After several equally fruitless calls, Mr. Ollen invited me to visit him at his suburban residence on Monday, April 14th, at 9 a.m. Mr. Ollen could not speak English, nor I, at that time, any Swedish, so that an interpreter was a constant neces- sity. We found his suburban home on the bank of a stream, and amid trees. In one part of the grounds is a printing office, where he prints Hemland'svannen (Tlxe Homeland's Friend), of which he is also the editor. It is in sympathy with the Mission churches, and has a weekly circulation of eleven thousand copies. Within his home we found handsome furniture and an interesting family. Mrs. Ollen at once invited us to an elegant breakfast. Not knowing that this was in the programme, and as I had been to breakfast an hour before in Stockholm, I was about to excuse myself, when my guide informed me that it would give offense if I did not partake. Standing around the table, a silent blessing was asked. According to Swedish politeness, no one would come to the table until the stranger guest had helped himself (after the manner of the railway stations) ; next came the parents, and then the children, one after another, each selecting to suit his own taste, and then standing or walking about the room while eating. They seemed to know that Americans are not used to eating in this manner, and ui'ged me to be seated. In Swedish families there generally are two or three stands or small tables in different parts of the room, to which any of the family, if they desire, may go and sit while eating. Special neatness and excellent cooking were noticeable features. This was my first glimpse into the home life of a Swedish family. After breakfast Mi*. Ollen kindly gave two hours to answering my inquiries, through my interpreter. The information gathered was vague and unsatisfactory ; we did not seem to understand each other ; and I now became convinced that the fault was in the incompetency of the in- terpreter. He did as well as he could, and in every-day matters did very well ; but he was ignorant in both Swedish and English and his vocabulary was very limited. When we led him into matters of church polity and doctrines concerning the trinity, atonement, transubstantiation, and so on, he was beyond his depth, and could not interpret either of us. Mr. Ollen furnished me with a very valuable collection of confessions of faith and church rules from thirty Free Mission churches and societies, from which extracts are given hereafter. DR. WALDENSTROM. During Easter week Kev. Dr. Peter Waldenstrom (pronounced Val-den- strom) was coming down from his home in Gene (pronounced Yav-la) to preach in Stockholm and in Gotenburg (in Swedish, "Goteborg," and pronounced Yae-te-boor-ye. Some Swedish sounds cannot be perfectly IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. j5 shown in English). Although Dr. Waldenstrom did not originate the Free church movement, and did not at first espouse the cause of "sep;v- ratism," yet he early threw his great powers and fertile genius into the cause with which he was always in sympathy. I was glad of an oppor- tunity to hear him preach. The appointment was for Thursday at G p.m., at the South Mission House. At that hour, on a week-day, in a busy city, an audience of over fifteen hundred persons was present. He an- nounced that he would preach again the next day (Friday) at 11 a.m. Going there at that hour I found that, although the church was large and had galleries on the four sides of the auditorium, every inch even of stand- ing room was occupied, including the vestibule, while many had to re- main outside. Not less than three thousand persons were in that audi- ence. The great preacher possesses a singular power over his audiences. His weight is about two hundred pounds ; he does not move about while speaking ; makes few gestures ; uses no notes, speaks in the simplest language, with many illustrations and with remarkable clearness. One cause of his great jDopularity as a preacher may lie in the fact that his chief theme is drawn from the words : " For God so loved the world," etc. He went on to Gotenburg and there preached on Saturday and Sunday in the great "Bethlehem church," to audiences which were said to num- ber over five thousand persons. He is an indefatigable worker. His phys- ical and mental powers of endurance are marvelous. Returning from his long journey and much speaking, he apologized for not stopping over at Stockholm to give me information about the Free church movement, by saying that he must lecture at Gene that evening immediately upon his arrival. He urged that I should ride with him as far at least as Upsala (lat. 60° N.), which would give us two and one-half hours for uninterrupted conversation. Dr. Waldenstrom reads English quite well but does not speak it, and we were obliged to converse through my interpreter. For- tunately, there was in the same coupe with us Mr. John Olsson, a senior law student in the State University of Upsala, an admirer of Walden- strom, and a very bright and friendly young man. He could speak and understand some English, especially words of Latin or Greek origin — just the words on which my guide failed. With the two interpreters we got on moderately well, gathering from each other only " the half sense of the first translation." At Upsala we walked and talked while the train waited, after which Dr. Waldenstrom gave me a warm farewell ; then again from the open window, inside the car, in accordance with time Swedish politeness, he sev- eral times lifted his hat and bowed adieu. That I was greatly drawn toward him need not be said. Who that has met him or read his writings has not been charmed by him ? Rev. Dr. H M. Dexter, writing to The Congregationalist from Sweden, says of Dr. Waldenstrom : We found him to be a man of singular fascination, and, after we had talked a little while with him, we were quite able to understand how it is that thousands always 16 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT hang upon his lips when he makes a public address. I have seldom seen any man whose face and manner more winsomely suggest goodness, with greatness, within. Dr. Waldenstrom has a magnificent personal presence. Although he is forty-six years of age (on July 20, 1884), his face appears twenty years younger in its freshness and innocence. His simple, frank, affectionate manner wins all hearts. He is styled there "Professor of Theology" at the State school at Gefle, having three hundred pupils. It seems to be what Amer- icans would call a preparatory school. What an inspiring teacher for young men ! He impresses one as being a sincere, joyous, affectionate, mighty man. (See frontispiece.) He has a wife ; of his seven children, two have died. His learning is said to be profound and varied. Besides his other works he has published four books in Latin, two on scientific and two on theo- logical subjects. One of the latter is entitled " De Justificatione." Some of his admirers say that he can preach in both the Latin and Greek lan- guages. THE GOSPELS IN GOTHIC. Upsala is the most famous university-town in Sweden, and is historically and intellectually the center of the kingdom. The university was founded in 14X7 and now has twelve hundred students. The old cathedral, founded in 1289, and the ancient castle, are objects of historic interest. Mr. Olsson gave me my first view of the interior of a Swedish student's room, showing order, neatness, and comfort. But the university library building is the Mecca of all travelers, since it contains, among its two hundred and forty thousand volumes, the famous treasure, Codex Argenteus, a translation of the Four Gospels into the Gothic tongue by Bishop Ulphilas, dating from the fourth century. This manuscript is above price, since it is almost the sole source for our knowledge of the ancient Gothic language, the mother of the whole family of Germanic languages, as Sanskrit is of the Aryan family. The Swedes value it above the entire library besides. It is written on one hundred and eighty-eight leaves of parchment, in gold and silver letters on a reddish ground, and very heavily bound in solid silver. It is shown under glass to all visitors. LEARNING SWEDISH. Keturning to Stockholm I took rooms at a private house, No. 36 TJpp- landsgatan, that I might, at least for a little time, be where nothing but Swedish was spoken. The door-plate said : '• Enke Fru Thelander," which being interpreted is : "Mrs. Widow Thelander." In such circumstances, from how many avenues the new language will come pouring into the mind! You must learn the names of things or starve, or at least be subject to numberless unexpected and ludicrous embarrassments. The signs on the streets are your large-letter primer ; the furniture of your room, the build- IN" SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 17 ings, trees, farms, animals, and a thousand other things are before you for object lessons. With what new interest, intent to catch their meaning, you will listen to the family conversations, to the talk of the children and the workman upon the streets. With an eagerness that will not be refused you pry into the "dispatches from the United States" in the morning papei-, and whether you know anything of the language or not you will somehow read them. If you want to learn to speak a modern language, go where it must come in at every pore. From Rev. Dr. Eric Nystrum (pronounced Nee-strom), of Stockholm, much valuable information was obtained. He stands six feet four inches high, straight as an arrow, with bushy, curling hair, and blue eyes. He was for three years a missionary among the Jews at Beirut, in Turkey ; for a while was identified with the Mission churches, but is now again, as he was reared, a Baptist. He is an accomplished linguist ; translates at sight from the Scriptures in Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, and Syriac ; speaks several modern languages, and English with especial fluency and correctness. He gave me some lessons in the Swedish language ; answered many in- quiries ; read to me many hours, translating at sight, from various Swed- ish documents ; and was a most excellent interpreter in both public and private. SWEDISH CUSTOMS. At an evening party at his home, held in honor of Mrs. Nystrom's " Cal- endar Day," I was an invited and interested guest. Several persons pres- ent spoke some English. When the company gathered informally around the table of elegant refreshments, while all were standing, according to Swedish custom, the host asked the Divine blessing, first in the Swedish language, and then, in delicate politeness toward the American guest, re- peated the prayer in English. The rooms were handsomely furnished, but, as is generally the case in Sweden, the floors were not carpeted, not even the parlor, but they were shining clean. Dr. Nystrom testified that the Free Mission brethren were a large body of excellent Christian people. After visiting in Stockholm all the Lutheran churches, witnessing Easter and confirmation services ; the leading Baptist church (where on Sunday morning two thousand five hundred persons listened to the sermon by Dr. Nystrum) ; the Baptist Theological School ^ a Mission Sunday-school ; the public schools ; a Blue Ribbon temperance meeting ; heai-ing Parliamentary- discussions, and breakfasting with the secretary of the Swedish Branch of the Evangelical Alliance, Mr. Karl Aug. Andersson, and his earnest Christian wife, who are Lutherans, I began to summarize the facts gath- ered about the Free Mission church movement. MISTRUST. Some things were clear: that such a movement was already very strong, was provoking bitter opposition from the Lutheran State church, 18 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT and that its adherents were accounted on all sides excellent Christians. On the other hand, I had heard it often charged by their opponents that they were loose in polity, lacked organization, and were unsound in doc- trine. My interviews with Dr. Waldenstrom and Mr. Ollen had been too imperfectly interpreted to sufficiently clear up these difficulties. I began to think that perhaps the movement had not yet clearly denned itself, and that it was probably too early for Congregationalists to offer their fellow- ship. The two parties might be as the two Irishmen were who met unex- pectedly and greeted each other with, "Mike, how do you do?" and "How are you, Pat ? " Then finding they were both mistaken, Pat said : " An' I thought it was you, an' you thought it was me, an' behold, tf* nayther of us ! " KRISTINEHAMN. Leaving Stockholm on May 3d, where the birds had already begun their songs, at 2.30 a.m. (N. lat. 59£°), I went to Kristinehamn to visit the Mission Theological School. The days spent there were the most delightful of all that I passed in Scandinavia. The interpreters were good and in sympathy with my errand ; copious facts were obtained ; all mistrust of the Free Mission movement vanished from my mind. I found that the Lord was indeed again repeating, in Sweden and in Norway, the historic providences by which, three centuries ago, he led forth his people ffrom the national church of England to plant churches on the New Testa- ment plan, both in old England and in the New World. Kristinehamn (the recent usage in Sweden is to begin this and similar words with " K " rather than " C ") is a town of 5,000 people, situ- ated at the northeast extremity of Lake Wenern (pronounced Venern). Although the station is a long walk from the school, I was met there and most warmly welcomed by President E. J. Ekman, Professor Fernholm, Kev. C. O. Crest (a returned missionary from Finland), Eev. C. J. Eng- vall (about to start as missionary in Kussia), and several theological students. President Ekman urged, through an interpreter, that I would make his house my home, and stay as long as was convenient. As this ar- rangement would promote the object of my visit it was gladly accepted, and four days of precious memory were passed in his interesting family. He planned every hour so as to afford me the best opportunities to facili- tate my inquiries ; would have the parlor given up to my exclusive use ; kept Missionary Orest there also, that an interpreter might constantly be at hand ; and arranged social gatherings which were highly enjoyed by his guest. MUTUAL INQUIRIES. It was Saturday afternoon ; we gathered in the parlor ; there were present President Ekman (pronounced Ak-man), who reads English but speaks it very little ; Professor Andreas Fernholm, who speaks and under- IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. id stands English moderately well, and who is so strikingly like an American in personal appeai'ance that he would pass even in Boston for a Beacon Street full-blood ; Missionaries C. O. Orest and C. J. Engvall, both of whom have been in the Guinness Training School in London and have a considerable knowledge of English ; a theological student preparing to o-o as a missionary to South Africa ; Mrs. Ekman and Mrs. Fernholm. The latter lady speaks English, but Mrs. Ekman does not, and said re- gretfully, through an interpreter : " Since we are all children of the same Lord, it is a pity we cannot converse with each other.'' Until 11 p.m. we' compared notes ; I asking about their doctrines, methods, history, and they as eagerly making similar inquiries about us. Sometimes it required the help of all the English-speaking Swedes and our lexicons to be mutu- ally understood, and on both sides not a few laughable blunders were made. Those who seem to be well acquainted with a new language are liable to find, unexpectedly and in many sentences, words which they can- not interpret and others which they cannot understand. This was specially illustrated when I was invited to address the theo- logical students. The interpreter, who was ordinarily successful, gave up after a few sentences, and we had failed had not another brother, more acquainted with English, opportunely arrived. Our progress in gathering mutual information was slow, but very interesting. They keenly watched to hear how an American would use and pronounce the English language — the foreign tongue in which they take most interest. Travelers from England are not infrequent in Sweden, but native Americans are rarely seen there. Getting their pronunciation from England, they were falling into "Englishisms." I hastened to assure them that if they would leam to pronounce the English language correctly they must get it from Ameri- cans ! at which they seemed much amused. MUTUAL JOY. Their surprise and joy at finding that there were chui'ches among English-speaking people so closely akin to their own was manifested some- times with tears, and with many fervent ejaculations of " Thank the Lord ! " I now began to think that the Congregationalists and the Free Mission Swedes, instead of being like the Irishmen, as before related, were rather like the Swedish lovers in Brooklyn, N. Y., who after a happy courtship were about to marry, when they (both being orphans) discovered that they were brother and sister. Social gatherings were also held at Professor Fernholm's, at the resi- dence of the superintendent of the public schools, and at the Americanized home of a Swedish gentleman and wife, who after becoming wealthy in the United States had returned to spend their last years in their native land. These families and the several families of invited guests were mem- bers of the Mission church there. More earnest Christians I have never 20 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT met. Their genuine politeness to each other in the smallest matters, af- fectionate ways, reluctance to speak of the faults of any, meekness, prayer- fulness, love and reverence for the Bible, and zeal for the cause of missions, were very noticeable. The "Moody and Sankey Gospel Songs," translated into Swedish, are in every home. Mrs. Professor Fernholm would play the piano and sing these songs in Swedish or English. Each of these social evening gatherings was closed with the reading of a chapter in the Bible, singing, in which all joined heartily, and prayer. Their minds seemed to be waiting upon the Lord, and eagerly receptive of scriptural truth. At one of these gatherings the sixteenth chapter of the Gospel of John was read ; no remarks were made, but several in the room were sob- bing before the reading ended. They seemed to be very near to Christ, and to be themselves a part of the group at that last meeting of the disci- ples with their Lord. And then the prayers (while sitting with bowed heads) — how earnest and how full of child-like naturalness, teachableness, and pleading with God. Every soul in that room seemed to be in prayer, and no eyes were dry. Their guest was commended to God on his return joui-ney, and thanks were given for new-found Christian brethren across the seas. The Spirit was present. It was good to be there. A COUNTRY CHURCH IN SWEDEN. On Sunday morning President Ekman preached at a church several miles in the country, and I went along. The pulpit was well up toward the ceil- ing, very small and boxed up, situated near one corner of the room ; its floor was four feet above the heads of the people, and it could be reached only from another room. Not over half the audience could look at the speaker without discomfort, and some could not see him at all. The squeaky cabinet organ was similarly boxed up, high in another corner. The ladies and gentlemen sat separately ; and the ladies (about seventy-five), every one, wore small black silk head-shawls instead of bonnets. No other color or st3 T le was worn, and the appearance was very somber. In the cities in Sweden not many of these head-shawls are worn. About one hun- dred and fifty persons were present ; the sermon was upon the love of God, and was one hour and one-quarter long. The strong voice, musical enun- ciation, and glowing earnestness of the speaker were very impressive, and many of his audience were at times in tears. He illustrated his theme with a touching story of a mother's love for an erring daughter, which I had heard six years before in an address by Dr. Henry M. Storrs at Lawrence, Kansas. At four o'clock that clay President Ekman preached again in the large " Mission House " in Kristinehamn, the pastor, Bev. A. Wikstrom, being absent. The building would seat about two thousand persons, and the friends estimated that fourteen hundred were present at this service. At the close the audience were dismissed with the announcement that the IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 21 members of the church would assemble again in half an hour, for the re- ception of members and the celebration of the Lord's Supper. A DOORKEEPER AT THE COMMUNION. I then learned that on communion occasions " a doorkeeper in the house of my God " was on duty, and none were permitted to enter who did not present a certificate of membership. The explanation was that since there is in Sweden a State church at whose communion services all citizens, good and bad, may participate, without the doorkeeper and the cards of admittance, the house would be filled with communicants who have thus " with the mouth confessed," but who have not " with the heart believed unto righteousness." The church-membership was 628, and on that day 23 more were ad- mitted, " of such as should be saved." Those beuig received (one of whom had been a Methodist and another an Episcopalian in the United States) came forward to the front seats, and were tenderly and appropriately ad- dressed by Professor Fernholm, who had formerly been pastor of that church. They then kneeled, and the ministers present put each hand upon the head of one of them, while the deacons came forward and put their hands upon others until all the new members received " the laying on of hands ; " then prayers of consecration followed. When they had risen the Lord's Supper was administered, the service being in every respect as in the Congregational churches in our own country. In only two re- spects did any of these public services differ from similar occasions among Congregational churches in the United States. One was the kneeling of the incoming members, instead of standing, as with us ; the other was in the responses of the Swedish congregation during the prayers. While the people were being led in prayer, murmuring responses and individual peti- tions, most earnest, were heard in every part of the audience. Every Up, apparently, was engaged in supplicating prayer of its own. These were not noisy — not the least Methodistic nor disconcerting ; but from hundreds of tongues half-audible praises, adoration, or petition went up to the throne of grace. Christ was there. He made his face to shine upon them. We could almost see "the gates of pearl " beyond which no Babel tongues shall hinder the fellowship of the children of God. "And when they had sung a hymn, they went out." SCHOOL OF THE PROPHETS. The " School of the Prophets " at Kristinehamn was begun only five years ago ; it was a pressing necessity of the Free church movement. The newness of the organization, lack of sufficient means, and the exigencies in the mission fields led them to receive some students who had had very little preparatory training, and to limit their course at present to two 22 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT years. It includes no Hebrew, and generally no Greek, but in some cases embraces very elemental branches. The modern languages are studied, especially English ; but the chief study is the Bible in their own tongue. Each class has six recitations per week, during the whole two years, in Bible study under President Ekman. In this time they go over with the instructor every chapter in the Bible. My observation was that no more pious or consecrated young men are to be found in any theological school, and in readiness to find or cite almost any passage of Scripture, they are not often equaled. They are not, however, college-bred men. Professor Fernholm says : " Very few of our pastors have had a college or university education." The school buildings are inexpensive, of two stories and built of wood ; and there is as yet no library worth mentioning, nor any endowment funds. The American or English Christian who shall put a few thousands of dollars into that school will have done a great thing for the cause of Christ, in more lands than one. Who will do it? . President Ekman won my heart ; and he is greatly beloved throughout Sweden and by his countrymen in this land. He is nearly six feet high, weighs about two hundred and twenty -five pounds, and has robust health. He has a noble countenance, in which are clearly stamped manliness, kindness of heart, fervent piety, and strength of intellect. With great physical powers, and with mental endowments and energy to match, he has thrown his whole force into the Free Mission church movement. He was forty-two years of age, January 8, 1884, and has five children. He is a wise, conscientious, courageous worker in a movement which God has set upon a hill. The readers of these pages will be glad to see the engraving of him presented in this volume. It was the purpose to present some translations from his books, but circumstances have prevented. Upon my way home I received at Liverpool the following letter from Professor Fernholm, which deepens my pleasant recollections of the friends at Kristinehamn : Kristinehamn, Sweden, May 10, 1884. Dear Sir : It is with great satisfaction we remember your short visit here, feeling that you will have a lasting room in our hearts, as you and our sister congregations in America will have in our prayers hereafter. We thank you, sir, for your coming over the wide ocean to discover us and tie the bond of union and fellowship between us and our Christian brethren and sisters in America. Mr. and Mrs. Ekman, as also my wife, ask to be remembered to you. In brotherly love, yours iu Christ, Andreas Fernholm. GOING TO NORWAY. Setting out from Kristinehamn for the Norse land, the route goes upward over the almost mountainous ridge which separates the king- doms of Sweden and Norway as far northward as Kongsvinger, then IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 23 rapidly descends to Kristiania, the capital of Norway. Kristiania is a rapidly growing city of 120,000 population, modern in appearance, en- terprising, and charmingly situated at the innermost head of Kris- tiania Fjord (pronounced F-yord), one hundred and fifty miles from the open sea, and has a picturesque background of lofty hills. These fjords are the wonder of Norway. They are exceedingly numerous along the entire sea-coast of that country, cutting it into rugged and grand scenery. In long, narrow tongues of sea, with rocky, precipitous, and lofty coasts, they jut inland scores, and even hundreds of miles. They might well be called the teeth of an angry sea, seeking to crush between its jaws the peninsula of Scandinavia. I met travelers familiar with both who claimed that Norway has grander scenery than Switzerland. English and Amer- ican tourists through Norway to North Cape are yearly increasing. The day after my arrival was " Bedja Dag " (May 9th), the national "Prayer Day," the origin of which is not well settled. It is a national holy- day ; work is suspended more than on the Sabbath ; all the churches have service, and many thousand people are upon the streets in their best attire. I went to several churches, some of them of great size, and all were filled to overflowing. At the door of the largest Lutheran church the policeman claimed that five thousand persons were inside, and that hundreds, unable to get in, had gone away ; at the armory, over three thousand people were listening to the eloquent monk. Norwegian ladies of the best classes dress with especially good taste. There was very little in the personal appear- ance, dress, or behavior of either ladies or gentlemen in that throng of people which would distinguish them from a similar outpouring of native Americans in any of our cities. The Storthing (Norwegian Parliament, pronounced stoor-ting), in the midst of its brave constitutional conflict with the king, had adjourned for "Bedja Dag" (pronounced Bad-yah Dag). Its distinguished president, Mr. Sverdrup (since made Premier in the king's Norwegian cabinet), is an uncle of Rev. Mr. Sverdrup, of Minne- apolis, President of the Norwegian Lutheran Augsburg Theological Sem- inary. Another gentleman is in that Parliament whom the Norwegians call " a mighty man," Pastor Larz Oftedal, of Stavanger, and brother of Professor S. Oftedal, also of Augsburg Seminary, Minneapolis. Pastor Oftedal is a preacher of great eloquence, belongs to the progressive wing of the Lutheran State church, and is such a power among the people on the Liberal side that he is most cordially hated by the Conservatives. FRIENDS FOUND. My professional guide insisted that there was no "Free Mission" church in Kristiania ; it was impossible, or he should have known of it ; but I knew better, and directed him to find the residence of Mr. M. Hanson. He was at home ; was "leader " of the Mission church ; introduced to me an excellent interpreter, in sympathy with my work, Mr. Neils A. S. 24 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT Eie, and so the professional lost his situation. Mr. Eie was of much ser- vice to me and would have no compensation. I attended the service of the Mission friends at 6 p.m. on Bedja Dag. They were just laying the foundations of a .house of worship, and were worshiping in a gymna- sium, where a great audience was present. Their singing was hearty and joyous. The first song was " Wonderful Words of Life," translated into their own language, but keeping the same tune. How it thrilled me to hear in that far-off land, and so unexpectedly, that song burst forth from hundreds of worshiping tongues ! The sermon was by Be v. S. K. Didrickson, a Norwegian youth of about twenty-two years, fine looking, robust, earnest, humble, consecrated, who had enjoyed little training. When he had closed they invited me to speak, and I gave them a brief account of the history and present strength of their Congregational breth- ren in England and America. This greatly astonished them, and awakened many audible responses. When I told them that some of our forefathers in England had suffered martyrdom for the sake of a New Testament church, untrammeled by State power, many expressions of sympathy came from the audience. A LADY INTERPRETER. My remarks were well interpreted by Miss C. Juell, a wealthy Christian lady of that city who had traveled extensively in the United States. Like Lydia, her heart was opened, while sojourning in a foreign land, to see that a State church is not a church after the idea of Christ and the apos- tles ; and she is doing much for the Mission friends, who are generally from the poorer classes. She has given 4,000 kronors (over $1,000) towards building their house of worship, and has written special thanks for the contribution taken for the Norwegian friends at the Saratoga anniversary of the American Home Missionary Society. With great earnestness and force she pleads that these Free Mission churches in Norway should be promptly and liberally helped by American Christians, and must be, if the movement is to be guarded against serious disasters. PREACHING IN NORWAY. I could not, somehow, turn away from these Norwegian Christians so quickly as had been planned, and remained over the Sabbath, preaching for them in the morning, Mr. Eie being interpreter, and an audience of eight hundred present. That was a most interesting and responsive con- gregation. It was touching to see their eager, upturned faces, so hungry for the gospel and so receptive of its truth. Many wept ; waves of mur- muring responses and prayers passed through the audience. Afterward I learned that at the close of the service they had held an inquiry meeting, and some confessed Christ. No Christian work has yet drawn so deeply upon my sympathies as that among the young and struggling Free Mission IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 25 churches in Norway, because they so much need nurturing care. I began to question whether I was a home or a foreign missionary ; then re-read the book of Acts to see what Paul was, and was delighted to find that he was both ! When we have entered into the depths of the missionary spirit, ocean breadths shrink to narrow streams, and the cause of Christ every- where is one. Rev. Johnson is the presiding elder of the Methodist work in Norway. He is a native of that country, but was for some years in the United States. In his absence Mrs. Johnson answered many inquiries, took us to the Methodist Episcopal service, and invited us to be among several guests to tea at the Methodist Episcopal parsonage. A delightful evening was spent in hearing narrations of experience in the Free church work in Norway, especially of the persecutions of Methodist Episcopal ministers by the State church. Mrs. Johnson speaks as good English as if she were a native American, and has a good voice ; and after hearing for- eign languages most of the time for two months, it was very pleasant to hear her sing, in English, "My Faith looks up to Thee," "Mercy's Free," and many other songs. Before separating the company repeated passages of Scripture, and in prayer the Lord was asked to give rich blessings to his work and to his workers on both sides of the Atlantic. QUESTIONS ABOUT POLYGAMY. It was a long day's ride by rail from Kristiania southward down into Sweden to Gotenburg, the second city in size (80,000 population) in that kingdom. Here, as elsewhere, I must not linger to speak of many things in those countries which are of interest to Americans. One item I must not omit : in every country through which I had passed torturing questions had been asked me as to why the United States permitted the blot of polygamy to continue ; and ivhy the emissaries (falsely called mis- sionaries) of Mormonism were allowed to go to the countries of Europe to entice scores and hundreds of their daughters annually to become the vic- tims of that Utah curse. Many times these inquiries from indignant Euro- peans had mantled my cheeks with shame, for I could give no answer. On this journey an aged Norwegian business man, of much intelligence and fine spirit, whose sons had already gone to the United States, after saying that a Mormon emissary had for months been holding meetings in Kristiania, asked why the " Americans " do not abolish polygamy. As he pressed his question, I answered that there was no good reason why, and that its long continuance was a burning shame to the people of the United States. Rising with elevated voice and flashing eyes, he said : " Then why in the name of God don't you stop it? " I was dumb. "Who can answer? Can the Presi- dent of the United States ? Can Congress ? Can the voters of this land give any good reason why that infamous iniquity has not long since been abolished ? 26 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT A SWEDISH TABERNACLE. At Gotenburg the Mission church of over one thousand members has a house of worship of great size, seating, the janitor said, five thousand persons. The building is of brick and has many rooms. The vast audi- torium is square, very plain, has uncushioned pews, a broad platform for the preacher, very wide double galleries on three sides, and is often crowded to overflowing with a multitude eager to hear " all the words of this life." As this great tabernacle is the largest Swedish Free Mission house in the world, an illusti'ation of it is presented on the opposite page. In the published annual report of this church for 1883 (a pamphlet of twenty-seven pages), the following items appeal 1 in the treasurer's exhibit of cash paid : Kronors. Ev. Fosterlands-stiftelsen Foreign Missions 363.50 Swedish Mission Union 277.05 Israelite Mission 2.00 Santal Mission 1,131.50 West Coast Mission Society 262.00 Orphan Asylum 891.69 Baptist Chapel 273.00 Sunday-school 208.00 For the Poor 980.50 Other Benevolences 35.00 Total 4,424.24 This would be about $1,190 for these benevolences for one year. THE RELIGION OF SWEDEN. The national religion of Sweden is Lutheran. The Augsburg Confes- sion of Faith was long since adopted as the national confession, and the Lutheran church was established by law as the State church. The king is the head of the church ; it is supported from the public funds ; all citi- zens are members of the church and have the right to partake at the com- munion table without regard to character ; children are confirmed at four- teen years of age ; pastors are not required to be converted men. Until very recent years, the laws of Sweden have not tolerated any other form of religion ; and all movements toward "separatism" from the State church have been visited with severe penalties. By numerous prosecutions, fines, and imprisonments the authorities have sought in vain to smother every appearance of "dissenters." Only the more rapidly and widely has the discontent with the State church spread. IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. A; r ITJf 28 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT This religious awakening began about forty years ago, from the preach- ing and writings of Karl Olaf Rosenius. He was a Lutheran, and remained so through life. For over a quarter of a century he exerted a wide influ- ence, seeking to arouse the State church from its spiritual lethargy, and pointing it towards a more evangelical position. He was converted at the age of fifteen by reading " Faith's Mirror " (" Trospegel "), by Pontoppidan, and began preaching in 1836. Removing to Stockholm he became teacher, editor, and a preacher of much power. Great audiences attended his preach- ing and he was much slandered and ridiculed. He often made extensive evangelistic tours through various parts of Sweden. He died in 1868. Neither Rosenius nor his followers had any purpose of leaving the State church. Their only aim and hope was the reformation of that church ; a revival of true religion and spiritual life within, which should bring her up to be a true church of Christ. Before Rosenius began his work in Stock- holm, a Methodist missionary from England, Rev. George Scott (a native of Scotland ; born in 1804, died 1874), had attracted great attention by his revivals. Rosenius co-operated with him, and though they differed on many doctrinal points, were warm friends through life. Great opposition and persecution was visited upon Scott and Rosenius from State church sources. Scott was soon mobbed and driven out of the country. Seventeen years afterward he returned, to be received with honor and to find that the work he began had steadily gained strength under the guidance of other men. The Baptists of the United States began some missions in Sweden about thirty-one years ago, under the leadership of Rev. Anders "Wiberg, who yet survives to see the great fruit of his labors. Methodism has not prospered largely, but now has a membership in Sweden of seven to twelve thousand. The Baptists have been much more successful and have done great good for the advancement of true piety and religious freedom in that land, and number their church- membership at about twenty-six thousand. Simultaneously with these denominational and separatist movements, another spiritual revival has been going on inside the State church. It is the work begun by Rosenius. At his death his mantle fell upon Rev. P. Waldenstrom, Ph.D., of Gefle (previously mentioned), a professor in a State school, a preacher of wonderful power, and an author of many religious works, doctrinal and practical, of some of which forty thousand copies have been circulated. He was originally a Lutheran priest. He has not only taught and preached almost incessantly, but his prolific pen has poured forth a stream of books, magazine articles, and contributions for weekly papers, which have had an inestimable influence in guiding and spreading the Free Mission movement. He is the author of some forty religious pub- lications, of which about thirty are pamphlets on timely subjects, while the others are larger volumes. Some of those most widely circulated are en- titled : "God's Eternal Redemption," " The Suffering One," and " The Lord is Righteous." The latter book is a meditation on the twenty -fifth psalm, IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 29 and some of his friends claim that it has reached a circulation of seventy- five thousand copies. From a Swedish newspaper office in Chicago it is said that ten thousand copies of this work were distributed. The titles of some of his pamphlets and tracts are : " God's Lamb," " In the Son is Life," " What shall we Preach?" " Yet there is Room," " Come, even you," etc. "A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT." This Free Mission awakening has been especially fortunate in the char- acter and ability and spiritual richness of those whom God has led to the front. These Swedish Christians love to call this awakening "A wind from the Holy Spirit," and deny that they are following any human leader, but only Christ. One of them writes me :■ "It is an error to suppose that this Free church movement has been developed or is led by some prominent man. It is a people's movement, begun and led by God." Nevertheless, God molds men and nations through human instrumentalities ; and so in this movement some men have been conspicuously prominent and God has made them to be leaders, organizers, interpreters of the Word, and teachers, and he has put his Spirit upon them. Among several, two are especially leading spirits, viz. : Rev. Dr. P. Waldenstrom and Rev. E. J. Ekman, President of the Mission Union and of the theological school at Kristinehamn. Both have done and are doing great things by tongue and pen ; both are teach- ers, preachers, editors, and authors. President Ekman is the author of several religious books, doctrinal and practical. Some of the titles are : "The Lord is my Light," "The Tabernacle, or the Shadow and Substance," " The Lord's Supper," " The Sin against the Spirit," etc. Of some of these thirty thousand copies have been sold, and of none of them less than five thousand. He also published, in 1883, a new hymn-book called the " Trumpet of Peace," and in fifteen months after its appearance eighty thousand copies had been sold. When we consider that the entire popula- tion of Sweden is only 4,600,000, the great circulation of the writings of Waldenstrom and Ekman shows the deep hold which this Free chui*ch movement has obtained in Sweden, in spite of the power and wealth and opposition of the State church. There have been many other distinguished helpers in this work, such as Professor A. Fernholm, Mr. C. J. Nyvall, Dr. Axel Beskow ; but I am not sufficiently acquainted to give their names. THE ISSUES. This movement embraced a large portion of the real Christians in the State churches. These began by degrees to take issue with the State church on the following points : That a State church including in its membership all citizens cannot be a true church of Christ ; That a Christian church should be composed of those only who are supposed to be converted ; 30 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT That only converted men should be pastors of churches ; That only those should be allowed to partake at the celebration of the Lord's Supper who truly believe on Christ. Upon these and many minor questions they earnestly sought the ref- ormation of the State church, with no thought of separation from it. At first these earnest Christians began to meet in private circles to par- take of the communion together ; then the Lutheran priests refused to serve them except at the public communions in the State churches. This led to the formation of " Lord's Supper Societies," which found some " be- lieving priests " who would serve them at the communion table, or they chose one of their own members to act in that capacity. These societies were merged into what were called "Mission Societies" for general Chris- tian work ; and soon these "Mission Societies " became regularly organized churches, although the larger number have not changed their names. This movement has now come to have very large numbers, and to exert great power for the cause of Christ in Sweden and other lands. These churches have no denominational name, and the separate local churches are named variously. APOSTOLIC CHURCH NAMES. In a published list of 157 of these churches I found that 113 were named " The Mission Society at ; " 19 " The Free Church at ; " 10 " The Christian Church at ;" 7 " The Brothers' Society at ; " 6 " The Brothers' Church at ; " 1 " God's Church in ; " and 1 " The Local Church at ." The Lutheran State church is especially bitter toward this new move- ment, which is drawing so heavily upon the best elements in that church. They seek to stigmatize its followers by calling them " Waldenstromians," after Dr. Waldenstrom. Perhaps the most common custom among them- selves, however, designates the new churches as " Mission churches," and this will be the most convenient name for Americans. They repudiate earnestly the name " Waldenstromian," and any intimation that they follow any human leader ; and declare that their models are only Christ and the Bible. These churches had their small beginnings about twenty-five years ago, for some years increased slowly, and were so widely separated as to have little fellowship and comfort from each other amid their sufferings from their civil-ecclesiastical persecutors. During the last ten years the move- ment has gained with astonishing rapidity, but these churches had no general and distinctive bond of union or of co-operation until six years ago (1878). At that time they formed a missionary society for home and foreign work, called " The Swedish Mission Union " (Svenska Missions Fbrbundet). This society holds an annual delegate and mass meeting lasting three days ; besides this, the churches have local district associations which meet four times each year, and the ministers have an association which meets yearly. IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 31 FOUR HUNDRED CHURCHES. Exact statistics of all these Mission churches I could not obtain. They have not vet published a year-book. I asked President Ekman and Professor Fernholm to give me a close estimate of the number of these churches and their membership. They had published lists of most of them, and said that the number of churches was not less than 400 and the total membership about 100,000. It will be noted that this is an average membership of 250, while our Congregational churches average about 100 members ; that the total is equal to one-fourth the entire membership of the Congregational churches of the United States, and about equal to the combined membership of all the Congregational churches of Ohio, Mich- igan, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. These Swedish churches are especially strong in the large cities, one church in Stockholm having a membership of about 1,500, one in Gene of 1,200, and one in Goten- burg of 1,000, etc. One printed list which I saw embraced 322 churches and societies. The annual report for 1883 of the Wermland Ansgarii Association gives a list of 70 churches, with as complete statistical tables as are to be found in the minutes of any of our State associations. Some of the larger churches in this association have a membership as follows : 700, 628, 525, 508, 460, 405, and so on down. The smallest has 12 members, one has 13, and then they rise to 26, 27, 35, 36, 44, and so on up. This exhibit showed that among these 70 churches and societies there were 63 houses of worship ; 26 having no meeting-house ; 32 having each one house ; 11 having from 2 to 7 houses of worship each; and one is put down as having only " one-half " a house. By this is probably meant a joint ownership with another party. The reason why some churches have more than one house is because in such cases the parish embraces a large district, having houses of worship in different parts of it, while in membership they are united in one church. In one case the parish is fourteen miles wide by twenty miles long, and has seven houses of worship. All church buildings for worship are called "prayer houses." These Mission churches choose out from among themselves one whom they call the " leader ; " sometimes he is a preacher, but more generally he is a layman gifted in spiritual life and wisdom. He has general over- sight of the meetings in the absence of the regular minister, and such absences are much more common with the Swedes than among Americans. The pastors of the large churches visit and preach among the weak churches much more than is the custom with us. The congregations thus left without the pastor and the " leaders " are well trained to go right on with the service. A published list of churches gives the name, address, and occupation of these " leaders." From one list I copy the following as designating the " leaders : " " Mr. A the wood-turner ; " " Mr. B the miller;" "Mr. C the glazier;" "Mr D the painter," and 32 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT so on ; " the carpenter," " the lumberman," " the school-teacher," " the member of Parliament," " the preacher." PERIODICALS. The Mission Union, in 1883, employed twenty-two foreign missionaries (besides those who labor in Norway), of whom eleven labor in Russia, six in Finland, one in Lapland, and two on the Congo in Africa. They have two theological schools, the first having been opened only five years ago. Seven religious periodicals, weeklies and monthlies, are in sympathy with this Free Mission church movement. One of the weeklies has a circulation of eleven thousand. For this paper, The Homeland's Friend, I wrote while at President Ekman's house an article six columns in length, entitled " The Similarity between the Swedish Mission Churches and the American Con- gregational Churches," the purpose of which was to acquaint our Swedish Mission friends with the history, polity, doctrines, missionary work, and strength of their related churches in other parts of the world. The article was enriched with extracts from Dr. Dexter's " Hand Book of Congrega- tionalism " and from Ross's " Pocket Manual." I have reason to believe that to nearly all Mission Swedes this was their first knowledge that such churches as theirs had long since existed in other lands, and that they received this information with great joy. This article was translated into the Norsk language and published in The Morning-glow, a paper of similar sympathies in Kristiania, Norway ; and it also appeared in this country in The Chicago Bladet, a Swedish Mission weekly published in Chicago, having a circulation of some ten thousand copies. THE TYPE OF PIETY. The type of piety among these Swedish " Free Christians " (as they love to call themselves) is delightful. They are peaceable, meek, fervent, de- voted, upright, especially given to prayer and the reading of the Bible. This was the uniform testimony in their behalf by Baptists, Methodists, and Lutherans. The Methodists were naturally apt to remark that the Mission churches were " in much need of more rules and regulations ! " With most singular fidelity and simplicity they have sought to follow the New Testament idea of a church of Christ ; and the results are remark- able, and well worthy the careful study of Christians in other lands. These Swedish Free churches are purely Congregational. In polity, doctrines, liberty, and variety in unity, in general methods, and in the leading features of their history, they are Congregational to the core. Con- sidering that they are a people isolated from the world's highways, are of different language, have had no Congregational missionaries sent to them, have known nothing of the Congrega^onal churches in other parts of the world, and have thus had no help from their experiences and precedents, this similarity is very surprising. It is also gratifying to Con- gregationalists and instructive to students of church history, to know what IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. o'-' sort of churches have been thus self- developed in another land, during a time of keen public discussion of the question, "What is the New Testa- ment idea of a true church of Christ ? " and a time of most eager, pro- found, and reverent study of the Bible for light on this question. " How is it written f " is their favorite inquiry, in their determination to test all religious questions by God's "Word. In the letter from Rev. Dr. P. Waldenstrom which appears in these pages, it will be noted that he says (after studying Congregationalism as expounded by the sainted Dr. Leonard Bacon, Dr. Dexter, and Dr. Ross) that " these Free churches are, in foundation and ground, Congregational, as you yourself know by your visit in our land." So far as self-government, the independence of the local church, and the fellowship of the churches are concerned, no churches in the world are more purely and firmly demo- cratic and Biblical than these young Free churches of Sweden, as will abundantly appear from their church confessions and rules hereafter quoted. Are these Mission churches "orthodox?" That depends upon the meaning given to that term. They have that word in their language, with a somewhat different meaning from that it has in English. With them, he is " orthodox " who adheres in all particulars to the Lutheran Augsburg Con- fession of Faith. When they began to take issue with the State church, they were charged with want of orthodoxy ; and that has so often been repeated that the term with them now signifies a belief in those doctrines of the Lutheran church which they reject. A pastor in Minneapolis in- quired of a Swedish missionary lady whether the Mission churches were orthodox. " Oh ! no," she replied, " they are not orthodox ; they are Scriptural!" This double meaning of this word explains the cause of much of the mistrust which has existed among Congregationalists as to the doctrinal soundness of these Swedish churches. The Lutherans in both countries are constantly publishing that these Free church people are " not orthodox," and American readers, not understanding the special meaning which that word has come to have in the Swedish and Norwegian lan- guages, are misled by it. The Swedish Mission churches are thoroughly evangelical, and are also soundly " orthodox," in the American sense of that word. There is, happily, much liberty among them on doctrinal questions, as their church confessions, hereafter quoted, will show. There is also that variety of be- lief, along with unity in essentials, which would naturally grow out of this precious Christian liberty in times of great religious activity. There is among them not less liberty in non-essentials than with Congregational churches in this land. There is also as general doctrinal soundness, and no more varieties of belief or divergences than among Congregationalists. The favorite charge of the Lutherans, that they do not believe in the divinity of Christ, is so utterly without foundation that it is strange it should be repeated ; and vet prominent Lutheran ministers and periodi- 3 34 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT cals in this country, as also in Sweden and Norway, continue to make this assertion. In regard to the Lord's Supper and baptism, Dr. Walden- strom yet holds, in some minor points only, the Lutheran view ; while President Ekman on those points holds as most Congregationalists do. On the other hand, President Ekman and Professor Fernholm believe that immersion of adults only was the most common mode of baptism in New Testament times, while Dr. Waldenstrom holds to infant baptism by sprinkling. And these brethren co-work most harmoniously. In this country, those Baptists who do not accept close communion views are di- vided into seven separate sects. This is a wretched and needless state of affairs. All these and Congregationalists, under some common name, might well and, as many think, should co-operate. The enemies of this movement make much ado about Dr. Waldenstrom's views of the atonement. Starting with the idea that it was man that needed to be reconciled with God, and not God that needed to be rec- onciled with man, he unfolds a view of the atonement that is, perhaps, nearer to what we call the Bushnellian theory than to any other, and yet iis not identical with it. On this point, however, President Ekman holds a more conservative view. Concerning it Rev. Dr. Dexter writes to The Congregationalist : They greatly err who are disposed — from the well-known facts of Lector Walden- strom's prominent connection with this wide popular movement, and of his holding views of the atonement sounding somewhat as Dr. Bushnell's used to sound— to con- clude that this separation pivots upon that, or upon any like question in theology. . . . What they are after is a warmer, a more genuine, life-controlling, soul-com- forting Christian experience than they have been able to reach through the frigid and .tiresome formalities of the national church ; and they have gone not to " Waldenstrom on the Atonement," but to the Bible to get it. Respecting the second coming of Christ, the premillenarian view is held by Dr. Waldenstrom, and probably by the larger part of these Swedish 'Christians. In general, they hold to " the great doctrines of the Christian faith, commonly called evangelical," and in church polity and methods are like Congregational churches. FREE CHURCH, OR BAPTIST ? In a recent issue of the Baptist Examiner, of New York, a letter from Sweden appears, written by Rev. T. Trove, pastor of the Baptist church in Gotenburg, in which he says : Sweden has lately had a visit from a Congregational minister by the name of Mont- gomery. . . . He considers that the large number, perhaps seventy-five thousand, of Free church people are of the same faith as his denomination, and he will probably, on his return to America, tell his friends about this. He has written several letters to a Swedish paper about the history and belief of the Congregationalists, and among other things said that they have three baptisms : pouring, sprinkling, and immersion, and IN SWEDEN AND NOBWAT. 35 you may choose between these. I am afraid that when he considers these Free church people members of his denomination, he has counted his chickens before they are hatched. One of their most prominent leaders, who has strongly defended infant baptism, writes now that there is no foundation for it in the Bible, but says that a person ought to be baptized when he becomes converted to Christ. I mentioned several times while in America that thousands of these Free church people commence to see the truth with regard to believers' baptism, and in this I was right. I heard a few days ago that they have baptized more than three thousand members during the last year. What will become of these ? The answer is: tbty will very soon be members of Baptist churches. As to whether these Swedish Free churches are like Congregational churches, I will only say, in reply to the above, that when I reached Stock- holm and called upon Rev. Dr. Broady, President of the Baptist Theologi- cal Seminary there, and for some years a resident of the United States, his first question was : " Have you come to visit your Congregational brethren in Sweden ? " I replied : " Certainly, if there are any here." " There are very many," was his answer. As to Mr. Truve's statement that " all these will soon be members of Baptist churches;" and as to the Christian spirit shown in the "close- communion " of Baptists ; and as to the world-wide difference between believing that immersion is a proper baptism and the belief that, there- fore, all 'Christians who have not been immersed should be disfellowshiped and not admitted to the table of our common Lord — on all these points I readily turn Mi*. Truve over to his own countrymen, President Ekman, Professor Fernholm, Dr. Waldenstrom, and many others, who are both abundantly able and willing to set him right, " according to the Scrip- tures." CLOSE COMMUNION. There was a little boy whose mother would wash his face and hands more often and more vigorously than he enjoyed. During one of these operations he impatiently said : "I don't like you." The mother replied : " I shall be gone some day, and then you won't be bothered by your mother any more." The little fellow penitently responded : " Well, I like you well enough, if you would only let up on this ivashing." So all Chris- tendom thinks with reference to the close communion views of the Baptists. If they would only " let up " on the disfellowshiping of unimmersed Chris- tians, we should all " like them well enough." In that case the Congrega- tionalists and various branches of Baptists in the United States, England, and other lands, and also the Baptists and Free churches of Sweden, might, under some acceptable name, heartily co-work under the banner of the Cross, "thus endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." There should be a " let up " in the sad divisions of Christ's church on the earth, on the narrow ground that only those Christians who have received baptism by a certain form should be permitted to celebrate the death of our Lord around his table. The Free Mission churches of Sweden enjoy their Christian freedom too much to accept " these bonds." 36 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT THE WORK IN NORWAY. In Norway the situation is much the same as in Sweden, except that this Free Mission church movement began only three years ago, and does not enjoy the wise leadership of great men among their own countrymen, as the movement in Sweden does. The Methodists of the United States have been sending into Norway missionaries and large sums of money to aid in preaching the gospel and in building churches, for the past twenty- six years. The success of their work, however, as compared with this Free Mission movement, has there been small, as it has also in Sweden. The Methodists now have about 37 churches in Norway, and the Baptists 7, while the Mission churches, beginning less than three years ago, already iiave 12 churches, with a membership of 1,500. The Scandinavian love for independence and liberty does not readily receive the Methodist Episcopal church government The "bishops" and "appointed" pastors remind them of the Lutheran State church, from which they are emerging. The Mission movement in Norway is in very great need of wise leadership, of many more trained ministers, and of funds for church building, and money with which to begin a theological school. Our Congregational churches in the United States ought to supply this need. Swedish Christians are helping, what they can, but the work in Norway will richly reward im- mediate and liberal aid. At the Home Missionary anniversary in Saratoga, in June last, a spontaneous collection was taken up for this cause, and $306 were received by Kev. Dr. Clapp and forwarded to the Swedish Mission Union, to be sent to Kristiania, Norway, to help build the new Mission house there. The following response has been received from Mr. M. Hanson, the lay " leader " in the church in Kristiania, which has about four hundred members, none of whom are wealthy, and nearly all are quite poor: Kristiania, Norway, August 19, 1884. Dear Brother in Christ : Peace through our Lord Jesus. Through Rev. E. J. Ekman, of Kristinehamn, Sweden, I have received from the American Home Mission- ary friends gathered at Saratoga 1,141.07 kronors (£62 19,s. 2f?.), for which I enclose the receipt of the Mission Union. Our brethren here join me in greeting and thanking you and your friends who are the givers of this great donation. God will reward you. . . . The brethren and sisters here give their love to you and your friends there, and they trust that you do not forget your poor friends in Norway. My wife unites with me in greeting you. I remain, yours in Christ, M. Hanson. At the Saratoga meeting of the American Home Missionary Society resolutions were adopted of fraternal greeting to the Swedish Mission churches, but I have no copy at hand. To those salutations the following reply has been received : To the American Congregational Churches : The delegates to the Swedish Mission Union, who met this day in Stockholm for conference, send the heartiest salutations to the American Congregational churches, in IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 37 which several of us have become specially interested in consequence of the visit in our land of the dear brother, Rev. M. W. Montgomery. Wishing you " Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ," we ask to be embraced in your brotherly love and your prayers. Our conference has been richly blessed by God, and we wish that your meetings may in like measure be blessed by him, so that all your undertakings may redound to the glory of God and his work on the earth. If we endure, we shall also reign with him. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as we know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. In behalf of the Swedish Mission Union, Stockholm, June 18, 1884. P. Ollen, E. J. Ekman, Secretary. President. The foregoing pages have summarized the present religious situation in Sweden and .Norway, and given, it is hoped, an intelligent idea of the agitations and revivals which have developed into this great Free church movement ; an awakening which is very remarkable in some of its feat- ures, and which, in some respects, will rank among the wonderful religious movements among men since repentance and remission of sins have been. " preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." INTERESTING LETTERS. That the readers of these pages may get their information on the ques- tions here under consideration from original sources, so far as may be, I will now lay before them translations of valuable Swedish documents, and' of several letters from prominent leaders in this movement, specially pre- pared with great kindness for this purpose, at my request. The letters are from living workers in this revival, intimately acquainted with all its phases, and identified with it, some of them from its first inception. It will be observed that the letters sketch the work from the different stand- points of different men residing in various parts of Sweden, and thus an impression is received resulting from these converging views. Letter from a University Student. The first letter is an historical sketch by Mr. John Olsson, of the Uni- versity of Upsala, who has been previously mentioned, and who was desig- nated by Dr. Waldenstrom as one capable of preparing a correct statement : Population of Sweden about 4,600,000 Population of Norway about 1,807,000 Population of Denmark about 1,969,000 Population of Finland about 2,028,000 Population of the city of Stockholm 190,000 Population of the city of Gctenburg 80,000 Population of the city of Kristiania 120,000 Population of the city of Copenhagen 270,000 Total population of Scandinavian countries. 10,404,000 [The report of the Commissioners of Education for 1881 gives the following figures : Sweden, 4,578,901 ; Norway, 1,916,000 in 1879 ; Denmark, 1,969,039 in 1880.— Tr.] 38 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT The Reformation [i.e., the Protestant Lutheran doctrines] was introduced into Sweden by Gustavus Vasa in the year 1527. In 1593 the State church council, held at TJpsala, adopted the Augsburg Confession [C'onfessio Auguatanct] as the confession of faith of the Swedish State church. Thus the Lutheran doctrines were adopted as the State religion in Sweden. Believers in other creeds had no religious liberty here. Those who countenanced Calvinistic or Roman Catholic views were banished, or pun- ished in some other manner. Gustavus Adolphus, for instance, had three persons exe- cuted because they were Roman Catholics. Even under later Swedish kings many persons were punished on account of their religious belief. Meanwhile there began to be felt, even in our country, religious revivals similar to those which took place in England during the seventeenth and the eighteenth cen- turies. Particularly from the beginning of the eighteenth century did these revivals gain headway, and were called "pietism." The pietistic movement originated from a German priest named Spener. Among the leaders of pietism may be mentioned the priests Tollstadius and Ruthstrorn [died 1772J. In 1726 there was issued against the pietists the so-called konventikel plakaM, a re- ligious law that enacted severe punishments, fines, and imprisonment for those who preached the gospel without being priests in the State church [i.e., ordained by and employed by the State church]. This law was not changed until 1858 ; and even yet there may be found a law that imposes fines and imprisonment upon any layman that preaches anything which is regarded as containing erring doctrine. It is, however, hoped that this law will soon be abolished. Religious liberty had not been granted to confessors of different creeds until 1781. Then for the first time were they given the right to hold divine service ; at such service, however, no one was permitted to be present who was of another confession. This last edict was abolished 1855. In 1860 punishment for the Lutheran who should apostatize to another confession was abol- ished. In 1873 there was passed the so-called "dissenter law," by which not only confessors of different [strange] creeds have the right to the free exercise of religious belief, but also persons who belong to the Swedish State church can, under certain conditions, withdraw from the same and establish separate churches [congregations]. To secede, the applicant must, first, specify an already existing Christian denomination which he would join ; second, apply to the priest within the parish for dismission. If one is not able to specify any denomination with which he would unite, or if the confession of that sect is not a Christian one, dismission will be refused. Conse- quently an atheist or heathen is compelled to publicly profess himself a Lutheran, pro- vided that he will not lie. In the same manner, for instance, a Quaker is compelled to remain in the State church, because no Quaker denomination exists in Sweden. Any one seceding forfeits several rights that he has while he remains in the State church ; for instance, the right to conduct religious schools [Sunday-schools] for other children than those of his own denomination, without special permission ; the right to be elected member of church council and school board, etc. Besides, there are im- posed on a legally seceded denomination certain duties, which can be very oppressive. The situation with regard to religious liberty in our country is accordingly as follows : Confessors of non-Lutheran creeds who have legally separated from the State church have the liberty to preach, baptize, administer communion, ordain priests, and so forth, yet under certain conditions. They forfeit by their secession from the State church several important civil rights, and have certain duties imposed on themselves. They must, in spite of their secession, continue to pay taxes to the State church and support its priests and churches, but they forfeit the right to partake in the adminis- tration of those public matters which they, with their taxes, support. " Lutheran Christians " [i.e., dissenters who have not seceded from the State church] have also the right to hold private meetings without the guidance of a priest ; they IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 30 have the right to preach, baptize, administer the communion, etc. These rights am not expressly adjudged to them, but the Government does nothing to stop them, ii even sometimes priests and the domkapitlet try to oppose them. They [the Christians] are free to keep Sunday-school, but if they preach something which the church authorities consider erroneous, then the preacher may be fined or put in prison. This has frequently happened. Our religious liberty is consequently far from perfect, but it is widening more and more. The Present Movement. The present religious movement in Sweden may be said to have had its starting- point in Norrland and to date from the beginning of the nineteenth century. The first adherents of this movement were scornfully called lasare [i.e., " readers " ] because they came together and read Luther's writings. From Norrland the so-called " read- ing circles " spread to other parts of the country, in spite of persistent persecutions and oppositions by the hostile-minded priesthood. Yet several believing priests were foand, particularly in Smaland and Norrland, who supported and furthered the spiritual life that had just been awakened. After that, Rosenius alone published the Pietisten until his death, when Dr. P. Waldenstrom, in accordance with the wish of the deceased Rosenius, took charge of and yet edits it. The Pietisten had during the first year about five hundred sub- scribers ; at present the number probably exceeds ten thousand. It may be consid- ered an organ of the more free religious movement of which Waldenstrom stands at the head. Rosenius soon found that a union of the Christian forces within our country was necessary. With his co-operation there was therefore established, in 1856, the so-called Ecangeliska Fosterlands-stiftelsen [Evangelical National Institution]. Among the found- ers of this society may be mentioned lektor [i.e., vice-professor] P.M. Elmblad, who afterward, together with two other persons, published a widely read translation of the New Testament. Since then Rev. G. E. Beskow [minister of the Blasieholm's Lutheran church in Stockholm, which was erected through voluntary contributions and holds five thousand persons] has also been one of the directors of the Fosterlands-stiftelsen. The Fosterlands-stiftelsen has operated partly by circulating Christian publica- tions, partly by sending out competent lay-preachers. For these a college was found- ed at Johannelund, adjacent to Stockholm. In 1860 the Stiftelsen extended their work so as to include also foreign missions. Missionaries have been sent to Africa, India, and to other countries. The Fosterlands-stiftelsen did not depart from the State church in doctrine. It held fast to the Augsburg Confession as the rule for its members and preachers. Yet it was evident that the Stiftelsen must come into op- position to the State church on church matters, since it sent preachers all over the country, who, quite naturally, could not be welcome to the priests of the church. Later, however, the Stiftelsen has more and more approached the church, accordiug as the new religious movement has developed and outgrown the Stiftelsen, and has also taken a freer course than the Stiftelsen could approve. At present the Stiftelsen can for the most part be said to agree in general with the more liberal-minded leading men of the State church. An organ of the tendency represented by the Stiftelsen is pub- lished, called Wdktaren [TlieWatcliman], a Christian, political weekly paper, published in Stockholm, which circulates five thousand copies. On the other hand, the weekly paper llemlandsrannen [The Homeland's Friend] represents the freer religious ten- dency. It has a circulation of eleven thousand copies. In ecclesiastical questions this paper has advanced into sharp opposition to the State church. The Stiftelsen was a bond of union between the many different mission societies in the country. That is to say, the Christians in the different parts of our country 40 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT joined themselves together into mission societies, whose object was to further home and foreign missions. Almost all of these united with the Stiftelsen and sent in all their contributions for the mission cause to the Stiftelsen, but were for the rest toler- ably independent. The annual meeting of the Stiftelsen— to which all the mission societies who have joined it have a right to send delegates— takes place every year in the first part of June, in Stockholm. Not long after the death of Rosenius, however, a crisis arose within the Stiftelsen. The signal for this was given through a sermon by Waldenstrom in the Pietisten in 1872.' Waldenstrom maintains in this sermon that the object of Christ's work was not to reconcile or appease God, but to save and justify men. God did not need to be reconciled, because he loved man before, which was just the reason that he sent Christ to reconcile man. Man needed to be reconciled, for he was an enemy to God. Against this doctrine several of the leaders of the Stiftelsen arose sharply, and eagerly de- fended the doctrine of the reconciliation of God. Among the opponents of Walden- strom may be mentioned G. E. Beskow, Welinder, Ahnfelt, and the bishops Landgren and Beckman. In 1873 Waldenstrom issued a little pamphlet about "The Meaning of Reconciliation," which called forth many replies. The controversy spread to all parts of our country and caused an eager searching of God's Word. The question that Waldenstrom placed at the head of the whole movement was this : " Where is it written? " He claimed that the Holy Scriptures should be the only rule for doctrine and life, to the rejection of all rules and confessions set up by men. He defended energetically the right and duty of every man to see for himself how it is written in God's Word, and then himself to form his own convictions. Thus it was the same claim that Luther in his time set up, but which has since, even by those who call themselves by his name, become so botched. Soon the discussion turned into other channels. In the middle of the decade 1871- 80, Waldenstrom published a treatise on the question of forgiveness of sins, and held forth that the reconciliation of man and the taking away of sin was not done once for all when Christ died ; that consequently the sins of the world are not taken away, but that on the contrary man is reconciled, and the siu is taken away when he is con- verted ; and that the unconverted world yet remains in its sins. This doctrine also was contested by many, particularly among the leaders of the Stiftelsen. A literature sprang up that treated on the questions under controversy. Waldenstrom developed a lively activity in authorship. Among his writings may be mentioned particularly " Ilerren ar from" [" The Lord is upright ; " see Psalm xxv., 8] an exposition of the twenty-fifth Psalm (also translated into German), which has reached a circulation of over forty thousand copies. The Stiftelsen also issued several publications which de- fended the so-called old doctrine. Several priests in the Lutheran church sided with Waldenstrom, among whom was Rev. E. J. Ekman, who soon resigned the office of State church priest. During all this time the religious movement progressed with gigantic strides [lit., "storm-steps"] and many were converted. About the middle of the decade closing with 1M70, the so-called communion question began to blaze up (lit., "be burning"). The Christians, especially those who belonged to the freer tendency, and who were com- monly called "Separatists," felt compunctions of conscience about going to the Lord's Supper together with the ungodly of all kinds. They requested accordingly to be per- mitted to gather privately in the churches under the guidance of believing priests. This happened, for instance, in Upsala, in 1876. Then, as well as on other occasions, they were refused. Then they began to gather in private houses, and without the guid- ance of priests. On the above-mentioned occasion in Upsala, when the domkyrkan [cathedral] authorities had refused Professor Waldenstrom's request for the use of the Second Part. Sermon on the twentieth Sunday after Trinity Sunday. IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 41 church, the believers gathered in the chapel [lit., "prayer-house"], where Professor Waldenstrom, who was yet priest, administered the Lord s Supper. For this he was reprimanded by the domkapitlel [chapter], with a warning. This example was nevertheless followed by the Christians in all quarters, and soon they began also to baptize their own children. To avoid even the semblance of illegality, the so-called " Communion Petition " was drawn up and presented in 1870 to his Royal Majesty, signed by twenty-two thousand persons, in which they requested the abolishing of such laws as hindered the Christians from administering the sacraments privately [i.e., where only Christians gathered in other than State church houses of worship]. The private celebrating of the Lord's Supper, however, induced the Foster- lands stiftelsen to take measures against such mission societies as in this respect separ- ated from the State church. For instance, the Stiftelsen would not co-operate with such societies or persons. Waldenstrom was expelled from the Stiftelsen. The Stiftel- sen also refused to send to the heathen those missionaries who could not take an oath on the Confessio Augustana [i.e., that they believed in the Augsburg Confession]. All ministers in the service of the Stiftelsen who were not faithful to this confession were discharged. All this induced a meeting of ministers assembled in Stockholm, 1877, to appoint a committee to endeavor to arrive at an agreement with the Stiftelsen. This commit- tee consisted of Dr. Waldenstrom, Rev. E. J. Ekman, Rector Axel Falk, Dr. Erik Nystrom, Dr. Axel Beskow, Swen Johnson, and C. J. Nyvall. This committee re- quested that the Stiftelsen change its rules so as not to exclude from its missionaries those who could not in every respect swear to the Augsburg Confession. The Stiftel- sen answered that it neither could nor would change its regulations, and so denied the request of the committee. The consequence was that in a meeting of liberal-minded Christians, held in 1878, it was resolved to organize the Svenska Missions-forbundct ["The Swedish Mission Union "]. By degrees several mission societies, both old and recently organized, joined this, with the object of working in common for the cause of missions. No confessions and rules common to all these different societies are to be met with ; neither any creed for the Mission Union. But this society operates only on the ground of the Bible to further home and foreign missions. Since the Mission Union was organized the religious movement has spread evermore. New questions arose and were discussed, partly by the press, partly at the annual religious meetings. In the paper Ilemlandscannen [The Homeland's Friend] for March 16, 1882, under the heading, " Could we Ever Imagine ?" an article appeared by Dr. Waldenstrom. This notable article, which in the form of questions scourges the un- christian procedure within the State church, gave rise to a lengthy discussion in the Hemlandsmnneii, the result of which was that Waldenstrom, May 1, 1882, asked to be dismissed from the ministry in the State church, yet he continues to remain as pro- fessor of theology at the Gefle College. These are, in greatest brevity, the outline features of the development of the religious movement in Sweden up to the present time. The Baptist views were introduced into Sweden about 1850, as the founder may be considered Anders Wiberg, who resigned the Lutheran priesthood in 1852. During the decade ending 1870, Baptist churches were organized in Stockholm and in several places in Dalecarlia [Dalarna], which were severely persecuted. A great number of persons were punished by fines and imprisonments for "breach of the Sabbath," for " mockery of the sacraments," etc., because they had received the communion on Sun- day. In Stockholm the Baptists have a "Bethel seminary," founded in 1866, which is conducted by an American, Colonel Broady. In Norway the Baptists 'were introduced in 1858 by Swedes. The Baptists in Sweden constitute at present 25,277 persons, divided into 371 churches, with 402 ministers. During 1883, 3,623 persons were baptized. The Baptist denomination have in their Sunday-schools 23,000 children and 2,173 42 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT teachers. Contributions to benevolent purposes amounted in 1883 to 229,000 kronora [about $6 1,830]. In Norway the Baptists are found to the number of about 1,000 persons. Methodism was introduced into Sweden about 1809. At present there are about 7,600 Methodists in Sweden, according to the latest statistics, which in full union be- long to the denomination; besides, there are 3,000 who are under probation. The de- nomination owns 57 churches, 13!) Sunday-schools with 621 teachers and 7,800 chil- dren. During 1883, 11,652 kronora [about $3,146] were collected for the mission cause. The foregoing sketch was shown to a prominent gentleman in the Free church movement, with the request that he would add such facts as would help to complete the statement, and he wrote as follows : Letter from a Swedish Minister. During the first half of this century, the believers in Sweden were in general very loyal to the State church. Therefore it delighted them greatly if they sometimes received the approbation of a priest of the State church. This delight was not, how- ever, often experienced by them. They considered it a conscientious duty to use the sacraments of the State church, and usually entertained a greater fear of separation from that church than of open sin. Generally, they also believed that they ought to go to the church and hear the sermon, notwithstanding that the priest was ungodly ; although they joyfully preferred, of course, to hear a believing priest. The corruption of the State church was, to their consciousness, far from manifest, although they could not avoid noticing, at least to some extent, that all was not as it should be. They continually hoped, however, for a reform of the State church, and for this they prayed to God with much perseverance. The priests of the State church took care, however, that the believers should be better enlightened. If the priests had, at this time, taken a somewhat friendly posi- tion toward the Christians, they could easily, in spite of their godless lives, have gotten the whole movement into their power and suppressed it in its beginning. They were not wise enough to act thus. God permitted them to become blinded. When the believers went to church, they would often hear the priest devote the greater part of his sermon to the new religious movement, which he pictured in the most deterring colors. The believers were railed at and belied from the pulpit ; and when they would not give up their private gatherings for prayer, reading of the Word of God, and singing, they were cruelly persecuted. In one city in the middle of Sweden at this time the prison was so over-filled with Christians, that for want of room great numbers had to be conveyed in prison carts to the jail of another city, over one hun- dred English miles distant. Suffering with Joy. Many suffered at this time, with joy, the pillage of their property, and were treated as the greatest criminals, merely because they had, together with their brethren, read the Bible, conversed concerning its contents, exhorted and edified one another, prayed and sung. Such things must in time open the eyes of some, and they found that it could not be the church of Christ that persecuted the believers in such manner. About 1850 the Baptists began to spread in the country. Shortly afterward a Congregational move- ment arose in Skane. Several free congregations were established there, of which a few exist at this time. Not until the beginning of the decade 1870 were the priests so successful, however, in terrifying the believers against the Baptists and " separatism " IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 43 that the majority of them did not dare to enter into any nearer intercourse with these movements. Meanwhile, yet more and more faith in the Lord Jesus grew, and those saved united, for their mutual edification, into smaller and larger societies. They did not at that time think of any separation from the State church, but merely intended to co- operate for missions within the church for her salvation and for the preservation in faith of those who were saved. These groups were not designated churches [forsam- lingar >], but were called "Mission Societies." Between 1860 and 1870, small groups of Christians began, however, to separate themselves from the State church, and to celebrate the Lord's Supper privately. To begin with, they endeavored to obtain assistance from some " Free-churchly minded " priest within the State church who would be willing to serve them, and for the same suffer the persecution that would befall him. In Nerike labored Pastor Muntzing, who for several years in such manner served a number of small Free churches which had been established within that province. Professor A. Fernholm soon began to serve in the same manner some free churches in West-manland, and soon after the death of Muntzing (18G9) he was called to serve such churches also in Nerike and Wermland. The number of Free churches within these three provinces in the year 1872 aggregated between sixty and seventy. At this time they began, principally at the suggestion of Fernholm, to appoint some steady brother, who was ordained by prayer and laying on of hands, to be a manager and to serve at the Lord's Supper. Simultaneously a like movement was going on in different parts of the country ; but scarcely anywhere did it develop as fast as in Nerike, Wermland, and Westmanland. Lord's Supper Societies. For some time these churches called themselves " Communion Societies," or " Lord's Supper Societies," because their members had originally united principally to celebrate the Lord's Supper together, when they could no longer partake in the communions of the State church. They were, perhaps, poorly regulated, yet the members were heed- ful of each other, and disunited every one from their communion who did not walk according to the gospel of Christ. During the whole of this time nearly all the more prominent men had kept them- selves at a distance from "separatism." They yet hoped for a reform of the State church, for which reason they most warmly dissuaded from separation. Such was always the case with Rev. C. O. Rosenius. Such was also the case with Rev. Dr. P. Waldenstrom until about 1875. An exception to this was Mr. Hedengren, at Riseberga, in Nerike — proprietor of large iron works — who, although within a smaller territory, vigorously worked to promote the union of believers. But, as a general thing, the Free church movement was neither called forth nor conducted by any prominent man ; but it was a people's movement. It is not Dr. Waldenstrom who has drawn the believers into this movement, for he opposed at first every step forward that has been taken, "though not with bitterness, but in a brotherly manner. Up to 1875 Dr. Waldenstr m kept at a distance from the communion societies, and when he in 1876 began to further this movement, it had already existed ten years and spread through a great part of the country, while he had long declared himself against the same. It is 1 Throughout this report I have usually translated the Swedish word forsamling, "church." While forsamling literally means "assembly," "congregation," yet, that " church " is the proper rendering in these extracts is fully shown from the facts that Oman's Swedish -English Dictionary translates Ben Kristna forsamlingen, "the Chris- tian church," and that Rev. Dr. Waldenstrom, in his Kingdom of God and the Church (pp. 58, 59), shows repeatedly that this is the sense in which he uses the word. 44 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT consequently the Christian people who have marched at the head and drawn Dr. Waldenstrom and others along. And so it continues yet. This circumstance is surely worth our greatest attention. At the same time it must be acknowledged that when Dr. Waldenstrom allied himself to the Free church movement, or to any new develop- ment of the same, he has by his gifted mind done much to give greater spread to this movement and to secure greater unity among the believers. As may be seen from what has been said, Dr. Waldenstrom is very conservative in his disposition. The hope which he has entertained of a reformation of the State church lias, perhaps, contributed in no small degree to his conservative course. President Ekman. In the years 1875 and 1876 Rev. E. J. Ekman also began to ally himself with the Free religious movement. To commence with, he attempted to introduce some Chris- tian church discipline and order within the parish where he was Lutheran State church priest. He would, for instance, not admit to communion such confirmed persons as lacked all signs of Christian life. But his attempt in this direction failed. Not only his consistory, but also the majority of the priests in his diocese— even the believing — turned against him with bitterness. By this means his eyes were opened yet more to see the deep corruption of the State church, and he came to see the truth, that an un- converted world cannot be so reformed as to be God's church. During the latter half of the decade 1870-80 Rev. Mr. Ekman appeared at the mutual meetings of the Free churches, and otherwise, and with increasing determina- tion, avowed himself a friend of Free churches. In 1879 he resigned his priesthood and became principal of the Mission school in Kristinehamn, and has since with full vigor worked for the establishing of Free churches. If anybody has since that time stood at the head of this movement in this country, it is he. During the years 1877 up to 1880 Dr. Waldenstrom and Rev. Mr. Ekman published a periodical called The Witness, designed principally for educated readers, for which reason it could not secure any great number of subscribers (between fifteen hundred and two thousand) ; but it greatly advanced the Free church movement within the country. Since and embracing the year 1880, Rev. E. J. Ekman and Rev. A. Fernholm have published a smaller monthly paper, Forbundet [The Union, or The Alliance], designed for the people in general. This paper has had an average of seven thousand sub- scribers, and is yet the only organ working exclusively for the regulation and unity of the Free churches. The schools of the Free churches are: one in Kristinehamn, founded by the Wermland Ansgarii Society in 1871 and transferred to the Swedish Mission Union in 1879, and one in Winslof , opened in 1882. It is previously mentioned that the believers who separated from the State church in the celebration of the Lord's Supper called themselves ' ' Communion Societies " at the outset, but that for the rest they were united in so-called " Mission Societies." It was then very common that the majority took communion in the State church, while a small number celebrated the Lord's Supper privately. In this way the " communion societies " were generally found irithin the mission societies. In 1880, however, the name " Communion Society" ceased to be used, as most of the believers at each place united with the communion society, thus forming a Mutual Christian Free Church, which either retained its old name, " The Mission Society at such and such a place," or was called " The Church of Christ in such and such a place," or " The Church of the Brethren in such and such a place," or something similar. Simultaneously a better church regulation and church care were introduced. IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 45 Who Sliall Baptize r The believers in the Free churches continued a long time to allow the priests of the State church to baptize and confirm their children, and a great number still do so. More and more, however, they are discontinuing the practice, and either the father himself baptizes his child or he summons some Christian brother — usually it is a min- ister or church elder — to perform this service ; or in case he disapproves of child - baptism, he leaves the child unbaptized. When an adult, by reason of his convictions, wishes to be baptized, he has the right, and he then summons some brother, who per- forms the baptism. On the ground of the widely differing views concerning baptism, the churches have found that they neither could nor ought to decree anything about it, but leave it with the individual to act according to his own convictions, and to sum- mon for himself whomsoever he chooses to serve in the act. If the leader of the church serves, he does not do it in behalf of the church, but as an individual person " before the Lord's face." Neither is it required that the manager [this word may also be translated superin- tendent, director, etc.] shall positively minister at the Lord's Supper. It is, however, customary that he or some minister attend the breaking of the bread and the invoking of a blessing upon those gathered and upon their act. To understand the controversy tbat has arisen here concerning reconciliation and salvation, one must know something of the situation with regard to these doctrines before 1870. Falling into Errors. During the period between 1850 and 1870, there arose among the believers singularly extreme views concerning the above points of doctrine. It was taught that the be- lievers, like the unconverted, could only sin. God had been angry toward all man- kind from the Fall and until Christ died on Golgotha. But then God was reconciled, so that when man believes, the grace of God does not impute [lit., "reckon unto him "] his sins. Christ died in our stead, paid for our sins, and fulfilled the law in our place. It became common to speak in the most exaggerated terms of one's sins, and how one constantly sinned ; but, at the same time, one jubilated over the grace that covered [or veiled] everything. Even the sins of the unconverted were forgiven, it was said, but they had no benefit therefrom, because they did not believe on it [viz., that their sins were forgiven] ; if they persisted in their unbelief, they would eventually lie in liell with forgiven sins. Sanctification was not allowed to be preached, hardly to be men- tioned, for it was stamped as bondage under the law [law-thralldom], Phariseeism, etc. Finally, it went so far that one was not permitted to exhort any one to believe on Christ, because these persons would be led to make faith a deed of the law. Why, one could neither believe nor live righteously, but only sin; the more that sin abounded, the more abounded grace. Formerly, the expression, "Believe the grace," or "Be- lieve the forgiveness of sin," had been used ; whereas now the preferred expression was, " Know that you are saved and be happy." Christians, when they saw a drunk- ard lying in the gutter, would say to him: "You blessed child of God, think what harm it is that you do not know that you are saved and have forgiveness of sin ! " At the same time, the believers were said to be inwardly and constantly cursing them- selves, etc. "How is it Written? 11 . Sincere Christians, however, lived better than they said ; but they usually appeared sad and depressed, except when they were occasionally cheered up by some sermon. Many, however, who were not so sincere, were misled to take the doctrine of constant sinning in full earnest, and fell into the most shocking sins. The whole religious 40 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT movement was on the point of going under, dissolving into a boundless licentiousness with some, or ending in despair with others. Yet some persons clearly saw the danger ; and many asked, " How is it written in the Word of God ? " So also now one here and one there would ask himself and others the same question touching these doctrines. Thereupon many soon arrived at the same conclusion as that afterward presented by Dr. P. Waldenstrom concerning reconciliation and salvation. But no one had pub- licly lifted up Lis voice earlier than Waldenstrom. Through him, and not less through Rev. E. J. Eknian (who soon placed himself by his side and worked with fully as much vigor and success, both as a speaker and a writer), it pleased God to bring the Christians to their senses and save his cause from ruin. The religions corruption which had begun to infest the Free movement gave way, and a sound, sensible life in the Lord took its place. Concerning baptism and communion, the conceptions of doctrine at present vary greatly iu our churches. As regards baptism, Dr. Waldenstrom holds fast principally to the Lutheran doctrine. He maintains the baptism of children, and thinks that salvation is imparted through the same. On the contrary, a very great number, which is fast increasing, reject child-baptism and adhere wholly and entirely to baptistical views on baptism. A third view, with Rev. E. J. Ekman at the head, is alsc working itself forward with no small number of adherents. This view rejects child-baptism and maintains that baptism should take place at conversion, as a sign of the surrender of one's self to Christ ; and for one who is anxious about his sins it is a help to attain faith. Hence this last-mentioned view does not regard baptism as a saving but as a symbolical act, which helps the penitent one to take leave of sin and the world and consecrate himself to Christ, and so through him be saved. Touching the Lord's Supper, Dr. Waldenstrom teaches that the believer, in, by, and while eating and drinking, receives the real body and blood of Christ. Rev. Mr. Ekman, on the contrary, accepts the communion in the Calvinistic way. It is, how- ever, among the mass of the Christian people that the movement is primarily carried on. It is a movement of the people, effected and guided by God ; ' and as long as Chris- tian love, in the might of the Holy Spirit, holds the believers together in spite of dif- ferent opinions, this movement will have success and be a blessing, as it has been dur- ing the last years, when over all the land Christian revivals have spread forth into a widening circuit. Certainly nothing like it has ever been seen here before. Sweden, May, 1884. FREE CHURCH CONFESSIONS OF FAITH. In 1877 these churches looked out among them seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom they appointed over this business of preparing a confession of faith and rules for church gov- ernment. The report of this committee had no binding force upon any church. They received it as suggestions from wise men, and then adopted part, all, or none of it, as each church separately and independently chose to do. This committee published the following report in 1878 : Suggestions concerning the Order of the Churches. 2 Art. I. The church of Christ is spoken of in the New Testament in a two-fold signification. Sometimes this word signifies the communion of saints, or the com- munion of all who are in Christ ; sometimes it signifies a society of Christians in a cer- 1 " Det ar en folk rdrelse, verkad och ledd af Gud." 2 Lit., Forslag till Fursamlings-Ordning ; that is, "Proposal for Church-Order. IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 47 tain place. In this latter signification this word church is used in the following arti- cles. " Upon this rock I will build my church," Mat. 10: 18. "Christ loved the church and gave himself for it," Eph. 5: 25; also Eph. 5: 27, 29, 02, and 1 : 22, 23. "Christ is the head of the church," Eph. 5: 23; Col. 1: 18, 24; 1 Tim. 3: 15; Heb. 12: 23. "I persecuted the church of God," 1 Cor. 15: 9; Gal. 1: 13; Phil. 3: 6; Acts 8: 1. "The church which was in Jerusalem," Acts 11: 22. "The church at Antioch," Acts 13 : 1; 15: 4; 20: 17; Rom. 10: 1. "The church in the house of Priscilla and Aquila," Rom. 10 : 5 ; Philemon 2. "The church of God which is at Corinth," 2 Cor. 1 : 1 ; Gal. 1 : 2, 12 ; 1 Thess. 1:1; Rev. 1 : 4 ; 2 : 1, 8, 12, 18 ; 3 : 1, 7, 14. "The churches of Christ salute you," Rom. 10 : 10. Art. II. A Christian local church arises in this way : the Christians unite together for mutual edification, correction, and help, and also for activity in extending the kingdom of God. By this it is not denied that in such a church may be found hypo- crites, who, since they confess Christ with their mouths, and also outwardly live good lives, may not always by men be distinguished from the Christians. 1 Cor. 1:2; Mat. 18: 20; Acts 11 : 20; 14 : 27, 28: 1 Cor. 14: 20; 5: 4; 1 Thess. 5: 11 ; 1 Pet. 2: 5 ; Acts 13 : 1-5 ; 3 John 7:8; Gal. 6:2; Rom. 12 : 13 ; Acts 11 : 29, 30 ; 1 Cor. 15: 58; John 6 : 70, 71; 15: 2; Gal. 2:4; Acts 5 : 1-11. Art. III. The church receives into membership such as believe on Christ, and have been baptized in childhood or when older. "They that gladly received his word were baptized ; and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved," Acts 2 : 41, 47. " When they believed, they were baptized, both men and women," Acts 8 : 12 ; 1 Cor. 12: 13 ; Acts 16 : 15, 33 ; 18 : 8 ; 1 Cor. 1 : 16 ; Ps. 8 : 3 ; Mark 10: 14, 15. Art. IV. The church acknowledges the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testa- ments as the only rule for the Christian's faith and doctrine, and the highest rule for his conduct. "Thy testimonies are very sure," Ps. 93:5. " Thy word is a lamp unto my feet," etc., Ps. 119 : 105. " The Word of God shall stand for ever," Isa. 40 : 8. "Beginning at Moses," etc., Luke 24: 27, 44. "Search the Scriptures," John 5 : 39. "The Holy Scriptures are able to make thee wise unto salvation," etc. ; " All Scripture is given by inspiration of God," etc., 2 Tim. 3 : 15, 16. " We have also a more sure word of prophecy," etc., 2 Pet. 1 : 19-21 ; Heb. 1:1,2; John 15 : 27 ; 19 : 35 ; 21 : 24; Luke 1:1-4; 1 John 1:1-3; Gal. 1:8; Luke 10 : 16 ; John 13 : 13 ; 1 Thess. 2:13; 2 Pet. 1 : 16 ; 3:2; Jude 17 ; Acts 17 : 11. Art. V. In order to fulfill her heavenly calling, it is the duty of the church, while using the various gifts God bestows, to use in the unity of the Spirit those means which he gives for her edification, namely: the Word, Baptism, and the Lord's Supper. All use of carnal weapons in the affairs of the kingdom of Christ, the church ought to shun as unscriptural and inadmissible. Mat. 28: 19, 20; Acts 2 : 42; Col. 3 : 16 ; 1 Cor. 11 : 23-26 ; Mat. 26 : 26-28 ; Luke 22 : 19, 20 ; John 18 : 36 ; Mat. 22 : 21 ; 26 : 53 ; Acts 8 : 18-20 ; 2 Cor. 10 : 14 ; Eph. 6 : 11-18 ; Acts 18 : 15. Art. VI. While the church acknowledges all the privileges of believers, and the duty of each one, according to the gifts he has received, to declare the Lord's merit, yet she may separately choose and call supervisors or elders, teachers, evangelists, deacons and deaconesses, for rendering the service which God's Word directs for the edification of his church. 1 Pet. 2 : 9, and v. 5 ; 1 Thess. 5: 11 (see under Art. II.) ; Num. 11 : 29 ; Joel 2 : 28 ; 1 Cor. 14 : 26, 31 ; 1 Tim. 4 : 14 ; 2 Tim. 2:2; Acts 14 : 23 ; 6 : 2-4 ; Rom. 16 : 1 ; Acts 13 : 2 (see under Art. II.) ; Acts 20 : 28 ; 1 Pet. 5 : 2, 3 ; 1 Thess. 5 : 12, 13 ; Heb. 13 : 7, 17. Art. VII. The church itself may determine the order and detail of the meetings of the church, as well as at baptisms, and the Lord's Supper, that according to God's Word all things may be done decently and in order. John 4 : 24 ; 1 Cor. 14 : 40, and v. 26 see under Art. II.) ; Col. 3 : 16, 17 ; 1 Cor. 8 : 9. 48 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT Art. VIII. The affairs of the church are decided by vote, wherein all the members of the church of a certain age partake with equal right. The age each church sepa- rately decides for itself . "Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples look ye out among you seven men — and the saying pleased the whole multitude and they chose Stephen," Acts 6 : 2, 3, 5. " Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church; to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch," Acts 15 : 22 also vs. 23, 25, 30. " Ye younger submit yourselves unto the elder," 1 Pet. 5 : 5. Art. IX. If some member of the church does not walk worthy of the gospel, he should, according to the Word of the Lord and the apostolic example, be the object of loving censure, and if he continues in his sin, be expelled from the church. He may, however, be received into the church again, provided he changes his mind. Mat. 18 : 15-18 ; 2 Cor. 13 : 1 ; John 20 : 23 ; Mat. 10 : 19 ; 1 Thess. 5 : 14 ; 2 Thess. 3 : 6, 14, 15 ; 1 Cor. 5:3-5; 1 Tim. 1 : 20 ; 1 Cor. 5 : 11-13 ; 1 Tim. 5 : 19, 20 ; 2 Cor. 2 : 6-8. Art. X. To provide for matters of common interest, such as home and foreign mis- sions, education of teachers, mutual help, etc., the separate churches may unite in a general meeting in order to agree concerning the methods which are necessary. In the decisions made at these meetings only delegates may take part who have been chosen for that purpose by the churches. Acts 15: 1, 2, 4, 6, 22 ; Rom. 15 : 25, 26 ; Acts 11 : 29, 30 (see under Art. II.) ; 1 Cor. 16 : 1 ; Eph. 4 : 16 ; Col. 2 : 19 ; 2 Cor. 8 : 18, 19, 23 ; Acts 18 : 24-28. Art. XI. Should Christians who do not belong to a church instituted according to this order, but yet are well witnessed for the Christian life, desire to partake of the Lord's Supper with this church, then the church must decide concerning it. Mark 9 : 38-41 ; Rom. 12 : 5 ; 1 Cor. 10 : 17 ; 12 : 12, 20, 27 ; Rom. 16 ; 1, 2 ; 2 Cor. 3:1; 1 John 3: 12; 1 Cor. 13: 13. Art. XII. Since, according to Art. IV., the Holy Scriptures are the highest and only rule, it follows, therefore, that if anything in these Articles, upon further trial, should be found not to possess sufficient ground in the Scriptures, it should be changed. " For we know in part and we prophesy in part, But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away," 1 Cor. 13 : 9, 10. I have a collection of the confessions and church rules of thirty of these Mission churches from various parts of Sweden, and present below such brief extracts from some of them as fairly illustrate their characteristics. None of them are full copies of the report of the committee of " seven wise men," while most of them are in general harmony with it. A careful l-eading of these will reveal some novel and interesting methods, and give a clear insight into the practical and interior working of these Mission churches. Mission Society of Ostertjnda, 1880. § I. The Mission Society in Osterunda would be a Christian church, independent of human written creeds, but would be founded upon the Word of God, working, in brotherly communion, with a living faith in Jesus Christ, for the mutual edification of its members, for their care and aid, and for the spread of the kingdom of God. Hedesunda Mission Society, 1880. § I. The object of the Society is to unite the Christians in Hedesunda parish for mutual edification, Christian labors and discipline, etc. § V. Duties of the Managers.— 3. To arrange that a service of prayer for IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 49 missions is held the first Sunday of each month and a collection taken at that time for foreign missions ; also that on the third Sunday a collection shall be taken for home missions. Immanuel Church, Stockholm, 1881. § III. . . . This church desires to observe and keep according to the Word of the Lord the institutions commended by our Savior, and to exercise mutual oversight and discipline. It is the wish of this church that its members shall partake at the celebra- tion of the Lord's Supper within the church ; but thereby they do not say anything to prevent any one from communing with other Christians, but allow liberty as love re- quires. § VI. . . . This church aims at purity in doctrine and zeal in labor, but always laying it to heart that love is the greatest ; and with regard to all God's children, even the simple ones to endeavor to fulfill the Word of the Lord : " Love one another." In respect to baptism, each member shall have freedom to act according to his own con- victions. "West Lofsta Mission Church, 1880. § I. This church is composed of men and women who truly believe on Christ, and who will seek, in the name of Jesus, and in harmony with the Word of God, to spread the kingdom of Christ, both within and without the church. § II. This mission aims : («) To have the Word of God proclaimed by ministers who truly believe on Christ ; (b) To establish and support Sunday-schools ; (c) To see, too, that the Word of God is studied " here and there in the houses," when the church appoints some of the members to lead meetings for edification. § III. The church chooses : (a) Leader. (1 Tim. 3. For the duty of the leader, see Acts 20 : 28 ; 1 Pet 5 : 1-3. The church's duty toward the leader, Heb. 13 : 1? ; 1 Thess. 5 : 12, 13 ; 1 Tim. 5 : 17 ; Phil. 2 : 29. The leader's salary, 1 Cor. 9 : 7-11 ; 1 Tim. 5 : 18.) (b) As many elders as necessary (2 Thess. 3 : 12) ; whose duty it is to watch over the spiritual welfare of the church-members eacb in his own circle. Acts 14 : 21-23 ; 1 Pet. 5 : 1-3. (c) President, vice-president, three secretaries, treasurer, three revisers, and as many female assistants as are needed, who all have to carry out the decisions of the church in business matters. All these are chosen by the church by balloting for one person at a time. The election is held previous to each annual meeting. § IV. Should a member in doctrine or life stray from the Word of God, he is ad- monished according to Mat. 18 : 15-17 ; 2 Thess. 3 : 14, 15 ; 1 Tim. 5 : 20. A mem- ber who falls into open sin, such as is mentioned in 1 Cor. 5 and 2 Thess. 3 : 6-15, shall not be looked upon as one having fellowship with the church, until he has con- fessed his sins before the church, and shall during the time be treated according to the above-mentioned fifteenth verse ; but can again be received, if he confesses his sin, when the church should treat him according to 2 Cor. 2 : 5—11. Elders are to be treated according to 1 Tim. 5 : 19, 20. § V. Persons who wish to join the church shall apply to the elder in the circle where he resides. The elder shall ask some of the members of the circle to converse with the applicant. Thereafter the elder shall report to the church, who shall at the next monthly meeting receive or reject the applicant. No one shall be received who, so far as man can judge, does not live in a true union with God. § VI. The death of Jesus shall be celebrated within the church ; and also bap- tisms performed when so requested, for the performing of which the church selects the servers. Acts 2 : 38-42 ; Eph. 4 : 5. 4 50 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT § VII. The members ought not to go to law with one another before worldly tri- bunals, but should settle their disagreements within the church, according to 1 Cor. 6 : 1-8. § VIII. The church shall arrange sewing societies for the raising of funds. Each member should annually make a free-will offering for defraying the expenses of tbe church. A collection is taken at the regular meetings once each month. Money is sent to the Mission Union to be used by them when it is needed. § IX. The church shall hold each year an annual meeting at New Year's time, when the secretary shall read his annual reports and give account of the financial situation. § X. The church shall provide for meeting in the Mission house on Sundays and holy days by believing and known ministers. Unknown ministers who cannot show recommendation from a known person or church ought not to be called by the church- members, nor allowed to occupy the church. Husby Mission Society, 1882. 1. "God is Love ; " " For God so loved the world that," etc., John 3 : 16 ; 1 John 4 : 9, 10; John 14 : 9. "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God," etc., John 1 : 12 ; 17 : 8. "If God so loved us, we ought also to love ,one another," 1 John 4 : 11. " We love him because he first loved us," 1 John 4 : 19. "And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God, love his brother also," 1 John 4 : 21. 2. Upon the ground of the foregoing the Husby Mission Society has arisen. § I. The object of the society is to unite the Christians in Husby for mutual edifi- cation and Christian labor. John 17 : 21 ; 1 Thess. 5:11; 1 Pet. 2 : 9. § II. The society receives as members each and all, men or women, who believe on Jesus Christ and live the Christian life and closely agree to the Lutheran Confession. 1 John 5:1-5; 2:6; John 15 : 4, 5. § IV. 2. As to the sacrament, the members of the society act according to the Word of God and their consciences. 1 Cor. 11 : 17-34 ; Acts 2 : 46 ; 1 Cor. 8:9; 14 : 40 ; Acts 16 : 33. Mission Society of Nors Socken, 1879. § I. The object of the society is to endeavor to gather the scattered members of Christ's body into a greater unity and order, that they may learn to know one another better, love one another more, be to one another a support and aid in both spiritual and temporal matters, and that tbey may better fulfill their heavenly calling to be a light and salt in the world's darkness and putrefaction, and by prayer and gifts support the heralds of the gospel among ourselves as well as among other nations. 1 Thess. 5 : 11 ; 1 Pet. 3:5; Gal. 6:2; 1 Cor. 15 : 58 ; 1 Thess. 5 : 12, 13. § VII. . . . Touching baptism, the Lord's Supper, etc., about which unlike views may arise, the society will force no one's conscience ; "endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace," Eph. 4 : 3. § VII. As the society will become too large for all its members to meet together often, it is divided into smaller so-called " circle societies," each one of which will hold minor meetings at least once a month, at time and place appointed by themselves. § X. . . . The rules shall be changed so soon as upon careful trial they are found to be in conflict with the Word of God. Landskrona, 1875. § VII. The minister who shall be permitted to preach in the society's hall must hold to the Evangelical Lutheran Confession. He must be known as a pious Christian, of a IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 51 good conversation, and must live in brotherly love with all that are born of God. Above all, he must be zealous for the winning of souls to Christ and not to any certain re- ligious sect. Brothers' Society of Hudiksvall, 1880. § XII. ... No one shall have a right to appear in the hall of the society as a preacher contrary to the will of its officers. Should at least ten of the members of the church desire any minister to preach in said hall contrary to the wish of its officers, then, on request, the society shall meet within eight days to decide in the case. The decision of the officers shall hold good until the society has taken action. Christian Mission Society in Norrherke. § IV. If any one desires to join the society he shall make application to the officers of the society, who shall through the chairman, at the next meeting, propose such a one (or ones). At the next meeting the members of the society shall vote for or against the applicant, who, if he receives a three-fourths majority vote, shall be re- ceived as a member. § X. . . . The society shall hold an annual celebration, 1 at which, after public service, the managers shall report on the activity of the society during the past year and shall read the annual statement of the revisers. Westeras Evangelical Lutheran Society, 1878. § X. The property of the society, of whatever name or kind, cannot be sold, mortgaged, or pledged ; neither may money be borrowed in its name, nor real estate purchased ; neither may any resolutions toward dissolving the society be acted upon, except at a regular meeting nor without at least fourteen days' notice of extra meetings, at which the votes of at least three-fourths of the members present are necessary to carry a motion. § XI. All voting shall be by ballot, when each member has one vote, and all ques- tions, with the exception of those in paragraph X., shall be decided by majority vote. A tie shall be decided by lot. Mission Society of Morrum and Elleholm. § III. The object of this society is as follows : besides contributing toward the preaching of the Word of God, the members of the society meet, in small circles, so far church S/C nce a week, and as a whole once a month, to study the Word of God and mentn %< ; ng and singing. in 18' ' Uir a ing; and in all other cases it must be decided by majority vote of those prfe support In case of a tie the president shall decide, and this opinion shall be receivers. 5 : final. „ __ etc, *, *nlik« Kbistiania, Norway. W ndea ^ | I. This shall be called the Free Christian Church in Kristia. .. § XIV. No law or statute [creed ?— Tr.] shall be adopted, but we do according to the Word of God, as well as we understand it. Swedish Mission Tabernacle Congregation, Chicago, III. § II. Persons desirous of becoming members of this church shall make it known to some one of the elders or deacons, who shall examine the candidate's spiritual state. § IH. The candidate should, in the presence of the church at a regular called meeting, give a statement as to his religious history. IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 53 £ IV. The church decides at this meeting whether or not the candidate shall be admitted by ballot, yet not in the candidate's presence. § V. Should the candidate not be well enough known, his admission may be postponed until satisfactory knowledge may be obtained. § VI. A candidate cannot be admitted if there are any votes against him ; but such a complaint must be founded on the Word of God and true knowledge of the cause. The following paragraph is from the second (1883) annual report of the Halmstad Mission Society : The Bibelbag Mission is really independent of the Halmstad Mission Society, but it has been carried on by four of its members. During the year it has distributed fifty-seven Swedish and Norwegian New Testaments, with the Psalms and some Bibles, besides tracts, books, and periodicals of good religious reading. Of these part were contributed by Fosterlands-stiftelsen, by the publishers of "Sannings Wittnett," and by Pastor Lindstr.Hn. During the year, 1,857 Bibelbags have been distributed on Swed- ish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, German l and English ships. Letter from President Ekman. Kristinehamn, Sweden, July 24, 1884. My dear Brother : The Lord Jehovah is the rock of ages ! As you promised me when we last met that I might write to you in Swedish, I have taken the opportu- nity, trusting that in some way you can find out the contents. First and foremost, I will thank you most heartily for your recent visit to us, which gave us great joy and encouragement. Likewise I thank you for your letter to me, which was very welcome ; so also was the photograph of your Home Missionary Anniversary. Hearty thanks for all ! By request of our Missionary Society at our last annual meeting, I hereby for- ward you a brotherly greeting, which you will kindly make known to the members of your churches. May the tie of love unite in one all the believing on both sides of the great half- worlds for co-operation in extending the kingdom of God ! I will now answer the questions you ask in your last letter. I was born at Stromsbro, Sweden, a suburb to Gene, in the province of Gestrikland, January 8, 1842, where my father was a "priest" [i.e., pastor of a Lutheran State church— Ed.] and school-teacher. My studies were prosecuted at the "higher ele- mentary school " at Gefle until I passed my examination at the University of Upsala, in 1862. Afterward I studied theological science at the same university ; passed the ex- amination, December 20, 1864, and thereby entered the service of the Swedish State church. After serving in two places as assistant pastor, I was promoted to ordinurie Icomminister in Ockelbo, November 22, 1868, where I remained until I resigned my position in the Swedish State church, September 1, 1879. While in Ockelbo I passed my pastoral examination at Upsala University, September 2, 1871. The reason for my resigning my ministerial office ' was this : During the whole time I was priest [i.e., Lutheran pastor — Ed.] I had an open eye to the many faults and defects in the State church, but at first I thought that she might be reformed and become a church of Jesus Christ. Therefore I labored with an honest endeavor for 1 This is the usual Swedish expression when a minister leaves the State church. It does not mean that he has abandoned preaching, but simply that he has left the State church service and is no longer recognized by that church as a minister of the gospel. —Ed. 54 A WIND FKOM THE HOLY SPIEIT her reformation, but I found more and more the improbability in the thought that a State church, including all human beings who dwell in a certain land, should become a church of Christ. By this I mean that all should become believers on Christ, for which we have no promise from the Lord for this generation. Besides that, the more I sought to prosecute my labors according to the Word of God, the more I ex- perienced persecutions from the side of the church authorities, and to my grief I learned by degrees that the object of the State church was not to be governed by the Word of God, but to follow her own laws and regulations, and, above all, to build up her own authority that she might rule over the conscience. I began to see that, on the whole, she was not the bride of Christ, but an adulteress, which every conscientious man ought to shun that he may not partake in her sins. As the years passed, I recognized more and more that I was in a false position, and my spirit felt the narrowness of the place inside the walls of the State church. This increased yet more when, in the autumn of 1866, I visited a Free Ministerial Confer- ence of ministers and laymen in Stockholm, where the questions in regard to the church were sincerely discussed in the light of the Word of God. I returned thence fully persuaded that I could remain in the service of the State church only by at least beginning to carry out the church discipline to the extent that the openly unfaithful should be excluded from the communion table. I began this at once, although I thereby drew upon myself a storm of ill-will from the uugodly side. This course was, however, a crutch on which I supported myself a few years, until even this broke. This question came to have more and more importance with me: "Who has given to thee alone the right to exercise church discipline? Has not God left this power to the church ? But where is God's church to be found? " etc. Besides, it became more and more unbearable to me that God should be thanked, because at the baptism of children those who before had been the children of the devil and of wrath had now thereby been born anew and become the children of God. Moreover, there was confirmation, an act in the highest degree false, and therefore con- science-torturing, since by it a number of ungodly and thoughtless children are made full communicant members of the church of God, but who in fact, through this act, only receive an indulgence to live at liberty with the world and in sin. All this became too heavy for me to bear ; wherefore, after much prayer and wrestling with God, I resolved to forsake the earthly advantages attaching to the ministerial office in the State church and to resign that office, in order that I might afterward occupy a true position and one independent of the churchly authorities ; sure that God would supply the necessary wants of myself, wife, and children, which he has abundantly done. From my work in Ockelbo I moved to Kristinehamn, in the province of Wermland, where I accepted a call from the Mission friends to become principal of the Mission School in that place, which office I still continue to hold, and am likewise chairman of the Committee of Managers of the Swedish Mission Union. Hitherto the Lord hath helped, blessed be his name! During the years I have had control of this theological school, it has had on the aver- age thirty-five students, divided into two classes. Most of these have become ministers in our mission societies and Free churches at home. Fifteen have given themselves to foreign missions in Lapland, Finland, Bussia, and Africa. Besides me there are the following teachers at the Kristinehamn school: Pastor A. Fernholm, Nils Wikanderoch, and S. Soderlund ; and at the theological school in Windslof, Rev. N. F. Graflund. I forward to you most of the documents you request and will try to secure the others for you. May now the Lord abundantly bless us ! My wife, my mother and children send hearty greetings. When you have published your report I hope to see it. Yours affectionately united in the Lord, E. J. Ekman. IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 55 Letter from Professor Fernholm. Kristinehamn, Sweden, July 24, 1884. Dear Brother in the Grace of Jesus : You wish me to write you something about myself and my experiences in the Free religious movement in Sweden during the last twenty-five years, and I will comply so far as possible. I am the son of a cottager ; was born May 7, 1840, in Westerfernebo, in the prov- ince of Westmanland, Sweden. I had one brother and one sister, born the one in January and the other in December of the same year, 1825, and at my birth, although they were only fifteen years of age, they were already away from home earning their own bread. When not quite three years old I began to ask my parents the names of the letters and how to learn to read ; and to the great astonishment of all was able in a short time to read with ease, although I was too young to be able to speak plainly. My desire was toward reading, but how much soever I desired to study, there was, owing to the poverty of my parents, no seeming possibility that my wish could be gratified. The Bible was almost my only book, and before I was four years old I was quite well at home in the contents of both the Old and the New Testaments. Naturally enough I enjoyed the historical parts the most, although I read the prophets, the apostolic let- ters, and Revelation as well. When I was nine years old my parents bought a little farm, the smallest that any one owned in the township. Although small in stature and sickly, I soon had to help with the rough work, such as to chop wood, cradle grain, mow grass, help to build the stacks for making charcoal, etc. At that time the oppor- tunities at the public schools in my birthplace were poor, but even these I was not per- mitted to enjoy, but at spare hours and on my own hook had to search for knowledge. At the age of sixteen years I had been in school only five days. Nevertheless, I had taught myself arithmetic, writing, the whole Swedish history, and several other common studies. Soon after an opportunity was offered me to enter the "high ele- mentary" school in Westeras. I suffered often from poverty, dressed shabbily, and very many times had to go without sufficient food ; but I was used to suffering and cared nothing for it as long as I could study. Through over-exertion and want I be- came very sick and near to death in 1860, which delayed me in my studies ; then weak eyes prevented my reading for nearly a year. Yet I passed my entrance examination into Upsala University, in 18G3, and was registered there as " civis academicus." After finishing my studies there I was ordained minister in the Lutheran State church, in 1866, and served afterward as assistant pastor in Frovi, Lynsnaberg, and Grythytland, in Westeras diocese, until 1870, when I accepted a call from the " Wermland Ansgarii Society " to move to Kristinehamn and open a Mission school, and likewise to serve as minister within the same society. I traveled around and preached for Mission societies in Wermland, Westmanland, Nerike, and several other places in the country, until I started the Mission Bible school in Kristinehamn. in February, 1871. In the same year I was married to the wife who has since faithfully and lovingly stood by my side. I continued the school and visiting the Mission societies round the country until May, 1872. During the first year, there were twelve students in this school. Of these, six labor in Sweden as ministers, four of whom are in the Free churches, one among the Baptists, and one among the Plymouth brethren. Two are ministers in America, of whom Rev. E. Aug. Skogsberg, of Minneapolis, is one. One went as a missionary to Africa for the Fosterlands-stiftelsen, but died soon after his arrival there. One is now laboring as a missionary of the Fosterlands-stiftelsen in Hindostan, India. One is a Swedish Baptist minister in Spain. One is a public school teacher here in Kristinehamn. In 1872 I joined the Baptists, and for several years labored among them at Gutenberg, Jonk 'ping, and Kristinehamn. But the leading men among the Baptists in Stockholm did not approve of my more liberal 56 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT position and labors, and it was impossible for me to remain among the Baptists. In 1880 I united with the Free Mission church in Kristinehamn, and the church called me as its pastor. In September, 1882, I was called as a regular teacher in the Mission theological school here, but as the church was unable to procure another pastor I continued to serve as such until March last, when I gave over the work to another brother called by the church. My religious experiences I will explain separately. When as a child I was sickly, and early compelled to labor hard, I could not join in the wantonness so common among those of my own age. By reading the Bible my mind had likewise been trained towards sober things. When I was eleven years old I experienced the first searching call, so that I was fully conscious of my lost state ; but at that time there was no one with whom I could speak on such subjects. Although there were nearly five thousand people in the parish, I am certain that at that time there was not one known as a living Christian. I felt myself lost, but did not understand the grace of the gospel. I labored to build up my own righteousness by reading, prayer, and a Christian life. I did not succeed and came to despair. Often I tried to drive it all away, but in vain. My sorrow was often so great that I thought of killing myself. For six long years I remained in this awful slavery under the law, and fully experienced that "as many a s are of the works of the law are under the curse." At last, during the second term of my studies at the high school, I experienced the grace of God in Christ. It was especially 1 John 1 : 7-9, that set me free. I felt that I was saved through grace. It was two years later, however, during which I passed through some dark experiences, before I was confident of having been fully received as a child of God. When I was twenty-one years old some believing friends in Westeras requested me to read the Bible privately to them and try to explain it in my own words. Re- luctantly I yielded. During the next year, as spare time from my studies allowed, I began to go from house to house in the neighborhood and speak to the people about their salvation. One day I was at the house of a believing friend, where many people had come together. I was requested to read a chapter in the Bible and say a few words to those present regarding the necessity of returning to the Lord. I did so. This was my first public sermon, for the addresses I had made before in Westeras had been to a private circle of believing friends. Having once begun to speak publicly I was compelled to continue. At that time many began to thirst after the Word of God, but there was a great scarcity of ministers. From that time (beginning of 1862) I have, so much as circumstances have allowed, labored as a people's minister, not only in the places where I lived, but also in several places in the country. As in my youth I was instructor of children in a priest's house [i.e., Lutheran State church pastor], I had an opportunity to learn their conduct of church matters. When I had experienced spiritual life I saw that the ministers and the church were the greatest obstacles to the salvation of the people. But I was in hope that the church might yet get faithful preachers and thus be reformed. This was the anticipation of all the believers at that time. Therefore I prepared myself zealously for my ministerial office. I was much troubled to know how I should be able to reconcile the State church theories with the Word of God, and sometimes made use of expressions which to my friends seemed very much like "dissenting," and about which they were much frightened. But as I could not come to any decided understanding on these points, I remained yet on the whole somewhat " State-churchly minded." About that time (1863 and 1864) I made my first acquaintance with a Christian congregation who had separated themselves from the State church, but I was then much afraid of them and considered them as gone astray. They were of two kinds, Baptists and Free [i.e., Mission — Ed.] church. A few Baptists had risen in this country about 1850. In 1852 a priest, A. Wiberg, left the State church, was baptized, and joined the Baptists, and they have steadily in- creased ever since. The first Free church I learned to know was organized about IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 57 1858, when a Lutheran priest in Waksala parish, near Upsala, took farewell of the State church service and became the leader of a small church of believers. The name of this priest was Sparrman, and he has, notwithstanding all obstacles, labored faith- fully for evangelical church order; and now, in his old age, he lives to see the day when the Free church movement is victorious and spreading throughout the land. After I had become priest I labored much for the organization of true churches within the State church, but at first I would not listen to any further separation. But when I found that many Christians could not, without violating their consciences, com- mune in the State churches, I offered to meet them privately, if they desired, to ad- minister the Lord's Supper. This they assented to with joy. Oftentimes during the years 1867-69 I thus privately ministered to the "weak ones," as I then called them. But in the summer of 1870 I became like unto them in that I could not com- mune in the State church. I then confessed openly and gathered the believers openly to celebrate the Lord's memory. As early as 1867 I had come to the conclusion that the baptism of children had no authority in the Word of God. Although it was a great trial to me to be compelled in the State church to baptize children, yet I was not ripe to leave my priestly office. When I likewise must now deny the right of believers to partake with the world in the communion, my situation became unbearable, and with joy I accepted the call from Kristinehamn to start the Mission school there. I was not only to teach school but also to preach to the faithful ones in Nerike, Wermland, and Westmanland who had withdrawn from the communion of the State church but had not yet alto- gether left that church. In Nerike a minister, Mr. Muntzing, had already for some time served several groups of such Christians, but he had died and afterward it was difficult to get a minister to serve them. During 1871 and the first part of 1872 the number of these small churches which I served grew to about seventy-one. In some of them the membership was only from five to ten ; in others fifty or sixty. On the average there were about twenty in each church. I advised them to adopt rules for church order and to choose elders, which they afterward did. These elders were set apart by prayer and the laying on of hands. By my advice these elders began to serve the communion, so that it was not necessary to solicit a priest. Before this — fifteen or twenty years earlier — a Free church movement had arisen in Skane, as also the Free church in Upsala (organized by Mr. Sparrman as previously related), but the time had not yet come for us to imitate suc- cessfully their example. But there now were many Christians in most all parts of the land ripe for this cause, so that the example set in Wermland and Nerike gained more and more followers, and every day this movement embraced a wider district. As I was compelled on account of my convictions to be baptized [i.e., by immersion — Ed.], and as this could not be done at that time without being separated from the so-called "Lord's Supper Societies," who considered it a dangerous delusion, I had to join the Baptists. What I there experienced it is not necessary to state, except that the Baptist Society became more and more narrow for me, while the Free churches grew tolerat- ing ; so that at last, about 1879-80, the latter began to receive into their member- ship such as had been baptized [i.e., immersed, as I suppose the writer means — Ed.], and retained such baptized [i.e., immersed] believers as desired to remain among them. Thus when I was banished from the Baptists (I was not given time to become properly excluded), I was welcomed most fraternally by the Free church here in Kristinehamn, and was soon chosen by the Free churches of the country to become teacher at their school at this place. What I have said before I repeat, that the Free church movement in Sweden is a people's movement. No special person has begun or become the leader of this move- ment. It has progressed uninterruptedly, under the guidanoe of God's Spirit. At its first appearance and during its spreading I have been permitted to serve it. A layman, Mr. C. J. Nyvall, has labored powerfully toward the spread of this move- 58 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT nient. No human instrument has labored so much for it as he. It is a pity I have not the opportunity of meeting him now, so that I could get a history of his services. He lives at a distance from here, and is now preparing to visit America. I hope he will visit you, but it will probably be too late to be of any service to you in giving a report regarding our Free churches. Respecting the religious persecution in Sweden during the last twenty-five years, I have endeavored to find for you some publications, but am not likely to succeed. I cannot myself write a complete history of it, as it would make a large book and re- quire many years of searching in newspapers and court reports. If I succeed in finding any such history I will forward to you as soon as possible. I will, next Tuesday, for- ward you some newspapers reporting such persecutions as just now exist. It was a joy to us to be discovered by you last spring, and through you to become associated with our brethren in the great free republic on the other side the Atlantic. We have yet more Free churches to be discovered in the Old World's northern lands. This summer I have been in the borders of Finland. There the Free movement is in full force. Finland is now open for the gospel. It is a pity the laborers are so few ! Among the Swedish-speaking population there are Free churches in Helsingfors, Kotka, Abo, Jakobstad, Mariehamn in Aland, and also a few parishes in the country. Our missionaries have been the means of organizing these churches. Even in Russia there are Free churches among the Swedes in St. Petersburg and Kronstadt. I hope you will soon come here again to finish your discoveries, and at that time visit also Finland and Russia. I am very glad that you went to Kristiania and was able to pro- cure for that congregation the so-much-needed aid [i.e., the contribution from the American Home Missionary Society meeting at Saratoga— Ed.]. I know that church, because I was present when it wps organized. The blessing of God be upon all his people ! Yours in the fellowship of the Lord, Andreas Fernholm. Letter from Dr. "Waldenstrom. Gefle, Sweden, August 2, 1884. Rev. M. W. Montgomery, Dear Brother in the Lord : Your letter requires an account which is quite difficult, and I can answer it only in part ; but shall do so as far as I can. I was born, July 20, 1838, in Lulea, a city in the northern part of Sweden, where my father was a physician (died 1870). My mother was a merchant's daughter. My father was a very severe man, but my mother was mild, yet serious. After having graduated at the high school, in 1857, I devoted my studies towards the ministry ; be- came assistant teacher in the high school at Wexjo in 1862, and received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 1863 ; became professor at the high school in Unea in 1864, and at the Gefle high school in 1S74, which place I still hold. My department is to instruct in theology. I was ordained in 1864 ; after that I made two attempts to leave the schools and enter the service of the Lutheran church [that is, as pastor — Tr.], but without success. Resigned the ministerial office in 1882. J I was converted in 1858. The external cause was quite singular. Our parents taught us that to speak the truth always was of great importance, and I do not remem- 1 That is, he resigned the office of minister so far as its authority came from the State church ; he gave up his official ordination by the State church, that he might not be subject to the restrictions, warnings, and persecutions of the ecclesiastical offi- cials of the State church, but enjoy the freedom of the preachers in the Free churches. — Tr. IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 59 ber of having told more than three falsehoods before rny conversion. One of these untruths was confessed immediately, the other two were hidden. In 1849 I told a falsehood to a cousin in my father's house. I had once taken butter with my finger, and on being questioned thereupon, replied that I had taken it with a table-knife. This falsehood lay heavy on my conscience for eight years. My impression was that I had sinned in telling this lie, but again I thought it ridiculous to confess such a little falsehood. However, I confessed in the fall of 1857 as I, after having made a visit to my parents, stood ready to leave and accept a position as a private teacher for the chil- dren of a governor in the southern part of Sweden. When I confessed the fault to my cousin, who was then married in Lulea, my aunt, a Christian, was present ; she un- derstood that God was working upon my heart, and promised me then a Bible, which she shortly after sent me. Now I began to read the Bible, though without any earnest desire. Nay, I had heard that it was written in the Bible that Cain and Abel departed to a strange country and were married, and I wanted to know where it was so written. I had to read through the whole Bible. That which I searched for I found not, but that which I did not seek for I found, viz. : life in God. Afterwards I became acquainted with other Christians, and I was now a new creature. This change created a consternation in the governor's house. I was much liked as an " accomplished, beloved," worldly young man. Now our friendship was broken. After making several attempts to bring me back to the world, the governor commanded me to break off all intercourse with my new friends, and threatened me that if I did not obey he would send me with the criminal transport which " went from prison to prison " until I reached my native city Lulea, a distance of about nine hundred English miles. 1 I replied to the governor that if he could accuse my friends of any sin, then I would immediately obey ; but that if he could not accuse them of anything ex- cept that they believed on Christ, then I would not obey his command ; that would be to disobey the Lord. Now his anger burst out so that he violently drove me from his house, commanding me to immediately remove my things ; and unless I did so, he would throw them into the street. Without an opportunity for taking farewell of any in the house except the governor's servant, who stood in the vestibule pale from fear, I rushed out of the house. As soon as I was converted I wrote to my mother, expressing my joy ; at the same time confessing the third of the above-named falsehoods, which was then at least ten years old, and my mother had forgotten all about it. The account of my conversion troubled my parents, but the confession of the old lie did them good. When I was driven away from the governor's house, their anxiety for me was increased, and I was summoned home by telegraph. Now followed, while at home, a time full of God's wonderful help. My parents and I could not understand each other. The following years brought many trials, but also many evidences of faithfulness. My mother died, believing in Christ, in the beginning of 1862. The following summer my father be- came so disgusted with me that he bade me farewell forever. I became very sad over his letter, but answered it immediately that although nothing on earth was dearer to me than my home, I would rather leave it than Christ, and I thanked him for all the help he had bestowed upon me, and also bade him my farewell. I then had in mind to change my name. However, my letter touched his heart to its depth. He answered, and said that he had believed that my religion was nothing but pride and obstinacy, etc. , but now when he saw I was in earnest he became contented ; and from that time there was an intimate relation between us. My father loved determination and hon- 1 Criminals under arrest are sent home for trial in charge of a sheriff and conveyed from town to town by the public " transport" service, by which the law requires that certain citizens in each place must furnish conveyances to transport criminals to the next town. — Tr. 60 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT esty, and hated all wavering and hypocrisy. In the year 1863 I published my first work. The title was, ' ' Adamson the Iron Mill Owner, or Where art Thou V " l It re- lates that a landlord by the name of Adamson, who lived in the city " World," became bankrupt and moved to the city " Gospel," where his name was changed to Abraham- son. After having lived there a while he moved to the city '• Self -righteousness," where he changed his name to Agarson. There he established a factory, but became again bankrupt and moved back again to the city " Gospel," until he was called by the King Justus Almighty to the city " Holiness." This volume created much attention, won a large circulation in four editions, and also became a subject for slander in several periodicals. From now my time was limited to school-teaching, to studying, and to composing a few songs (which were sent to a religious paper), and to preaching. I commenced to preach in 1858, when I visited the public poor-house, to read and pray with the poor. This happened during the time I was at the governor's house before named, but it continued only a short time, the pastor in the city forbidding me admis- sion to the poor-house. When I rang the bell the door was not opened. My public preaching began on New Year's day, 1859, in the cottages in the country around Upsala, but I entered a pulpit for the first time in 1862. Since 1842 a religious journal has been printed in Sweden (first monthly, afterwards quarterly) called the Pietist. It was edited by Rev. C. O. Rosenius, a very godly man, who has had an extraordinary influence upon the religious movement in our land. I learned to know him in 1859, and we were after that intimate friends. He died in 1868. The editorship of his journal was assigned to me. Everything went smoothly until 1872, when in the quar- terly for June I expressed myself against the common ideas of the significance of Christ's work, and urged leaving man's theology and returning to what is written in the Bible. The difference may briefly be stated as follows : man's theology makes God the atonement's object, and mankind, represented by Christ, the subject ; God's Word makes mankind the atonement's object, and God, represented by Christ, the subject. Man's theology makes, in one or another form, Christ a keeper or shield for man against God. God's Word makes Christ a help given of God against sin, death, and the devil. The strife which hereby arose was begun by a pastor named Svelinder who edited a little journal. I answered in another journal, entitled " Significance of the Atonement." 2 For years afterwards there followed a whole line of pamphlets published in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Germany, England, and America. All these I have gathered and bound, making a library of thirteen volumes, although these do not include an innu- merable number of articles in home and foreign journals. A journal is published at present in our land, edited by Mr. Elander, which is almost wholly directed against me, as is shown even by the title. As an evidence of the manner in which this strife is kept up, I may here relate that Elander, as well as most of his predecessors, insists that I deny the divinity of Christ, 3 a doctrine to which I have alicays held fast. Indeed, Elander goes so far as to trample the truth under his feet, and insists also that I teach that Christ does not intercede for his disciples, notwithstanding that I have published a book on that especial subject, viz. : '"Our High Priest's Praver." Hereby you may understand how the strife is kept up. The editors know that the readers of their journals never read any of my writings, for if they did the truth would soon be re- vealed. Therefore under the name of truth they can falsify as much as they please. Home missions in our land have been carried on since 1850 by a steadily increasing number of so-called " Mission societies " spreading over the land. 4 The principal one 1 Brukspatron Adamson eller Hvar ar du ? 2 Om forsoningens betydelse. 1873. Att jag forneckar Kristi guddom hvilken jag dock alltid fasth&llit. 4 Missions foreningar. IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 61 of these is the Evangelical Fosterlands-stiftelsen, 1 which was organized in 1850. Apart from the other societies, which embrace separate provinces, this one carries on its work over the whole of our country, and since 1861 has also carried on quite extended foreign missions, and sailors' missions in foreign seaports. I was a member of this organization until a few years ago, when I was cast out. Those who were known to hold like views with myself were also afterwards cast out. This did not hinder the so-called "new false doctrine "" from being adopted by several of the Stiftelsen's missionaries, and also openly maintained by one of the foremost men in our country, who has for later years been a member of the Stiftel- sen managing committee, and without contradiction the leading one of all its mem- bers. During several years I worked hard for unity between Fosterlands-stiftelsen and my friends. I believed to the uttermost that Stiftelsen would become more friendly to the movement, and many times at public meetings when I expressed this opinion, a distrustful opinion was to be seen in the countenances of my friends. At a convention held in Stockholm in 1879, the Swedish Mission Union 3 was organized. I was not present, nor did I have any knowledge thereof, but was appointed a member of the Executive Committee, of which I have since been a member. The Swedish Mission Union, like the Fosterlands-stiftelsen, is an organization by itself, and carries on both home and foreign missions. To these purely theological strifes were joined church strifes. In our State churches, the openly ungodly as well as the believers are allowed to partake in the communion. This distressed many of the believers. They could no longer partake in the public communion of the State church, but united and celebrated separately the Lord's Sup- per. If it were possible they would always have a Swedish minister 4 to serve at such a meeting, and I was many times solicited. Meanwhile I had become odious to the State church authorities, and the meetings had created quite a sensation. A society of believers at Upsala invited me to come there and serve at the Lord's Supper. For this purpose one of the State churches in the city was asked for, but it was denied; therefore the communion was held in a large chapel, with closed doors. For this reason the church consistory brought a suit against me, with the result that I was chastened and given warnings. The Christian believers who could not partake in the public communion of the State church, but had hitherto tried, as far as possible, to comply with the church rules in our land, so that they might if possible be allowed to have a believing minister to serve at the communion table, and also the use of a church, were now compelled to get along without either the church or the minister. From this cause originated the so-called " Lord's Supper Societies." A petition was presented to the king, asking him to make void the law that made it a crime for God's believing children and members of the Swedish State church to unite together, and, separately from the State church, celebrate the Lord's Supper in accordance with God's Word. I presented this petition, which was signed by more than twenty-two thousand persons, to the king. The king sent it to the State church authorities, who expressed themselves in bitter words against it. No answer from the king was ever received. The Lord's Supper Societies still continued, but they could not, of course, continue long in this situation. Through the communion meetings the necessity of organizing churches was felt, and thus arose over the whole land the so-called Free churches, as you already know. They are, in foundation and ground, Congregational, 5 as you yourself have seen during your visit in our land. 1 Evangelical Native-land Institution. 2 Nye villfarelsen. 3 Svenska Missionsforbundet. * Svensk prestman. 5 Och sa upstado sa ofver hela landet dessa s. k. friforsamlingar, som Ni redan Kan- nen. De aro i grund och botten congregationalistiska, sasom Ni sjelf vid Eder vistaler i vart land bar sett. 63 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT They have not, as jet, entirely withdrawn from the State church. A singular fact is that although the State church authorities never require drunkards, profane swear- ers, atheists, harlots, and such like to withdraw from the church, yet they pour out much bitterness on the above-named believers, because they do not withdraw. In so doing they seem to declare that the State church is in such a condition that she suffers less injury from ungodliness and atheism than from her believing members edifying themselves with God's Word, prayer, and the Lord's Supper. Most of the believing ministers in the State church partake in this bitterness, and this is surely most sad. For a few years Rev. E. J. Ekman and I edited a journal entitled The Witness, for the discussion of ecclesiastical and theological questions. This ceased to exist. The journal Forhundet [i.e., The Union] was started by Mr. Ekman, and I wrote eccle- siastical and theological articles, which were printed partly in the Gothenburg Weekly and llemlantlsi-annch, [i.e., TJie Homeland's Friend] and partly in the form of letters, printed on the cover pages of the Pietist. My time has, however, more and more been turned from polemic subjects and concentrated upon instruction and edification. In 1883 I began a new version of the New Testament with notes. For twelve to fifteen years past I have expected this would be my most important life work. (But not properly the translation, because such a translation has been expected to be received, without notes, from the Bible Commission provided for in our land over one hundred years ago. When this commission had published a translation, it was at once found to be unsatisfactory to those who could see that the original text had an entirely different meaning. Then I decided to make a new translation.) After having once begun this work, I was compelled to withdraw from many other things, upon which I had before spent much time and strength. ... In brotherly love, P. Waldenstrom. PERSECUTIONS OF CHRISTIANS. Professor Fernholm writes : As a contribution to the history of the religions persecution in Sweden, I would communicate the following : In Sandsjo parish, in Smaland, there are a few believers that have joined together as a little Free church. On this account the priest has become much incensed. He first endeavored to compel them to have their children confirmed, but has not succeeded in that, although he has several times called them before the church council and overwhelmed them with rude abuse. Neither would they suffer their smaller children to attend the public school and learn the Lutheran catechism by the method there used. They were willing, however, to call an exam- ined public school teacher and establish a school themselves, and let their children learn everything that the law prescribes. But the teacher they called was also liberal [lit., " Free-church-ly "], for which reason the priest and the church council interdicted him from keeping school in the parish. It was instead resolved to take the children with violence from the parents and keep them in the common public school— of course at the expense of the parents. The law is such that this can be legally done. The priest arranged an auction of the children, the lowest bidder to keep them at school and in the meantime [i.e., out of school hours] have them at his house. Everybody in the parish shuddered over such violence, however, and none would take the chil- dren from the parents. Then the priest called them in. In this manner he takes the children from the parents, to give them the church training that the parents do not wish them to have. Mark ! 77;?* happened in the month of July, 1884, here in Sireden, and to defend the violence the priest calls the parents " sinless." thus falsely insinuating that they are so erroneous that he is compelled to the violence. The cause is that they are Free church people. IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 63 FURTHER PERSECUTIONS. In 1878 Mr. C. P. Palmblad published at Stockholm a pamphlet en- titled " Keligious Persecutions in Sweden," from which the following ex- tracts are taken : Rev. J. N. Halmgren was fined 100 kronors for holding a meeting in Wennersly during morning worship in the city church ; also the brother who had opened his house for this meeting was fined 50 kronors. A group of Christians in Arboga, who had assembled Christmas morning at 6 o'clock, in 1863, and who had not closed their meet- ing when the morning worship in the city church had begun, were sued and fined 50 kronors. The religious persecutions in Gotenberg in 1863 closed with the result that the judgment of the court was enforced by the writ of execution issued by the king's majesty, August 30, 1864, whereby Kapten G. W. Schroder was fined 100 kronors be- cause he had preached the gospel. Several other persons were accused, but escaped by only paying the costs of the lawsuit, which amounted to almost as much as the fines. In 1865 several Baptist ministers were brought before the court in Norrland. One was fined 150 kronors, two were acquitted, and one was sentenced to four weeks' im- prisonment in Hernosands jail. Seventeen couples in the northern part of Sweden had not been married by a State church minister, and as it was the law that a minister in the State church should of- ficiate at all marriages, they were fined and compelled to be separated. In 1868 Ambrosius Erson was fined 93 kronors because he had preached the gospel and baptized. Things in his own house were seized to pay the fine. A Baptist minis- ter, C. E. Malm, was about the same time fined 50 kronors because he had preached against the prohibition of the church council. A Methodist minister, J. Nilson, was fined, in 1871, 100 kronors, and was compelled, for want of means, to work out his fine by six days in jail on water and bread. His crime was that he had preached the gospel. Another minister, in Motala, was fined 100 kronors, which fine was by the king re- duced to 50 kronors. A farmer in Medelpad who could not conscientiously have his child sprinkled in baptism was made to pay 22 kronors to a sheriff for his trouble in taking the child to be baptized by sprinkling against the father's will. A brother in Lulea was fined 13 kronors for the same cause. Another brother was fined 150 kronors because he had baptized, and still another 16 for the same cause. Although the most of those that read this pamphlet have through the newspapers ob- tained knowledge of my own persecution in Ostergotland in 1876, I will, nevertheless, here relate it as follows : After having preached some time in Wikbolandet, where the Lord had blessed my work with the conversion of many souls, the church author- ities thought it was time to bring my work to a close, because they saw it was con- trary to the State church discipline. Just as I had begun Sabbath-school one Sunday in April, with an attendance of sixty or seventy children, the church councilors of Ostra Stenby, Ruddby, and Konungsund parishes stepped in and notified me that I was forbidden to hold any Sabbath-school in that district. When they had left, the following conversation arose between me and the children : "Do you wish me to speak to you about Jesus to-day ? " Answer: "Yes." "But did you not hear that I was forbidden? Shall I transgress this commandment?" Answer: "Yes." "But if I trespass against this command and speak to you about Jesus to-day, it will cost me 50 kronors, and if I have no money I must go to prison. Would you wish that V" The only answer I received was the tears which were shed from the children's eyes. I can 64 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIETT never forget that moment. The following Sabbath we were again assembled, when the church councilors again stepped in and notified me that I was forbidden to speak either to children or grown persons. The same evening I held a meeting in a place close by. When I arrived there three councilors met me, each with a command — " Ostra Stenby, Ruddby, and Konungsund not to preach." Yet with the great neces- sity of staying there longer before my eyes, I felt like exclaiming with Peter and John, "We ought to obey God rather than men." After having disobeyed these com- mands I was sued by these four districts. On June 6th of the same year I was brought before the court at Hockerstad for my crime, and on August 15th I was fined 300 kronors. Having no money with which to pay the fine, I was compelled to work it out in the jail at Norrkoping, where I remained fifty-one days, or from October 16, 1876, to December 6th of the same year. My imprisonment was not severe. The Lord was with me and cheered my heart. The attendants of the jail were all friendly to me, especially the overseer. At last the longed-for day of my liberty arrived. The joy which then filled my soul is indescrib- able, and I felt like exclaiming with many of the martyrs, " God be praised for all ! " In 1877 Rev. R. E. Malm (Baptist) was fined 100 kronors. This is the last example of religious persecution which will here be stated. Before I close I will give a summary of the foregoing accounts of the persecutions in Sweden. If it were possible for one man to be persecuted for all these so-called religious crimes, he would have been fined by the church authorities, for his belief and work, 24,950 kronors and been transported by the sheriff a distance of about tbree thousand five hundred miles, with fifty different criminal transports. As he could not pay all the fines he would be sentenced to eight hundred and twenty days in jail on water and bread, and ninety-eight years and eight months general imprisonment ; and in addition to tins would have been exiled ten times. After all this we cannot escape from the thought that the Swedish State church is far from being a church of Christ. Rather she may confess with David : " My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness." We surely have reason to thank the Lord for the religious liberty we already possess in our dear native land, but we shall not be satisfied until we possess full freedom to worship God in entire harmony with his own words and our consciences. For that day we look forward with great joy when the saying of the prophet shall be fulfilled : '• Babylon is fallen, is fallen." THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. The Lutheran church has a grand history. The world could not spare its work and record. I would not on any account misrepresent her ; and if statements herein criticise her present condition and acts, it is intended to do so only so far as an impartial statement of current facts require. The Augsburg Confession of Faith, to which she holds so tenaciously, was, at the time of its adoption by the heroic Reformers, a great step forward in the history of the church. The trouble with the Lutheran church is that it is content to stand still where the Augsburg Confession left it, three centuries ago. Have three hundred years of the study of the Scriptures, and of advance in every branch of human knowledge and experience, thrown no light upon Biblical exegesis and church polity ? If they have, then the Lutheran church, in most respects, shuts out that light ; looks backward rather than forward ; still gazes toward the eastern horizon of the Reformation, refusing to see that the sun has mounted high toward the zenith. The Lutheran church claims a nominal civil-ecclesiastical member- IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 65 ship in the world, of fifty millions of people. If she would only change a very few of her doctrines and methods, what a magnificent work for the kingdom of Christ on the earth might she again do ! Many earnest Christian pastors and laymen in the Lutheran church deeply mourn her condition and vainly seek her reformation. In this country the liberal branch of the church seeks a deeper religious experience among her members, and favors temperance, and revivals. Some of the foremost temperance advocates in Minneapolis are Lutheran pastors, and it is doubtless so in many other places. In general this church has probably very large numbers within its nominal membership who have not been converted ; does not insist that its pastors shall be converted men ; maintains its own parochial schools ; teaches the children the Lutheran catechism ; earnestly seeks to prevent its children and congregations from going where they will be under the in- fluence of other religious teaching ; the church authorities prescribe the texts from which the pastors shall preach for three years ; at the end of this time the pastor must begin anew and again preach from the same texts for the next three years, and so on. The natural results of formalism, want of spirituality, and lack of interest in missions follow. LUTHERAN DOCTRINES. From the " Lutheran Augsburg Confession of Faith " the following extracts are taken : ' It is lawful to use the sacraments administered by evil men ; according to the voice of Christ : "The Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' seat." And the sacraments and the Word are effectual by reason of the institution and commandment of Christ, though they be delivered by evil men. They condemn the Donatists and such like, who denied that it was lawful to use the ministry of evil men in the church, and hold that the ministry of evil men is useless and without effect. Of the Supper of the Lord they teach that the true body and blood of Christ are truly present under the form of bread and wine, and are there communicated to those that eat in the Lord's Supper, and received. Of baptism they teach that it is necessary to salvation. . . . They condemn the Anabaptists who allow not the baptism of children and affirm that children are saved without baptism. From the " notes " in the same work : Infants are ordinarily saved by baptism as God's ordinary means, bat God is not so bound to the means that he cannot save them without means. . . . Our church holds that infants always required regeneration, were ordinarily saved by baptism as the ordinary means, and that when deprived of it their regeneration and salvation were extraordinary ; that is, special, and out of the usual order of God's arrangement. . . . It is no part of the faith of our church that baptism is abso- lutely necessary ; that is, that there are no exceptions nor limitations to the proposition that unless a man be born again, of water or baptism, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 1 Translated, with notes, by Charles P. Krauth, D.D. Tract and Book Society of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Philadelphia. 5 66 A WIND FKOM THE HOLT SPIEIT " Luther's Small Catechism " ' has the following excellent contents : The Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper ; also a morning and an even- ing prayer, and prayers for meal-time. But among its questions and an- swers we find these : Question. — What is the sacrament of the altar ? Answer. — It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the bread and wine, given unto us Christians to eat and to drink, as it was instituted- by Christ himself. Question. — What gifts or benefits does baptism convey ? Answer. — It worketh forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and confers everlasting salvation on all who believe as the Word and promise of God de- clare. LITTLE INTEREST IN MISSIONS. The Lutheran churches contribute less, proportionably, to the cause of foreign missions than any other Protestant evangelical denomination in the world, as the following extracts from Dr. Christlieb's " Protestant 'Foreign Missions" 2 clearly show : At the beginning of our century the whole number of male missionaries employed by seven societies was 170. Of these about 100 belonged to the Moravians. To-day there are in the employ of seventy societies about 2,400 ordained Europeans and Americans, hundreds of ordained native preachers (in the East Indies alone over '400, and about the same number in the South Seas\ over 23,000 native helpers, eatechists, evangelists, and teachers, not counting the numerous female assistants, private missionaries, lay helpers, colporteurs of the Bible societies in heathen lands, . and the thousands of voluntary unpaid Sunday-school teachers. Eighty years ago, if I may venture an estimate, there were scarcely fifty thousand r converted heathen under the care of evangelical missions, not counting the so called "government Christians " in Ceylon, who so quickly fell back. To-day we may con- fidently reckon the whole number of native converts in our evangelical mission stations as at least 1,650,000. And the year 1878 alone shows a growth of more than the total number at the beginning of this century, viz., about GO, 000 souls. If I add to this that of the present total, there are about 310,000 in the West Indies and Madagascar, 400,000 to 500,000 in India and Farther India, 40,000 to 50,000 in West Africa, 180,000 in South Africa, over 240,000 in Madagascar, 90,000 in the Indian Archipelago, 45,000 to 50,000 in China, and more than 300,000 in the South Sea Islands, we see that a large number of coastlands and especially islands are Christianized, and may be counted as won for the Protestant cliureh. Eighty years ago the entire income for evangelical foreign missions was much less than $250,000 ; to-day the annual receipts have advanced from $6,000,000 to $6,250,000 (about five times the amount raised by the Roman Catholic Propaganda\ of which Eng- land furnishes about $3,500,000, America $1,750,000, Germany $1,250,000, and Swit- zerland from $500,000 to $750,000. Eighty years ago the total number of evangelical mission schools was not over 70 ; to-day they number nearly 12,000, with more than 400,000 scholars, among whom 1 Published by the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Publishing Society, Chicago. 8 Protestant Foreign Missions, by Theo. Christlieb, D.D., Ph.D., University at Bonn, Prussia. Congregational Publishing Society, Boston. IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 67 there are hundreds of native candidates for the ministry receiving instruction in the high schools and theological seminaries. . . . If we compare the success of particular churches in proportion to their size, this fact is immediately apparent, which 7, as a member of a national church, may speak of, namely : that the great State churches are far outdone by the smaller independent churches. Especially is this the case in Scotland. The Scottish State church, although in the number of congregations and ministers by far the largest in Scotland, is greatly surpassed by the two principal independent churches, both in contributions, number of stations, and the like, although the latter at the same time must also meet the wants of their own home churches. Thus in the State church each member pays about twenty-five cents; in the United Presbyterian church, from one dollar to one dollar and twenty-five cents ; and the average in the Free church, which is indeed richer, is not much less, ... a dis- proportion for the State church which will be found to increase continually. . . . Still more striking is the difference when we compare the little Moravian church, with its twenty thousand grown members in Europe and America, . . . when we compare it and its contribution of $1.12 per head with the great German [Lutheran] State church, in which, here and there (reckoning young and old), only one-half to three-quarters of a cent per head is given.- Whence this difference ? . . . partly from the lukewarm, indifferent, and worldly, who (as a State church professor in Edin- burgh recently complained) if there were no State church would belong to no church, because the kingdom of Christ has but little interest for them in any case ; while the Free church demands of each one becoming a member a deep religious interest in the church and her work. Hence a system of giving for the church and church work prevails here, and there is a regular contribution according to ability (compare espe- cially the Wesleyans), which is an unheard of thing in the State church. . . . But it is not a matter of mere accident that great activity in missions first began after all the rights of a State church in New England ceased. ... In no other land have missions, like all other educational institutions, received such large gifts from private individuals as in America. There were contributed last year to foreign missions, by about 375,000 members of the Congregational churches, $511,000, or $1.37 per head. . . . According to the Annual Report for 1879 — see Missionary Herald, November, 1879, p. 414 — the great legacy of Asa Otis, of about $1,000,000 (p. 415), is not included [in the above exhibit of contributions from Congregationalists]. . . . If now from among the German missionary societies we take the strictly Lutheran and add to these the five northern societies (in Denmark one, in Norway one, two in Sweden, and one in Finland, the Norwegian society being nearly equal in size to the other four), with the Mission Society of the Lutheran Synod of the United States, it is a remarkable fact that to-day there are only 11 Lutheran missionary societies, half of which are very small, and none of which belong to the greatest, having altogether only about 200 ordained missionaries. Against these there are 55 Reformed societies ; so that to-day all the Lutheran missionary societies of the world together, in number of workers (207), do not equal the Church Missionary Society, and in contributions not the third part (about 1,200,000 marks to 4,000,000 marks, or £190,000). . . . I refrain from anything but a passing notice of the causes of the lack of interest by the Lutheran church in missions. In most of the lands and provinces of the State church the members have not been trained to give for purely church purposes. The same is true of the salutary self-discipline of the voluntary but regular conse- cration of a definite percentage of our incomes at the very time of reception, for Christian objects, in which, I have reason to believe, lies technically the secret of the greater liberality in the lands of English-speaking peoples. . . . 68 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT Hence the following remarkable scale : In Wurtemberg there are contributed for missions per head for the Protestant population, five to six cents ; in Rheinland and Westphalia, about four cents; in Bremen, eleven cents ; in Hamburg, Hanover, Olden- burg, Schleswig-Holstein, and Baden, two cents ; in the six eastern provinces of Prus- sia and in Bavaria, one and a quarter cent ; in Mecklenburg and Saxony (kingdom), only about one-half cent. Often the same variation is seen in one and the same prov- ince ; in Hanover, for example, in the dukedom Osnabriick, with an annual contribu- tion of $28,000, there are two and three-quarter cents per head for the population, while in Gottingen dukedom there is but a third of a cent. In Rheinland, from 1877 to 1878, for the Synod of Gladbach, five to six cents ; for Elberfeld-Barmen, four and a half to five cents; in Aix la-Chapelle, only three-quarters to a cent ; and in certain others even less. All in all, we receive on an average from the whole Protestant popu- lation of Germany and Switzerland only from one and three-quarters to two cents per head, and so do not reach [even the extremely low — Ed.] figures of the Lutheran church in Norway of two to two and a half cents. THE SWEDISH LUTHERAN CHURCH VS. THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE. A few months ago it was announced through all Christendom that the meeting of the World's Evangelical Alliance for 1884 would be held at Stockholm, Sweden. Swedish people generally greatly rejoiced ; the beautiful city of Stockholm was preparing to array herself in gaiety and " to have no night there ; " Swedish railroads were making most liberal arrangements ; King Oscar II. was highly pleased, and offered to give the Alliance a royal reception in his palace. All these anticipations were suddenly dashed by the appearance of the following remarkable letter addressed to the General Conference of the Evangelical Alliance by the Lutheran State Church Archbishop, A. N. Sundberg, of Upsala, and signed also by eight of the twelve bishops of Sweden and by eleven theological professors in the State universities : 1. In consequence of existing circumstances we, the undersigned, beg to declare that on account of the peculiar relations within our church, especially with respect to the position which certain dissenters assume toward the church, we consider it par- ticularly unseasonable for the Evangelical Alliance at the present time to summon a general conference at Stockholm. 2. That if such a conference should take place during the present year, we, for our part, decline partaking in it. 3. That we are sure that our conviction and position in this matter are those of a very large majority of the Swedish clergy. This surprising document had just been made public when I reached Stockholm, and the general indignation against the Archbishop was deep and openly expressed. This discourteous blow so directly aimed at the Free church movement especially stirred the feelings of the Free Mission churches, the Baptists, the Methodists, and the progressive branch of the Lutheran church. The stroke rebounded and recoiled upon its authors. The New York Independent recently said : The church dignitaries of Sweden, who broke up the proposed meeting of the Evangelical Alliance in Sweden, are doing what they can to make the meeting in Copenhagen a failure. At least they will not have their own clergy attend it, and IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 09 have appointed a clerical conference to meet in Stockholm on the same days that the Alliance meets in Copenhagen. Prominent adhering Lutherans in Sweden gave me the inside explana- tion of the Archbishop's letter, in addition to what appears upon its surface, viz. : that special friends of the Archbishop made inquiries as to whether he would be invited to preside at the meeting of the Alliance, and were informed that he would not be, owing to reputed habits on his part which would shock the consistency of a Christian Alliance. Soon afterward the letter appeared inviting the Alliance to stay out of Sweden, lest it should give aid and comfort to Swedish dissenters. Concerning this matter, Ernst Beckman, of Stockholm, and a son of one of the bishops of Sweden, writes to the New York Independent as follows : Sweden, that far-away country, thrown up on the top of the globe, has of late at- tracted a good deal of attention. . . . Our little country has very often had the joy of receiving friendly greetings from the great nations. Often has the brotherly hand been stretched out, saying, as it were: "We know thee well, thou country of Gustavus Adolphus, of Linnaeus, of Berzelius, of Nordenskiold. We have often met thee where the battle was waging for freedom and for truth." Just at present, however, the attention which Sweden is attracting is not quite so nattering ; for recent occurrences are recalling the reputation which Sweden has had for a long time of being one of the most intolerant countries of Europe. Of late, happily, this spirit of narrowness has been very fast dying out. There has been a greater tendency to call into full life the half-dead letter of our Constitution that proclaims unlimited religious liberty ; a growing willingness among members of the State church to acknowledge the individual rights of " dissenters." And now comes an unfortunate return of the ancient spirit, an unexpected and con- spicuous bursting out of the old fire of intolerance from its smoldering embers. The country of Gustavus Adolphus, that shed its blood so freely for the cause of Protestant freedom— not Lutheran alone—has, in a specially inhospitable way, refused to receive a friendly visit of delegates from that great Christian institution, the Evangelical Alliance. Sweden— no, not Sweden, but the ruling party within the Swedish State church— has, with complete lack of international courtesy, pushed aside the hand proffered in brotherly love by representatives of Protestant belief among "all peoples and lan- guages" . . . In order to appreciate the situation, it may be well to call to mind a couple of facts regarding the Swedish State church. . . . With us it is claimed that every child, even though born of dissenting parents, is by birth, as it were, a member of the Swed- ish State church. When the child is grown, universal custom (not to put the fact more strongly) requires it to be confirmed and to become a communicant in " the church," though this membership does not necessarily involve any open confession later on, or any questioning about religious belief. Consequently, the vast majority of the Swedish people belong, nominally, to the State church. The Swedish church is directly governed by twelve bishops, bearing miters and crosiers, and on solemn occasions clad in episcopal vestments resplendent with gold and variegated colors. . . . This close connection between Church and State exercises a very decided influence upon the inner life of the church. Suppose, for instance, that a king should be a man of openly scandalous life— and we must admit that some of our rulers have been men who certainly would never have been received as church-members into any denomination within the borders of the United States- how could the ' national church excommunicate her own summits episcopus ? All the 70 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT same, he would have the appointing of her bishops, of the Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs, and of a great many of her spiritual officers. Beginning thus at the very apex, this lax habit of toleration widens as it descends, and grows so strong that it is often a very difficult matter to get rid of a simple clergyman who, for instance, is too fond of the cup, or who uses profane language, etc. . . Among us, however, are a great many plain people who cannot appreciate the subtle reasoning which would prove that a church is stronger and more useful by keeping within its fold, in full communion, and with full voting power, a multitude of persons who take no real interest in religious matters, many of them, too, by their lives or by their lijis, showing that they are opponents to Christianity. Nor are these plain people philosophical enough to understand how the law " les extremes se toucTient" can explain the discrepancy between a wonderful tolerance for pronounced irreligion and a bitter intolerance toward sincere piety and belief, departing in some minor points from the doctrines of the church. So some of these simple folk become dissenters, and leave alto- gether the communion of their fathers, their further connection with it consisting chiefly in paying taxes for her support, obliged as they are to do so by an unjust law. . . All over the country they have erected their little meeting-houses ; " prayer- houses " they call them. Their faces are no longer seen in our churches ; they often reject our beautiful liturgy, and listen to their own preachers, who are generally lay- men of inferior education. . . . Nevertheless, no impartial observer can deny that the movement which has resulted in this mass of semi -dissent has developed a great and, in some respects, a beneficial influence ; neither could he deny that these plain people count within their ranks a great number of true and active Christians. . . . We might name, I think, one more wholesome fruit of this sad occurrence. It has shown " how the land lies." The fact that so many of the leading men of our church are actually afraid of conferring, on our own soil, with Christian brethren of other denominations — that they think it indispensable to surround their fold with a Chinese wall — goes far to prove that, in their own estimation, the power of that church rests upon foundations sorely sapped by time. ... A few more victories of this kind — that is all ! There are many thinking minds, who, in reading the declarations of the nine bishops and other dignitaries, heard a dull sound in the distance, as of a hammer driving a nail into a coffin. MOVEMENT TOWARDS SEPARATISM. The following extracts are from the official published report of the committee which prepared the " Suggestions concerning the Order of the Churches," already given: At the annual Ministers' Meeting held in Stockholm, August 1 to 3, 1877, at which about seven hundred preachers were present from various parts of Sweden, the follow- ing was one of the questions for discussion : " What can and ought to be done by the friends of missions toward sending to the heathen those men who, driven by the love of Christ, would gather the heathen unto him, but whom the Evangelical Fosterlands- stiftelsen ' refuses to send out because they cannot in all points agree to the Augsburg Confession withoiit violating their consciences ?" This question gave rise to a very important discussion. On the one side, it was con- sidered necessary that the friends of missions should take some steps toward making use on the mission field of those who felt themselves called to preach the gospel to the heathen and seemed fit for such a labor, even if they, for conscience' sake, could not in all its parts swear to the Augsburg Confession. On the other side, it appeared 'The name of the missionary society of the Lutheran church. IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 71 that there was no desire to start a new missionary society alongside the Stiftelsen if that society would compromise by changing its rules in this respect. The result was that a committee was appointed by the Ministers' Meeting to consider the relations of the Free Mission friends to the Fos- terlands-stiftelsen and to make recommendations. The committee consisted of Eev. Dr. P. Waldenstrom, Eev. E. J. Ekman, Eev. A. Falk, Eev. Dr. E. Nystrom, Eev. C. J. Nyvall, Dr. Axel Beskow, and Mr. Sven Johnson. This committee met at Gene, December 4, 1877, and continued in ses- sion during two days ; then adjourned to meet at Orebro, January 8, 1878, where they again held a meeting lasting two days. The minutes of these meetings, of which the following is an abstract, are published in a pamphlet : At the first meeting all were present except Dr. Beskow, and at the second meeting the whole committee were present. Dr. Waldenstrom presided. Rev. C. J. Nyvall presented twelve articles for the order of the Free churches, which were read and dis- cussed. After a lengthy consideration of the question : What are the fundamental principles of church order in harmony with the Word of God ? the committee de- cided that these proposed articles should "undergo further discussion at another meet- ing, to be held, if God will, at Orebro, January 8th." The committee then considered measures for starting a theological school, and Mr. Sven Johnson said he would give the lot and 1,000 kro- nors (about $1,020) toward such a school at Winslof ; and it was re- ported that the Wermland Ansgarii Society would give up their school at Kristinehanm for this purpose. The committee then voted to recom- mend to the coming Free Church Conference that these offers be received with thanks, and that two Mission theological schools be started, one at Winslof and the other at Kristinehamn. The committee resolved to start subscription papers to collect money for these objects. Information was received that the Wermland Ansgarii Society had resolved to petition the Fosterlands-stiftelsen to change its by-law at its next annual conference respecting the questions in dispute. The committee voted to indorse such a petition, and appointed Eev. E. J. Ekman to draft. a letter from this committee to the Fosterlands-stiftelsen to the same effect, which letter should be reported for consideration at the meeting of the committee in January. Dr. Waldenstrom was appointed to correspond with Missionary Moe, who had been discharged from the Hermanburger mission, and learn if he would return to the work among the heathen if supported by Christians in Sweden. It was voted that the 190 kronors received by the chairman should be sent to Eev. Philip Aastrup, pastor of the Moravian church in Stockholm, for the heathen missions of that church. The times for the meeting of the Free churches and for the Ministers' Association were appointed, and the committee adjourned. Five weeks afterward, on January 8, 1878, the committee met at Ore- bro. Dr. Waldenstrom again presided. 72 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT Rev. E. J. Ekman presented the letter which he had been appointed to prepare for the Fosterlands-stiftelsen. After making a few alterations, the letter was adopted. Several letters from committees appointed by minis- terial associations were read, respecting a true and Biblical church order. The committee then continued the revision of the twelve articles concern- ing church order which were postponed from the last meeting. Having made the necessary changes in the original and in the Bible texts quoted, on which the articles are founded, they were adopted. The committee voted that it would be best, at the next Free Church Conference, that only delegates from Christian societies should be allowed to vote, but that dis- cussion might be free to all. Voted, that questions for discussion at the conferences of the Free churches and Free ministers should be sent in by a certain date pre- viously. The following is the letter adopted by the committee as above re- corded : To the Officers of the Evangelical Fosterlands-stiftelsen, Stockholm: At the Ministers' Conference in Stockholm, August 3, 1877, the undersigned were appointed a committee to write to you with a view to brotherly co-operation in foreign missions between the Stiftelsen and our land's Mission friends, who take a more free position with regard to the Confession of Faith of the Lutheran church. That the brotherly co-operation which formerly existed between the Stiftelsen and our land's Mission friends has during recent years been dangerously disturbed is known to every one acquainted with the facts. Many have been the causes. Hand in hand with the spiritual movement of late years has been earnest search of the Holy Bible, and it is believed that not all that is in our church's Confession of Faith [i.e. , the Lutheran State church and the Augsburg Confession— Ed.] is in full harmony with the Word of God. During this search our eyes have been opened to the essential fact that all who live in true fellowship with Christ, although they may differently understand various ques- tions, nevertheless are members of the same body and children in the same Father's house, and should so look upon and support each other in building up the kingdom of God on the earth. In a word, we are awakened more than ever before to see that often under zeal for orthodoxy is hidden what the Bible calls strife. It is also observed that the Stiftelsen's managers have taken such a course that the society not merely stands still, but is even walking backward. It is seen with sorrow that the Stiftelsen moves more and more in the direction of a national church, for- getting its great object that it was to be a bond of union for the Free religious move- ment in our land. Instead of gathering the means to carry on the great work, the Stiftelsen seems to aim at defending a certain church creed, even though thereby the society becomes a stumbling-block for many Christians in our land who value the life in God's Son as of more importance than anything else. The consequence is that the Stiftelsen, in the name of true religion, has refused, and refuses to employ in its service in the mission fields such persons as, moved by the love of Christ, would pro- claim to their benighted heathen brethren the unspeakable riches of Christ, but who could not, in all its parts, swear to nor bind themselves to the Augsburg Confession. By such proceedings the Stiftelsen is exposed to the suspicion that she considers it of greater importance to carry the heathen to a certain creed than to carry them to Jesus Christ, the sinner's friend. It is plain that a great many of the Mission friends in our land can no longer look IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 73 with indifference upon such proceedings. Therefore a multitude of people in our land urge that all men who will lead sinners to Christ, and especially those who will devote themselves to the foreign service, should be made fruitful in the mission fields. The field is large, the laborers are few, therefore we ought not to refuse such. Should we not rather gather all such as will carry forth to the Gentiles the banner of the Cross? Let us leave all creed differences [lit., "confession distinctions" — bekannelseatskildnader — Ed.], bearing in mind that our work among the heathen is not to plant a State church or a sect there, but to bring souls from the power of Satan unto God. To quote the words of an English minister: " Let us leave the converted to boil down to sects, to organize themselves into Methodists, or Baptists, or I know not what ; or, better still, to show their teachers a more excellent way by forgetting the names which are legion, and only keep close to the banner which is love. To preach Christ and only Christ is what we have to do, and we may well leave at home our sect distinctions, and let the naked mark of the Cross shine as the only adornment on our ' weapon-shield. ' " Before the Mission friends for whom we speak make any decision, they would through us extend a brotherly hand to the Evangelical Fosterlands-stiftelsen for co- operation in foreign missions, that the bonds which have united us and the Stiftelsen may not be entirely broken, or the clefts made worse, but rather that by the grace of God they may be healed. We beseech you that the Stiftelsen's by-laws may be so changed that henceforth missionaries whose life is in Christ and who are zealous in bringing souls to him may labor undisturbed in foreign lands, even if they cannot in all particulars adopt [lit., '"swear themselves to " — Ed.] the Augsburg Confession. Trusting that we shall receive a brotherly answer, we commit you and ourselves to the grace of God and our Savior Jesus Christ. P. Waldenstrom. E. Nystrom. Sven Johnson. A. Falk. C. J. Nyvall. Axel Beskow. E. J. Ekman. During the same month in which the above letter was sent (January, 1878) the Fosterlands-stiftelsen held a meeting, at which this letter was read and a committee appointed to prepare a reply, from which the follow- ing is an extract : In order to reach the great mission object of Stiftelsen, it is certainly needed that all evangelical forces should labor unitedly, and Stiftelsen has on that account endeavored to unite as many as possible, but thereby it has not been taught that Stiftelsen could be so loose as to unite all who favor the Free religious movement in our land, as in your letter it seems to be taken for granted that it should, but only those Mission friends who believe in the Lutheran Confession [i.e. , Augsburg — Ed.]. This limit has not resulted from overlooking the truth that all believers are "members of the same body and children of the same fatherhood." It is precious to be allowed, in personal association with each other, to look upon each other as such, although differing in doctrine on questions of minor importance. But when it regards the carrying out of real labor for the sake of missions and order- ing co-operation for such purpose, then the situation might be somewhat different. In such instances we continually meet with subjects that easily bring forth divisions. It would be desirable if this never need to occur. But experience shows that under the present religioxis life among us, anything else cannot be expected. Therefore it seems best for God's kingdom not to endeavor to unite together too many elements within the same field of labor. At the Conference of the Free churches held in Stockholm, June 12-14, 1878, it was resolved, at a special meeting of the authorized delegates, 74 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT sixty-six in number, from the Christian churches and Mission societies in the land, to accept with brotherly gratitude the proposals for starting two theological schools, and that a committee be appointed to prepare rules and regulations for these schools, and that this committee submit its re- port to a conference composed of delegates to be chosen by the Mission societies and Free churches, and to be held at Stockholm beginning July 31, 1878. At this conference the committee reported proposed rules, and the report was adopted. ORIGIN OF THE SWEDISH MISSION UNION. The necessity for some corporate organization by which the Mission soci- eties and churches could carry on their mission work at home and abroad, hold property, etc., became apparent. The meeting continued its sessions until August 2d, and on that day — As soon as the meeting was opened a proposition was made to organize a Mission society. This proposition was not unexpected. Those present were all more or less prepared for it. But that each one felt deeply what an important step was now under consideration, was plentifully manifested. It was an hour of very touching significance. They thought that it would at last become necessary to form a new Mission society. At the same time it had been the happy expectation that a compromise with tbe Stif- telsen might possibly make such a step unnecessary. The feeling, therefore, was some- what strange. When it was found that they were thwarted in this hope, it was necessary to recognize this by action. No one, after all, had anything against the proposition. The discussion was short. The resolution to unite in a Mission society was adopted. After a short discussion it was agreed to call the same the Svenska Mission Fbrbundet [i.e., " The Swedish Mission Union"]. A very deep feeling was made manifest among those present during an earnest prayer to God in which his blessing was supplicated on the newly formed Mission society. To know that such an important step had not been taken in a careless spirit was, at such a time, of special benefit. And with confidence in the cause it was possible to commit it to the hand of the Lord, under the comforting words : If God be for us, who can be against us ? A committee was appointed to make known the motive and aim of the Mission society in the religious newspapers ; to secure contributions for home and foreign missions ; to manage the finances of the proposed schools ; to receive applications from Mission societies and churches for admission to the new society — the Mission Union — and to submit, at the open meeting of the Mission churches and societies, next year, a draft of rules and regu- lations for the Mission Union, etc. From the notice which this committee published we extract the follow- ing : Delegates from several Mission societies and Christian churches in Sweden, in the name of the Lord and in reliance upon him, have united in forming a Mission society, called the "Swedish Mission Union." . . . May this Mission Union be and remain a medium for gathering around the Lord Jesus Christ ! May its only and great aim be, free from all party spirit, to bring sin- IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 75 ners to a knowledge of truth and salvation ! May the Mission friends of Sweden, in peace and union, labor for this end while the day is at hand, for the night cometh when no man can work ! "Our help cometii from the Lord." "If God be for us, WHO CAN BE AGAINST US V " Among the rules of the Mission Union are the following : Each Mission society or church, being a member of the Mission Union, has a right to send to the annual meeting a delegate to take part in the consultations and resolutions adopted regarding the affairs of the Mission Union. Should a Mission society have two hundred or more members, it has a right to send two delegates. All business before the yearly meeting shall be decided by a majority vote and each delegate shall have one vote. Should a vote be a tie, a new vote shall be taken ; should that result in the same manner, the motion shall be considered lost, and can- not again be considered before the next annual meeting. If any accusation against any Mission church or society belonging to the Mission Union be submitted to this committee, such accusation shall, by the committee, again be submitted to the delegates at the annual meeting, which delegates shall agree upon the action to be taken upon such accusation. RULES OF THE MISSION SCHOOLS. Accepted by the delegates at the meeting in Stockholm, July 2, 1879. 1. The object of the schools shall be to provide free education for persons willing and suitable, either at home or in the heathen world, to preach Christ as he is given unto us by God, for wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. 2. A superintending committee of three delegates and two substitutes for each school shall be appointed by the Mission Union at their annual meeting. 3. The schools shall be managed by a principal and sufficient corps of teachers, ap^ pointed for each school for that purpose. The principal, as well as the teachers, shall, in case of discharge, be entitled to six months' notice, counted from the annual meeting. 4. If during the time between the annual meetings the principal or teachers leave, or should it be found necessary to appoint special teachers, the Mission Union Com- mittee, after having consulted the managers of the school, shall appoint suitable per- sons to supply the need, but such appointments shall hold good only to the next annual meeting of the Mission Union. 5. When it shall be necessary to appoint managers, principal, and teachers for the school, the committee shall submit its opinions to the Mission Union. 6. It shall be the duty of school managers to look with care after the schools and their teachers and scholars ; to assist the teacher by advice and information, and, together with the teachers, to arrange the course of study and regulate the admission and graduation of pupils ; and to submit a yearly report for the school year, which report, together with that of the Committee of the Union, shall in printed form be publicly submitted to the annual meeting. 7. The teachers shall endeavor to associate with the scholars in love and respect ; have a strict oversight over them at the school-house as well as during their leisure hours ; endeavor to ascertain their personal talents ; and, above everything else, see that the scholars obtain a sound spiritual growth, and that their point of view be ele- vated above that of a party faction. 8. The scholars shall manifest all the honor and obedience due their teachers ; en- deavor by diligence and strict attention to gather all the knowledge which it is the aim of the school to give to them ; faithfully observe the rules of the school ; take good care of its property ; always remembering that they are learners whom the school seeks 76 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT to cultivate to become, not lords over God's churches, but their servants, each one ac- cording to the special gifts he has received from God. Should at any time any of the scholars receive requests from outside the school to proclaim the Word of God, he shall always, previously to accepting, obtain the consent of the principal. Should any of the students be deemed, in respect to talents or disposition, unfit for preachers, they shall be reported by the principal to the chairman of the school managers, who shall call the managers together to examine and judge in the case. ' The decision of the matter shall rest with the managers. 9. No one shall be received into the school as a student who is not recommended by a Mission society or a Christian church (one belonging to the Mission Union preferred) from that place where he has recently lived, as one who lives the Christian life and has gifts to proclaim the Word of God. 10. Application for admittance to any of the schools must be made to the managers thereof at least three months previous to the school year. The application must be in the handwriting of the applicant, and contain : 1, a short and conscientious history of the applicant's conversion and growth in spiritual life ; 2, the recommendations re- quired in paragraph 9 ; 3, state whether he has learned a trade ; 4, an agreement from some Mission society or Christian church binding themselves to be responsible for his support while at school ; ■ 5, certificate as to age from the minister in the church where he was a member. No applicant will be received who is under twenty years of age. 11. Each school year shall begin the first of September, unless the first falls upon a holy day, when it shall begin the next week-day. The school shall continue eight calendar months, with thirty hours' instruction each week. The school shall be divided into two divisions. For each division one year shall be considered the or- dinary time. The studies in both divisions shall be : 1, Bible instruction ; 2, Swedish language ; 3, history and geography ; 4, church history ; 5, natural history ; 6, arithmetic ; 7, writing ; 8, composition and elocution. The managers and teachers shall arrange the order of the above studies. BEGINNING THE WORK. These were important and busy times for the Free Christian churches and societies of Sweden. There was intense activity among them, and the leading ministers and laymen found demands upon their time multiplying beyond their ability to meet. The times were big with important relig- ious events and prolific with new movements These were the birth hours of one of the most important religious movements of modern times. The Mission Free churches were now separating in a more formal way from the State churches. Many of them had for some years been holding their meetings separate from the national churches, some of them had only recently begun to do so, while in very many other places the Free church Christians were agitating the question of separation. Some congregations went eagerly into the separate movement, others were halting and seeking for light, while still others were not yet prepared to sever their connection with the church in which their members were born, and in which they had learned the catechism and been baptized. 1 Will American theological schools please note this paragraph ? — Tr. 2 Will our churches in the United States and the American College and Education Society please read this rule a second time ? — Ed. IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 77 THE FIRST YEAR'S WORK. In these circumstances we turn with special interest to the first year's work of the new missionary society — the Mission Union — as its results are summarized in the report of its first annual meeting. The meeting opened on Wednesday, July 2, 1879, at 8.30 a.m., in the South Mission Church in Stockholm, with an address of welcome by the President, Rev. E. J. Ekman, after which an address was delivered by Rev. Dr. P. Wal- denstrom. Much routine business was necessary, but two questions of prime im- portance were discussed at length, viz. : 1. What does the Word of God teach, and what light does history afford in regard to the organization of churches ? 2. What can and ought to be done to supply to some extent the lack of ministers ? The following reports from home and foreign missionaries were re- ceived : Report of a Home Missionary in Sweden. According to resolutions adopted by the delegates' meeting of the Mission Union annual meeting, July 3-4, 1879, Rev. Johannes Elfstrom and the candidate, Mr. F. Grufman, were called as traveling missionaries for the Mission Union. These brethren accepted the call and began in the autumn of that year to travel in the service of the Mission Union. The following places were visited [here follows a list of twenty- eight places]. The brother who visited Norrland relates, among other things, the following : "The Christian societies I visited in this place received me most heartily, and showed in all possible ways their joy and gratitude toward the Mission Union for remembering them. In only four of these places were the societies without their own houses of wor- ship. Some of these societies were allowed to make use of the school-houses for public meetings, but these were too small to hold all who desired to hear the word of salvation, and there was shown unwillingness to open the school-houses for ministers suspected of confessing the ' Waldenstr mian ' doctrines. The greatest desire for having a church of their own was manifested in Ljusne. During the warmer time of the year a large tent was set up in the open field, under which gathered the ministers and as many of the hearers as could pack themselves together, while the remainder stood outside listen- ing. But when the ' Son of the North Winds ' shook his snowy wings across the country and icy winds howled, it was not possible to make use of the tent. At the close of the day's labor the people assembled in a carpenter's shop. Shavings and work-benches were in the room before, and ice-cold rough planks were carried in for benches for the inpouring people. The illuminations consisted of a reddish light from an open hearth fire. It was said that a more suitable place for meeting was vacant in the neighbor- hood, but its use was not allowed to those who were not State church Christians. The situation of these Christians reminded me of ' those of whom the world was not worthy. ' "The discourse was from Ps. 32. The Lord was present with his Spirit in a special manner, so that we perceived that it is possible to be happy in the midst of the frowns of the world. In nearly all the places which I visited, the Christians (Bap- tists and Methodists excepted) are divided into two societies, of which one embraces those who are believers in what the State church people call the ' new atonement 78 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT doctrines,' and who celebrate the Lord's Supper as far as possible with believers only. The other disapproves of the former's atonement doctrines, and communes with the State church people. A remarkable exception might here be named. In one parish was found only one society of about three hundred members. In answer to my ques- tion of the cause of this joyful as well as strange situation, they replied that ' when the Lord a few years ago blessed us with a great revival, the book, "The Lord is Righteous," ' had recently been published, and nearly all the new converts read it and found it to be good.' "... THE MISSION LN FINLAND. In the summer of 1875 a few Mission friends gathered in Warholm decided to urge Mr. C. Boye, formerly a student of the Mission school, and who at that time resided among them, to return to his native land, Finland, and there work where the Lord might direct. And they declared their purpose, both with prayer and means to sup- port his work. In the autumn of the same year the Lord opened a "great door" (1 Cor. 1G : 8-0) in Weckoski, in Borga parish of Rylands County, and neighboring towns, where Boye, accompanied by J. Forsberg, often visited. During the revival in that region many souls were converted through faith in Christ. Want of money compelled them, in January, 187(1, to close the work at that place. Mr. Boye then began to travel in the service of the British Bible House, and Forsberg, in another distant place, was compelled to return to his former occupation of school- teaching. To leave this field at that time was painful, when so many had recently found peace and more were seeking after salvation, and large numbers were in a hesi- tating state of mind. In the summer of 1876 Mr. Boye visited several places in Sweden, in order to make known the needs of this mission to the Christian friends, and the work in Finland was again opened and the Lord continued to pour out his Spirit among the people. The houses in which they gathered could not contain the people that came to hear. Then it was decided, in the name of the Lord, to build a Mission house, for which work they foresaw a sure capital in the Lord's promises, and he gave also through the friends in Sweden some 225 kronors, which put in the foundation of the church. From the inhabitants in the vicinity only a small contribution could be expected, as the people are very poor ; nevertheless, each one gave according to his means. One gave logs, another drove a team, a third worked. Women and children gathered moss, etc. The same cause again interrupted the work until the following summer, when the work on the Mission church had progressed so far that although not yet finished, they notwithstanding gathered there for the first time on Midsummer's Evening. The Mission friends in Sweden, who several times before had given means, again showed a hearty sympathy for this mission. Through means sent from Upsala a great part of the debt on the Mission church was paid. It was then decided that brother Forsberg should enter fully into the mission service on this field. Now that this soci- ety had their own missionary, they widened the field of labor to neighboring places, where also God's Word was richly blessed. The work was conducted by preach- ing, making family calls, organizing Sabbath-schools, and distributing tracts. The society has also translated and printed into the Finnish language the following tracts: " Salvation for all Sinners ; " " You need to be Saved ; " " Yet there is Room ; " "I Stand at the Door and Knock ; " " It was Done for You ; " " Will you go to Heaven V " Five thousand copies of each of these were printed in the Finnish language and some in the Swedish, and all have been distributed gratis. And besides, some tracts have been sent to the battle-fields, and there also has God blessed his Word. 1 Written by Dr. Waldenstrom. IX SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 79 In a letter dated October 20, 1879, brother Boye writes : As you know, the Lord so directed that our dear brother, Lord Radstock, from England, came to Helsingfors [in Finland] and preached the gospel there in two churches : in the German church in the French language, and in a large Swedish church, with an interpreter, to the Finns ; and the other sermons were preached to Swedes. It was something unusual that, after the sermon, there should he an inquiry meeting, and sinners should from their seats call aloud upon the Lord. Lord Rad- stock's work in Helsingfors, through the grace of God, has opened a wider field of labor. His meetings continued ten days and were largely attended. The Lord doeth great things. We departed from Helsingfors to the country, to stay one week. Great revivals are now going on in these regions. Many people have assembled, and we have during the past week preached twice every day ; and the time between the services has mostly been taken up in conversing with the anxious. Several at every meeting have fonnd peace with God, and one evening more than ten souls came to Christ. Pray to the Lord for the young converts ! The enemies again begin to roar and try to persuade the people that it is forbidden them to hold meetings in their own houses, but nevertheless more people have come since this opposition. " The Lord is near," dear friends. Praise the Lord with us for all that he has done. RECEIPTS— 1878-79. From the financial report of the Mission Union we extract the follow- ing : Kronors. Donations for Home Missions 355. 00 Donations for Foreign Missions 7,430.96 Donations for Finland Missions 313.23 Donations for Jewish Missions 1,287.06 Donations for Sailors' Missions 153.50 Donations for Mission School in Kristinehamn 3,780.26 Donations for undesignated purposes 5,220.99 Donation for Stranger's Mission 315.00 [About $5,091.12.] 18,856.00 LITE QUESTIONS. Among the questions discussed at the annual meeting of the Mission Union in 1880 were the following : Is it conformable to the Scriptures that all believers break bread together in re- membrance of the death of Jesus, without regard to differences of opinion respecting several doctrines of Christianity ? . . . Is it conformable to the Scriptures that all believers on Christ in a place unite themselves as a Christian local church ; and if so, how should the Christians go to work to effect such a union ? What attitude ought Christians to take with regard to the present temperance movement, and ought not the temperance cause and other branches of activity within the sphere of Christianity to be the business of the Christian church ? At the annual meeting in 1882, among the questions were these : What attitude ought Christians to take with regard to the order of Good Templars ? What is the reason that in certain places liberal-minded Christians, who are any- 80 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT thing but " State-church-minded," do not yet unite with the existing Free congrega- tions, and how shall the hindrances which prevent such Christians from joining best be removed ? PROGRESS. From the reports of the Mission Union for 1883 the following extracts are taken, which show very rapid growth in the work and funds : In the afternoon the blessing of God was invoked for the brethren Berg, Heden- strom, and Hakansson, whom the committee yesterday resolved to send out, the two former to Congo, in Africa, and the latter to Aland. . . . The Conference received from the little church of believing Swedes in St. Peters- burg, Russia, which has arisen through the work of the Swedish Mission Union in that place, through two brethren, Nejman and Stalberg, a warm greeting which the church has sent here. It was a moment never to be forgotten, and many eyes moistened when these brethren, in a simple and hearty manner, presented the gratitude of the church and depicted its tribulations and sufferings, and when afterward we united in prayer for the Christians within the capital of Russia, and finally joined in the beauti- ful song: " Continue, continue to rise, thou new flood of grace," etc. The church in St. Petersburg sent as greeting to Sweden, 1 Cor. 15 : 58, and were greeted in return with 2 Tim. 2 : 12. EXPENDITURES. Kronors. For the Mission School in Kristinehamn 9,036. 10 For the Mission in Winslof 2,700.00 For furnishing publishing office 543.50 For divers expenditures 725.29 For expenditures for the committee ' 473.65 For salaries of traveling representatives and missionaries. . . 9,454.70 For expenditures for the publication office 3,246.29 For expenditures for meetings 233.35 For Foreign Missions 2,000.00 For the Mission in Lapland 1,240.96 For the Mission on- Aland 189.50 For the Mission in Finland 2,093. 58 For the Mission in Helsingfors 800.00 For the Mission in Kotka 1,022.74 For the Mission in St. Petersburg, Russia 4,187.62 For the Mission in Kronstadt, Russia 1,833.00 For the Mission in Baku 3,663.21 For the Mission in Ural, Russia 2,592.99 For the Mission in Russian Lapland 1,554.02 For the Mission in Leukoran 580.00 For the Mission in Congo, Africa 3,692.78 For the paper Svenska Missionsfvrbundet 2,537.03 For loan to missionary at Helsingfors 400.00 For loan to the Prayer-house Stock Company, Winslof 1,500.00 [About $15,201.00.] 56,300.31 IN SWEDEN AND N OK WAY. 81 NEAR ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA. A Swedish missionary in Kussia, whom I met at Kristinehamn, writes, June 26, 1884 : Kronstadt, Russia, is a seaport town [two hours by boat from St. Petersburg] of considerable size. Among the population are four or five hundred Swedish-speak- ing people, also Finns, Germans, and a few English and Estonians. There is a Lu- theran church, where service is held on alternate Sundays for the Swedes, Finns, and Estonians. The Germans have a church of their own, and the English also. In con- nection with the Lutheran church is a missionary, who holds meetings on Sundays in a small hall for sailors and others. He speaks several languages and is acquainted with Swedish, but not sufficiently well to be able to preach in it. During the summer the number of ships coming into the harbor is very great, and consequently there is a wide scope for Christian work among the sailors. There are sailors belonging to many different nations, but by far the largest number belong to either Norway or England. About three years ago the Stenska Missionsfdrbundet opened a mission station here for Scandinavian sailors, and work has been carried on among them, and also among the Swedish-speaking people in the town, with consider- able success, although from time to time there has been much opposition from the pas- tor of the Swedish church, the hall having been closed several times, but each time reopened, although without permission from the authorities. However, for some time the pastor has been friendly, and is so at the present time, so we hope now to be able to continue the meetings without further opposition. My work consists chiefly in visiting the Scandinavian ships, distributing tracts to the sailors, inviting them to the hall, etc. We have meetings on Sundays at 5 p.m., on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and on Sunday mornings at 10.30 we generally have a meeting on board of some ship. On Sunday afternoons we hold Sunday-school in the hall. I have visited a few English ships, and we hope, if possible, soon to have a meeting at least once in the week for English sailors. As my wife is English, she is very anxious to begin to do something for them, and it is indeed needed, for there is temptation in every form for them in the town, and at present not much is done for them. We are thinking of trying to secure the interest of the English Congregational church at St. Petersburg on their behalf, as we are in want of tracts to give away on board of the ships, and we also, if possible, would like to get an English speaker from St. Petersburg occasionally, as I am not yet sufficiently acquainted with the English lan- guage to preach in it. There is an English hospital also in the town, and we have vis- ited it and got permission from the doctor to visit the patients whenever we like to do so. I have at present to go every Monday to St. Petersburg to interpret for the minister of the Congregational church, who, since the missionaries of the Svenska Missionsfdrbun- det have been forbidden to preach, has had a meeting for Swedes. He, at the request of the Swedish missionaries, asked and obtained permission to preach to them. Yours truly, C. J. Engvall. SWEDES IN RUSSIA SEEKING LIGHT. Russia, Estland, Hapsal, Ntjcko, Odensholm, July 1, 1884. Rev. M. W. Montgomery, Honored Herr Pastor : With the very greatest pleasure have I read that letter which you wrote to the brethren in Sweden, and which has been published in the paper Hemlandsvdnnen. But one thing particularly that appears in it has constrained me to write to you. I do not know whether you speak Swedish ; if not, perhaps some one can 6 82 A WIND FROM THE HOLT SPIRIT translate it. As you see, I do not live in Sweden, although I speak Swedish, but in Russia, within the government Estland, which was once subject to Sweden, and then, probably, the Swedes residing on the islands moved over here and have since re- mained. During this time they have become mixed with the native population, the Estars, and mixed their language, so that it is no longer like High Swedish, but almost a separate language. The population here, Swedes as well as Estars, are oppressed by the German nobility, which owns all the land, and the people must hire their land properties for high rents, so that nearly all are extremely poor and live in wretched hovels such as I did not see one when last year I made a journey to Sweden. Only about fifteen years ago public schools were founded here among the resident Swedish population, so that the people are at a very low standpoint as regards education. Those who are older than twenty-five years do not know how to write, with very few excep- tions, and among the old many are found who do not even know how to read. Since a couple of tens of years ago they were almost, so to speak, slaves, and had to blindly obey their landlords, and nothing was done for their instruction. The priests (the population, Swedes as well as Estars, are Lutherans) were and are only lords over the people, but not examples unto the flock, so that not a glimpse of spiritual life was seen, but "darkness covered the earth and gross darkness the people." The people were sunk low in drunkenness, etc., and had no thought of the future life. When death ap- proached one would usually call the priest, disclose some of the grossest sins to him, ireceive the sacrament, and with that one went to meet eternity. Oh, I shudder when I think back on that time, of which I yet remember so little ; for I was then but quite young, only ten or fifteen years old, when it began to slowly abate. I am now twentj r - five years of age, consequently it is only ten years since then. In the summer of 1873 two Swedish missionaries, T. E. Thoren and L. J. Osterblom, and about a year later P. Bergsten, came here to the Swedish islands and began to work \with perseverance among the Swedes. The consequence was that many came to sober reflection and have found life in Jesus Christ. Since then a new period of time, so to :Speak, has begun for the people. Schools were founded, and one of the missionaries (Thoren) was engaged as teacher at a newly established school-teachers' seminary, where also I have received my instruction. From this school many male teachers went oout who had become born again, and thus the gospel was spread among all Swedes. During the past ten years the kingdom of God has gone forward, although Mission- ary Thoren left us two years ago by reason of his health, and Missionary Bergsten was called home by the Stiftdsen [i.e., the Lutheran Swedish Missionary Society] for .the spreading of "erroneous doctrine," because he had founded a "Lord's Supper Society," which is not permitted. Afterward another was sent here, but he was also discharged because he had the same views, so that only Osterblom remains. But for how long God only knows; for when the priests saw that the people seriously began to inquire for the salvation of their souls and listened more to the missionaries, they became hostile. Now since the believers have arrived at greater maturity and increase in the knowl- edge of the Lord, they have begun to study in the Bible as to how a Christian church ought to be, and in so doing they have found that the State church to which they have belonged is not such as the New Testament prescribes. The majority cannot by reason of their conscience partake of the communions of the State church, but what will they do ? The church law here prohibits all meetings if one does not read from a book, or pray the prayer prescribed by the consistory. Still less is it permitted to celebrate the Lord's Supper without [i.e., in some place other than] the church. If one does this, he is threatened by his landlord to be driven from his estate; and what will a poor man then do, with wife and many children ? One is at a loss, [lit. " hand-fallen"] what to do. May the Lord instruct us ! When I now read your article in the said paper, I saw that in America and Eng- IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 83 land, and — 0, how wonderful! — even in Russia, 1 there is found a church called the " Congregational church," which according to your letter is entirely the same as the Swedish Free congregations. Oh, how willingly should we have wanted to organize such a church here, if we only had more knowledge of said church and how it is regulated. Now I beg you to be so sincerely kind as to write to me where in Russia this church exists, and if that denomination is recognized by Russia, as the Baptists and the Lutherans are. Besides, I beg that you will send me some book in the Swed- ish, if there be such, stating what the creed and rules are, provided they have such ; how they administer baptism ; whether they baptize children ; yes, everything that concerns this Congregational church. Should it be true that the Congregationalists, according to the letter, actually are the same as the Swedish Free congregations, which we here believe to be entirely regulated according to God's Word, and should we re- ceive knowledge that the Russian State recognizes this denomination and grants them liberty to exercise church privileges by uniting as a church, then would many now wail- ing under the Lutheran State church here shake this yoke and organize into separate congregations This we have until now believed to be entirely impossible, because many say that the State will not permit the organization of any Free churches except Baptist Many pass over to the Baptists, for they say there is no other way to get out of the State church. Many are found who do not want to be Baptists, and therefore we would fain hear how it is with the Congregationalists ; what their doctrine is, and what their position is in Russia. Should you not know the state of those in Russia, then may be you yet know where said church exists and would inform me of it, and then I shall certainly trace it up and make a thorough inquiry into the matter. I have often prayed to God that he would show us some way in our position. May he now do so. To his great name be glory and praise ! Dear friends over yonder ! pray that he, our common God, and our brother Jesus Christ, may work yet more powerfully to the salvation of yet more souls here in Russia, for all of this enormous empire with its over eighty million inhabitants are Greek Catholics, who lack almost all the Word of God, and only the more educated are able to read. May also for them the light arise in the darkness, with salvation under its wings ! Send, if you can, messengers of peace to this country, although (it may be said) it is closed to the gospel. Only the provinces of the Baltic, Estland, Lifland, and Hurland are so-called Evangelical Lutheran, and in these places many, during the last year and also this year, have passed over to the Greek Orthodox church. This is done from mere political motives. Lastly, I would beg your forgiveness for daring to trouble you with such a long and very obscure letter. I have learned Swedish [meaning, it is not his native lan- guage], and for this reason it is not entirely pure. We have no books in our own lan- guage, but only Swedish literature is used. The Estnish [or Estnian] language is, how- ever, spoken all around here. I must now close my letter, hoping that you will write to me in Swedish, for none here understand English. Then shall I, if God wills [or, "if it please God "], answer the letter and further inform you of the state here. Al- though our situation is narrow, we have, however, the Word of God, and then, to be sure, we have liberty to serve him. I now commend both you over there and us here into the hands of the omnipotent God to the day of deliverance. Many greetings from all brethren in Christ and from Yours united in the Lord, Johan Nymann. 1 The article alluded to gave the number and location of the Congregational churches in the world ; among them it was stated that there was one such church in Russia. That church is in St. Petersburg, and Rev. Kilborn, from England, is the pastor. —Ed. 84 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT THE OLD AND THE NEW IN NORWAY. The following historical sketch was prepared for me by Mr. M. Hanson : In olden times Norway was a heathen country and the people worshiped idols. The Roman Catholic religion, and following it, later on, the Lutheran religion also, were both introduced by force. When the kings accepted Christianity in either form, then the people were by law required to do the same. All the inhabitants were com- pelled to become (nominal) Christians, and this accounts for the dead forms and cere- monies that exist in the State church. This was the situation in 1796, when God raised up Hans Nielsen Hatjge to awaken the country from its spiritual death. The coming of a new spiritual life in Norway began among the laymen, but as laymen were at that time forbidden by law to preach the Word of God, the new teaching met with great op- position from the priests of the Lutheran State church. Hauge himself had to lie in jail for eleven years because he preached the Word of God. He was greatly beloved by the people and they were always glad to hear him. Thus many of the true and liv- ing Christians in Norway came to stand in opposition to the State church, and were persecuted by it. The law forbidding laymen to preach was finally repealed in spite of the king and his party in the Government. By the Constitution of Norway, any law which the king will not sanction may nevertheless become a law if passed by a majority of Parliament each year for three successive years. The law against the preaching of laymen was thus repealed by being passed by the Parliament for three successive years over the king's veto. Hauge and his colaborers (called "Haugianere ") kept clear of doctrinal discussion and never attempted the organization of an independent church. But the years from 1850 to 1860 were revival times in Norway— an outpouring of the Holy Spirit over the whole country. The larger number of those who proclaimed the gospel were lay- men, but there were also identified with this work two talented theologians, namely, Pastor Lammers, of Skien, and Professor Johnson, of Kristiania. These men did much to make the revival popular and to give it character and permanence. As in those days the Bible was widely circulated, all could read it in their own homes, and thus had their eyes opened to see that a State church could not be a church of God. Pastor Lammers was among those who attacked very strongly the false and spiritually dead priesthood. As the State church could not be reformed, a large number seceded from it in 1856, Pastor Lammers being at the head of the movement. As the queen (wife of Oscar I.) was a Roman Catholic, it became necessary to modify the law prohibiting any but the Lutheran religion, and hence in 1845 the " Dissenters' Law " was passed, under which the new movement found protection. These dissenting congregations laid down no particular creed : they would recognize the Lutheran teaching so far as it was in harmony with the Word of God. The doctrines that small children are regenerated in baptism, and that forgiveness of sins is to be found in partaking of the Lord's Sup- per, they could not find in the Bible. Hence they would take the Bible for their rule of faith and doctrine. The dissenters, however, now had troiibles within their own folds. While they had been unanimous that secession from the State church was a necessity, now many suddenly began to get "scruples" about it, and began to consult with the priests, and for the first time the priests and some of the believing laymen were good friends. They won the doubters to their side and began to oppose and per- secute those who for conscience' sake had followed their own convictions of the mean- ing of God's Word. They were adjudged to be in error, and to become righteous must return to the mother church. Nevertheless the good work went on so long as Pastor Lammers stood as the leader. He traveled over the country as far north as Troms5, edifying and encouraging God's IN SWEDEN AND NOKWAY. 85 children. Free apostolical congregations were organized not only in the country, but also in most of the cities in Norway. After three or four years divisions arose in the new congregations concerning doc- trinal points, especially in the congregation ministered to by Pastor Lammers, and the opposition to him from those who had formerly been his best friends became so great that he lost courage, announced that he had taken his position too hastily, left his congregation, and eventually returned to the State church. Many followed him back into the State fold, especially those of some social standing and wealth. The majority, however, could not follow him in this retracing step, as they believed they had been following the directions of the Word of God. However, the whole movement was stopped. For want of leadership new divisions arose; some emigrated to America, some joined the Methodists or Baptists, who had sent their missionaries to Norway dur- ing these stirring times ; others remained faithful, although now in a subordinate and despised position. Yet these did not entirely despair. It must be freely admitted that they had been at first, on some points, too narrow. In 1863 the Free congregations held a conference and decided to allow greater freedom respecting baptism, viz., that parents might use their discretion whether or not to baptize their children, and that adults who so desired might again be baptized, even though they had been baptized in infancy. In 1869 Mr. Christian Cornelius, formerly a resident of Bergen, Norway, returned from America, where he " had been appointed preacher in the Congregational church. " ' He had received still greater light respecting Christian freedom. He called a regular conference meeting in 1870, at which it was agreed to give perfect freedom on ques- tions of conscience to all the members and to all who should hereafter unite with them. From that time to the present the aim has been to cultivate such freedom. But these congregations had little numerical strength and were without means to carry forward missionary enterprises, and their progress has been slow. They had one traveling missionary named Falck, now editor of The Morning '-glow at Kristiania, a semi- monthly paper in sympathy with the Free church movement. One missionary could not accomplish much on so large a field. Meanwhile in our sister country of Sweden there was going on a great work in evangelical freedom, although much of it was within the State church. About sixteen years ago (1868) a Swedsh missionary came to Norway and began work in Kristiania, and organized a mission which still exists. At that time they were so " State-church-ly " that we Norwegian Free church people could not entirely sympa- thize with them. However, a few years ago (1878) the Swedish Christians awakened as from a slumber, and tore themselves loose from the State church and its ceremonies. At our annual meeting in Kristiania in 1881 Swedish traveling preachers visited us and set forth with power the sins of the State church. The result was that fifty per- sons withdrew at once from the State church and celebrated the Lord's Supper in a private house. Our time had now come ; for this we had long hoped and prayed. The time had now come for a union between the Norwegian Free congregations and the mission of the Swedish missionaries. This union took place in 1882, when Pastor A. Fernholm, of Kristinehamn, Sweden, came to Kristiania to organize the congregation. Although he had never before addressed us, we found that his convictions and ours on church questions were in entire harmony, and in the Lord's name we co-operated with him in uniting the congregations into one ; and we have not since been sorry we did 1 Upon inquiry I learn that there was, at one time, a Scandinavian Congregational church in Chicago, 111., which disbanded ten years ago, and most of the members joined the Tabernacle church, under Mr. Moody's charge. This Mr. Cornelius was licensed to preach and served this Scandinavian church, and is now reported as resid- ing in Iowa. — Ed. 86 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT so. We then invited all our brethren throughout Norway to a conference meeting, and the result was the great meeting held in Kristiania, July 11, 1882. Then came the " times of refreshing " which swept over Norway from New Year's Day, 1883. Then it was that our dear brother, F. Franson, evangelist from Mr. Moody's church in Chi- cago, came here and began revival meetings. The meeting in Kristiania began on New Year's eve and continued for two months, during which time some three hundred came out of darkness into light. There was a great stir in the city, and in the many other towns which he visited a similar result followed. This was the case in Drommen, Kongsberg, Laurvig, Skien, Arendal, Bergen, Aalesund, Kristiansund, Troudhjem, Bodo, and Tromso. In these and other places the kingdom of God goes onward, despite the great opposition from the priests of the State church and from lay preachers who help the priests. In many other places where our preachers have been there are now bands of young Christians who must be nourished from the Word of God. I give below a list of the Free Mission churches in Norway, and also add, from memory, their probable membership in round numbers : Members. Kristiania 400 Drommen 100 Kongsberg , 80 Laurvig j 30 Skien 100 Arendal 50 Klep 30 Bergen 300 Aalesund 30 Kristiansund 100 Trondhjem 50 Bodo 100 Tromso 200 Eidesvald (country district) 100 Kongsvinger 30 Besides, we have missions in Adalen, Drobach, Holmestrand, and many other points in the country ; so that we may safely say that our Free Mission friends number two thousand members. Inclosed are also various clippings for your information about the work and the places Brother Franson has visited. I trust that you will be able to gather from these jottings a fair idea of the field and the labors of your fellow-brethren here in Norway. We rejoice to know that our friends in America have found us. We have often wished that this might be so, but we have not known how to bring it about. But now God has himself done it, and to him be all the praise. And a brotherly greeting to our friends in the faith in the Western world from the Free Evangelical friends in Norway. M. Hanson, Secretary of the Norwegian Mission Union. Kristiania, Norway, August 8, 1884. DARKNESS IN NORWAY. From a pamphlet entitled "The Spiritual State of Norway," by A. H. Darling, from England, the following extracts are taken : Norway is scarcely two days' steaming from Great Britain ; notwithstanding, I am fully convinced that next to nothing of its spiritual state is known to British Chris- IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 87 tians. . • . Those sixteen weeks in Norway opened our eyes to many things that saddened our hearts. ... On the Tuesday night the steamer arrived in Vard.e about 10. I distributed to all I could meet, continuing till about 1 A.M. I went into a dock-yard and found some men building a ship. I saluted them and began my dis- tribution, and said a few words about the way of salvation. They were all pleased and thanked me. The men being at work and the sun shining so beautifully caused me to think, Is it really night ? During five weeks I saw no night. I often meditated on the passage, " There shall be no uight there." Hammerfest had certainly an awful smell, caused by thousands of fishes hung up to dry and others used in preparing train oil ; but Vardoe is worse than either Hammerfest or VadsiJe. The few hours I was in Vardue I suffered from nausea. I proposed to labor there three or four days, but the smell prevented me. ... I saw but few who were really born again. Their ster- eotyped religion (bdrnelaerdom) is in all parts of Norway, but worst of all in country districts, often a great barrier against the simple gospel. . . . Lutheran preaching halls have been denied me in Drontheim, Moss, Stathelle, KragerCe, and Arendal, because I was not a Lutheran. It is not a visit of a few months in Norway that can enable a Christian, however well versed in the language, to ascertain the true spiritual condition of the land. Visit: ors in any strange place generally receive the best impression, but if they take up their abode there they will by degrees see many things below the surface. After nearly two years' sojourn, I have made and am still making discoveries that grieve me exceed- ingly ; I believe their principal cause is the incredible ignorance of the people of the Word of God. Norwegians and many true Christians read very little of God's Book ; they have learned in their younger days the epitome of the Eible, called Bible history, therefore many of them have the impression that they know pretty well the substance of the Bible. They feel more disposed to read books of sermons and church fathers, so called. I have often been told that when a person is converted to God he (or she) is advised to read this or that good book, as it is supposed that they can under- stand such ; but the Bible is little heeded, because they have, from olden times, the deeply rooted Roman Catholic impression that the priest only can understand and ex- plain it. I have been informed by faithful Christians that any child of God who be- gins to read and study God's Word only is considered presumptuous. There are many who meet together for edification, but the Bible is little used ; a printed sermon, the product of a deceased or living priest, is preferred. There are many in Norway who believe that the (so-called) church fathers were as much inspired as the Apostles. Few Norwegian Christians are familiar with the Old Testament, for they read so little of it. If many Christians were requested to read a portion out of Jonah or Zech- ariah, you would likely see them seek for it at the beginning of the Bible, notwith- standing their having received from the priest a certificate of religious instruction at their confirmation. ... In all my travels in the land I have never found more than one Lutheran family that had regular morning or evening reading of the Script- ures ; I have met with two Christian families outside of the State church who have Scripture reading, etc , morning and evening. I have made inquiries if the priests exhort the people to have such habitual times for reading the Bible, but I have never been able to ascertain that they do so. . . . There are Mormons, who call them- selves also Latter-day Saints, in Kristiania and a few other places, endeavoring to lead people to the carnal religion of the American false prophet. . . . There is much more spiritual life in Sweden, and Christians there are much further advanced in scriptural truth than those in Norway. . . . Christian parents in Norway do not seem to feel a responsibility to teach their children and bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, therefore the religious instruction in most cases is laid on others, chiefly on the school-master and priest. The young people are now grounded in semi-popish doctrines, which then, and in after life, often hinder them in believing 88 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT the simple gospel. When the trying ordeal of confirmation is over, many of the young people think they have had enough of religion and can now enjoy those things that are more agreeable. The Lutheran church holds with a firm hand all the baptized children within its pale till they are nineteen years of age, and if any of them were converted and should partake of the Lord's Supper with children of God outside the State church, they would be breaking the Lutheran law, and those who allowed them to partake of the emblems would be liable to fines and imprisonment. A boy or girl a little advanced in their teens cannot easily find employment without a certificate of religious training. It is impossible for any Norwegian (Lutheran or Dissenter) to get married without producing such a certificate either from the Lutheran priest or some Dissenting minis- ter (so-called) acknowledged by the State ; besides, the Lutheran must have at least once taken the sacrament before he or she can be wedded. . . Lutheran priests, school-teachers — all preachers and agents connected with the Lu- theran church— teach that babes are the children of wrath till their baptism, when they are made children of God by the waters of baptism. In January of last year, when in Valders, I asked, after the close of a meeting held in a farm-house, a youth of about sixteen if he could believe that his sins weTe forgiven and he had become a child of God ; he answered me in the. affirmative. My next question was, How and when ? He replied, " When I was baptized." I thought at the time this was a rare case, but I have since learned that thousands in Norway date their new birth from their baptism, when they made a covenant in their tender infancy, through sponsors, with God. I have ascertained that it is generally believed in, and that it is taught in all schools to children, and in their seats of learning to students, and in all Lutheran institutions, whether for preachers or colporteurs, without exception. . . . '" This act [bap- tism] is but a true means of grace, which itself effects and performs what it designates." "The water of baptism is not only simple or ordinary water, but a water coupled with God's almighty word, and therefore a divine, heavenly, and saving water. But although baptism has thus, on account of Christ's command and promise, its saving or regenerating power in itself, and cannot, however, exercise its effects on him who does not receive it rightly, whosoever receives it in unbelief remains unregenerated in his sin and death, just the same as he who rejects it. Without faith it profits nothing. But the little babe has also this accepting faith which baptism demands." . . . " If a babe is a sinner, then it needs salvation ; if it needs salvation, then it also needs regeneration ; therefore it needs baptism. If there is anything fixed and fixedly grounded in God's Word, it is this." . . . "Faith is indeed a condition for the saving effect of baptism ; but can the babe believe ? Yes, most certainly, dear soul ; without faith baptism cannot be a blessing." . . . "The Holy Ghost who de- scended from heaven at the baptism of Jesus is present in baptism and makes it, with the Word and the water, a bath of regeneration and of renewal in the Holy Ghost." . . . "We are carried to baptism as the children of wrath but returned as the children of God, and have now the right to eternal happiness." . Mr. L. Oftedal, priest in Stavanger, in the four numbers of his weekly periodical, Bibd-Budet, of December, 1873, repeatedly asserts regeneration in baptism. The fol- lowing will be sufficient: "Den Katholske, den Graeske, og den Lutherske Kirke eaameget de ellers afvige fra hinauden i Laeren, ere vaesentlig enige i Laeren om Daaben, enten den auvendes paa voxne ella paa Born, og bruge den i begge Tilfaelde som et Gjenfodelsens Middel." l 1 "The Catholic, the Greek, and the Lutheran churches, however much they other- wise differ from each other in teaching, are essentially one about the doctrine of bap- tism, whether it be applied to adults or babes, and they use it in both cases as a means of regeneration." . IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 89 "Question.— When didst thou become his [God's] child ? Answer. — In baptism, when I became a Christian. Question. — What is baptism? Answer. — Baptism is not water alone, but it is water which is included in God's command and coupled with God's Word. Question. — What is the use of baptism ? Answer. — It effects the forgiveness of sins," etc., etc. " He who repents of his sins receives from the priest in God's stead the promise that his sins are forgiven. It is God's Word to him pronounced through the priest's mouth. God, who alone forgives sins, and who is in heaven, tells through the priest to the repenting sinner on earth that he is forgiven all his sins. When, therefore, the priest on earth pronounces to the repenting sinner forgiveness of sins, it is because God in heaven forgives such a sinner ; when the priest on earth does not forgive an impenitent sinner, it is because God in heaven does not forgive such a one." The above is another extract out of the book of Mr. John Stenerson, parish priest, Horten. . . . Hauge taught it was wrong to be sure. I was told in Kristiania, by one who is reckoned a Christian, that it is a sin to be sure of being saved. Almost every day I live in Norway I am more and more convinced that this is the general belief. SWEDISH EVANGELIST IN NORWAY. The following letter and accompanying sketch are written by Mr. F. Franson, a Swede who is said to have been for some years a resident of Chicago, and a member of the Tabernacle church. The peculiarities of this earnest worker are manifest, and the glimpses he gives of current his- tory are very interesting : Kristiania, Norway, July 25, 1884. Rev. M. W. Montgomery, Minneapolis. Dear Brother in Christ : Peace in Jesus, the Prince of Peace ! I received your letter a few days ago, but in spite of my best efforts I have not been able to answer it before now. I am here in Kristiania at present, holding a short evangelists' school of only three weeks for the purpose of finding out who of our Norway men can be used as missionaries, and forgiving practical hints with regard to the question, " How to deal with inquirers." Three similar courses of study are to be held in three towns of Sweden — Westeras, Jonkoping, and Malmo. Our study-room here is daily, after school is out, noon and evening-, visited by the sick or in some way disabled persons, who want us to pray for them that they may be cured. Glorious results we see. To- day we have seen several cured. Wonderful times we live in, indeed ! Those at- tending our school hold revival meetings in different parts of the city almost every evening, and souls are saved. Enclosed I send you a short sketch. O, how it caused my heart to rejoice to hear that you had interested the Christians in America for the Mission house at Kristiania. We chose God for our treasurer when we began, and he is true to his office. The friends here keep on working and praying. I write in great hurry. My best respects to all the people of God in Minneapolis. In October, after my schools are out, I intend to begin evangelistic work at Copen- hagen and then work on in Denmark until spring. Ask the brethren to pray for Den- mark, that multitudes may be saved. God be with us. Fraternally yours, F. Franson. P. O. address, Orebro, Sweden. 90 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT REVIVALS IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. Being requested by Rev. M. W. Montgomery, of Minneapolis, to write an account of my labors and the religious situation in Sweden and Norway, I cannot but grasp the opportunity to proclaim the indeed wonderful work of the Lord in these countries of the North. I have seen many wonderful things done by the Lord in other parts of the world, but such a deep, thorough, and widespread religious awakening as I have seen in Sweden and Norway (Sweden particularly), I have never before witnessed. I cannot but thank God that he has granted me the great privilege, during these three years I have been laboring in these countries, of helping to gather in the sheaves from the field. To see, evening after evening, from ten to sixty or seventy persons melted to tears at the, preaching of the glad tidings of free salvation for every one who will come, and many of them rejoicing in the Savior before leaving the meeting, has been no extraordinary sight. Eternity alone will reveal how many souls have been, during the last five or six years, gathered to the fold of Christ. For my own part, I have labored in about fiftv of the ninety cities or towns in Sweden, and in some twenty in Norway, and I have in almost every place (a few towns of Norway excepted) seen multitudes come to the Lord, and the revivals in the towns have generally spread more or less to the surrounding country. Even in many places where there has been no regular preaching of the gospel, the prayer-week (which is generally kept all over Sweden) has resulted in awakenings which have necessitated the prolonging of that week for months. The young converts from the winter of 1882 (a most wonderful winter), I have no doubt, must be counted by thousands. Several years ago a similar evangelistic awakening was witnessed in Sweden, but the Christians at that time had very deficient ideas of the necessity of taking care of the young converts by gathering them into churches according to God's Word, and the re- sult was that many were drawn away from God back into the world again. The mighty work now going on, of gathering the Christians together to take care of each other and work for Christ, has already had a powerful tendency in the direction of making the work permanent. So-called " Mission Societies " have for many years existed in many places in Sweden, but the work of these societies has been only to collect money to send out missionaries with, and not to take care o/the Christians. These societies con- sisted also of both converted and unconverted members, although the executive com- mittee, as a general thing, were Christians. The old name, " Mission Society," is now in many places kept for the new organ- izations, but in many places the name is changed to " the Free church," " the Mission church " " the church of God " or " of Christ " at such and such a place, but what- ever the name is the organization is the same, a free independent union consisting of only true believers, and having for their two aims to take cure of each other, the be- lievers between themselves, and to work for Christ. The Lord's Supper is partaken of once a month or oftener, as each church determines, and is in Sweden generally taken part in by all the members, although the churches are ofttimes so organized that not even those who have not yet become so much enlightened as to see the unscripturalness of holding communion with the unconverted, and who consequently go to the State church, are excluded from membership. Every one who loves Christ and desires to become a member is allowed this privilege. Lack of knowledge in such things is not considered reason strong enough to hinder any one from membership : but as a gen- eral thing it does not take a person a long time after he has enjoyed the blessings con- nected with membership before he also joins at the communion table. I will here state what seems very strange, but what still is a fact, that not only can a person be a member of the State church (nominally) and a member of such a Free church at the same time, but— the most strange of all — a person cannot come out of the State church IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 91 unless he can name a certain denomination, acknowledged by the State as such, which he intends to join. But if he does so he loses some of the liberties he had before with regard to the labors in the vineyard of Christ, and as a consequence most of the Christians never take their names out of the State church, but leave it to the church to exclude them if it chooses, which, as a consequence of the laws, never happens and never can happen. I can here state that we have some twenty-five thousand Baptists in Sweden, and they all (with the exception of one little church) belong at the same time nominally to the State church. "With Persecutions." I mentioned liberties for those who have their names on the church record, but even for them these are very few ; and here I come to the persecutions from the State church which once in a while still happen in places where the priests are mean enough to make use of a still existing paragraph — a remnant of an old law called " Konventikelplakatel," wherein laymen were forbidden to preach the gospel. This law was almost entirely done away with, some twenty years ago. Before that time it was no uncommon thing to see one after another of the messengers of Christ put in prison for preaching the good news. But a certain paragraph still exists which gives the church council in any parish the power to forbid any preacher (and that without any necessity of taking the trouble of proving that he has preached false doctrine) to hold any further services in that parish. If the minister afterward keeps on holding services, he can be fined from fifty to three hundred kronors, and if he cannot pay he receives punishment on water and bread. ' There are now two things which help the poor evangelists, namely, (1) that this law is very unpopular with all classes except the most fanatical priests, and (2) that the evangelist, as a general thing, gets the sentence done away with if he takes time to appeal to the king. I have myself had the honor of being presented with not less than six such " pro- hibitions " from the church authorities in the six towns, Lidkoping, Skenninge, Halm- stad, Wisby, Falun, and Lund, but four of them have already been done away with by the king, Oscar II., and one is awaiting, I have no doubt, one of these days the same treatment. (The sixth one, in Wisby, I didn't make myself the trouble of appealing on.) I have had many wonderful opportunities to testify for my Savior in several courts before which I have been called to appear and answer for my guilt in being about as disobedient to these prohibitions as Peter and John were to the prohibitions men- tioned in Acts 4 : 18. The witnesses called up in my case have often been believers, and their testimonies have more than once brought the president of the city court (the mayor of the city) into perplexity. Prayer in Court. One example. The law does not say anything about prohibition for prayer but only for discourses. After receiving the prohibition at Skenninge another brother preached in my stead in the meeting-house, and I intended only to take part with prayer. But I had hardly opened my mouth in prayer before an officer seated in the gallery inter- rupted me, commanding me " in the name of the law and the king " to stop. (This act was unlawful for him to do, and he came pretty near losing his place as a consequence of it.) Next day I was called up before the city court. I denied having held any dis- course, but admitted that I had prayed. The mayor, a good-natured old gentleman, a 1 The water and bread punishment has fortunately, by the last Riksdag [Parlia- ment] of 1884, been done away with, which law will come into force by October 1st of this year. After that time those who cannot pay the fine will receive common prison. 92 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT real man of honor, I thought, in every respect, hut very ignorant with regard to any other religious services than those of the State church, could not in any way make out what distinction there was between a discourse and a prayer. "Indeed," he said, after having mused awhile, " I would like to have been along and heard that prayer." Immediately I asked him if he desired to hear one like it. " Yes," he said, before he had taken time to think of what he said, I suppose. Instantly I lifted up my eyes to God and prayed for them all there present and for the whole town. After I had finished and he had overcome his astonishment, he mustered up courage to ask one of the witnesses (a Christian lady) if my prayer in the mission house was like that one. " Yes," the witness replied, " with the exception that he was not there permitted to get to the amen!'''' This naturally caused some merriment, and as the affair now began to be very critical for the honorable gentleman we were allowed to withdraw, and in a few moments the decision came, " not guilty." As now the matter concerning me was settled, the officer who had interrupted our meeting all at once became very humble, fearing that we would lay charge against him for his unlawful act. He came down to the president of our church committee and asked forgiveness, which he of course re- ceived. Now all this had the effect upon the people, that we got almost the whole town upon our side. Many souls were saved and added to the church. Similar occurrences could be mentioned from other places, but it is not necessary. Redounds to the Glory of God. I will only say that all has turned out to God's glory and the promotion of Ms cause. It has now come to that point in most parts of Sweden that every time the priests make a movement against the Free Christians they lose so much that they [i.e., the priests] never try again in the same place. In Norway there exists no prohibition power with the priests, but the priests have there a far greater moral influence over the people, and the Free gospel work is in its childhood. Free Mission churches or societies have been organized in the last few years, in spite of all resistance, in the following places : Kristiania, Kongsvinger, Eidsvald, Drobach, Drommen, Skien, Kongsberg, Laurvig, Arendal, Klep, Bergen, Kristiansund, Aalesund, Trondhjem, Bodo, and Tromso. The membership in Kristiania is about 400 ; in Bergen, 300 ; in Tromso, about 200; in Drommen, Skien, Kristiansund, Bodo, and Eidsvald, about 100 each. The others are under 100. Several other mission stations are opened, and the country needs only evangelists ; a great harvest is waiting. In Bergen (next to Kristiania the largest city in Norway) a house of worship has just been finished, seating about 1,500, and another house is soon to be ready in Kristiania of about the same size. In Tromso there is a commodious house of worship at the dis- position of the Mission society, and in Kristiansund one is being built now. In Skien a bargain is being made for a well-situated lot. In other places halls are rented. With regard to the religious press, we have in Sweden, besides Sunday-school papers, one monthly paper for the foreign missions, four religious political weekly papers, one weekly entirely religious, two monthlies entirely religious, and some chiefly political weekly papers whose editors and managers all are in sympathy with this Free move- ment. Here in Norway we have Morgenroden, in sympathy with the work going on. It cannot yet pay the expenses connected with its issue, but we hope the time will soon come when it can. Belief in Faith-Cures. Before I finish I must mention the wonderful things the Lord is doing with us here in Sweden and Norway, as well as in other parts of the world, with regard to faith-heal- ing. Among these Free churches it has become a practice almost everywhere, that when a brother or sister is sick the elders of the church, according to James 5, are sent for and the sick person is anointed in the name of the Lord. IX SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 93 To several persons God has given wonderful faith in these respects. A hrother in Stockholm God has used in a remarkable manner. Not only have the sick been cured, but many lame have been able to throw away their crutches, the deaf have got their ears, and even the blind have had their eyes opened. I have lately seen here in Kris- tiania (where I am at present; many wonderful cures. We have, among many others, anointed two persons who were blind in one eye, and though they before with that eye could not even see people walking, " as if they were trees," they in a little while could read a paper with that eye, blind before (having the other one shut). Others, suffering from other things, have been partly or wholly cured. Several other truths have mightily taken hold of the Christian hearts, as the hidden life icith Christ, the blessings of testifying and working for Christ, the constantly waiting position that befits the bride of Christ. Norway a Missionary Field. The heathen missions, that formerly received very little help from Sweden, have drawn the attention of the Christians here more than ever before, and I hope that the time is come when Sweden will contribute more to this blessed work, with both per- sons and money. With regard to Norway, it must as yet be more looked upon as a mission field needing support rather than being able to give. May the Lord bless these countries more and more abundantly, as well as the whole world. And may the hearts of us all who have received the new life be occupied, during our prog- ress in holy life and our constant labor for him, with (not this progress or the re- sults of this work, but with) the glorious person of Jesus Christ, dead for our sins, risen for our purification, interceding now in our behalf, and again soon returning to receive us to himself. I send the most hearty greetings from us all here to our Congregational brethren across the Atlantic, who have already shown so much interest in our welfare. Fraternally yours, F. Fbanson. Kristiania, July 25, 1884. DE. WALDENSTROM'S VIEWS. That Dr. Waldenstrom's views on various subjects, and bis style of writ- ing and preaching may be seen, we give below several extracts from some of his published works. Our space permits only a glimpse. From a lect- ure by bim on " The Independent Movement and tbe Swedish Churcb," we condense and extract as follows : This subject may well be said to be a burning question. It cannot be denied that much anxiety prevails in our country regarding this religious movement, and that this anxiety has spread abroad not only among them that are chiefly interested in religious and church matters, but also among such as one would be apt to believe were entirely indifferent to such questions. That a deep-going religious revival spreads among our people cannot be denied. That convocations [priest-meetings] occupy themselves so much with this question is not to be wondered at. The experience of the later years has also shown that the work of so-called convocations and priest-conferences has been principally concentrated on the question of the independent [Free church] movement, and what position the priesthood should take towards the same ; how they should guide it and meet it that it might not assume too energetic proportions. The question treated of here is not discussed in theological journals only, but also in political dailies, and many judge with great positiveness of the matter without knowing what its essen- 94 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT tials are. Some claim that there is great danger that the Swedish State church will ho torn asunder ; others fear civil commotions. When, a year ago last summer, extensive labor movements — so-called "strikes" — arose in Norrland, they were put in connection with the religious movements by a correspondent of one of the most prominent newspapers in Stockholm. If we will learn something from history, we shall find that the more thorough religious move- ments have always been regarded and judged in the same manner that the present one is. If one observes how the Reformation was judged of in the sixteenth century, he will find a surprising likeness to the existing circumstances. When the peasant war broke out, the papists were not slow to use this as a weapon against the Reformation and the religious movement it effected. " There one sees the result," they said, "the libera- tion of the people from both church and civil ties ; in short, wantonness, revolt, and many other dreadful things." Most ghost-stories have thus originated in conseqxience of not examining at closer range the matter that appeared so dreadful at a distance. We know that they are many who assert that the cause of this movement is nothing but fanaticism, obstinacy, and spiritual pride. But because a man with all his heart be- lieves the Word of God — that is not fanaticism ; that he does not suffer himself to be shaken from such belief — that is not obstinacy ; and that they who thus believe on God also are glad in God — that is not spiritual pride. The Pharisees of the Jews judged in the same manner that one frequently does now. They considered that it was nothing but fanaticism that men believed what Jesus proclaimed ; they considered that when the disciples did not obey their prohibitions, it was sheer obstinacy and spiritual pride that governed them. If one reads church history, it will bear testimony that the same has been the case in every period. During the middle ages many protests arose against the corruption of the church, and those men from whom these protests emanated were in the same manner pronounced fanatic, obstinate, and spiritually proud, and were silenced by bloodshed. Thus it happened with the Waldenses in the twelfth century, with the Albigenses in the thirteenth, the Wycliffites in the fourteenth, and the Hussites in the fifteenth century. We may thus see that nothing new happens under the sun. But the root of all these movements was nothing else than the decline of the church. And it is the same to-day. The church has in many respects deviated from the gospel of Christ. It is an odious but true declaration, that the present official Christianity [i.e., of the Swedish State church] is something else than the Christianity of Christ as it is presented in the New Testament. Those who read the Word of Cod attentively have found this, and it has called forth from their side protests, first in words and then in actions. Meantime this movement goes forward with renewed vigor, and if for a while one has succeeded in smothering it in one place, as it seems, yet has the smothered movement planted the seed of a new one. What the end will be we will not judge. That our posterity will see. It is related of an archbishop, that when he passed through our country to extend the evangelical doctrine he erected gal- lowses by the churches, and on these he caused all to be scourged and hanged who did not immediately declare themselves willing to accept the new doctrine offered to them. One could for that reason say that the Reformation was lashed [verb from "rod "J into many. After many theological and church-political contentions the result was a State church, instead of the communion of saints, as the church is described in the Bible and in the Augsburg Confession. The supreme head of the State is also the supreme head of the church. Whether the king believes the doctrine or no, he is at all events the supreme head of the church ; whether he lives a godly life or not, yet he is the highest ruler within the church. And thus instead of the church being groups of believing, like-minded, Christ-loving people, it became equivalent to the number of people that lived within certain geographical limits. The church is just as large as the parish ; for all who have not, according to legally provided forms, with- IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 95 drawn from the State church, belong to the Evangelical Lutheran church. If they, beyond that, are believers or unbelievers, if they are materialists or spiritualists, etc., that is all the same. All that have not formally withdrawn are Lutheran. If one asks, " How large is this or that church ?" it does not mean, "How many believers are there ? " but it signifies, '• How many live within these or those geograph- ical limits ''. " Whether they follow [walk after] Christ or Belial, whether they love Christ or deride him — these are foreign matters. They are at all events Lutherans. The State church lias no law by means of which it can exclude any of its members. It can exclude them from the communion, but nothing further. We are called separatists, etc., but never are those called "dissenters" or "separatists" who live without God and do not believe on Christ and his Wood. When they speak of sepa- ratists and their lack of conscience, they mean those who in everything desire to live according to the Word of God and therefore cannot otherwise than deviate a great deal from the Swedish State church. Yes, when a religious revival begins among those who do not care about God, so that even they will follow the Word of God, then im- mediately they cry, " schism of the church," and begin with edicts, and councils, and fines, and imprisonments on water and bread, to endeavor to suppress the started movement, just as though something dreadful were on foot. It was Pietism that gave origin to the religious movements that ever since have continually developed. Pietism was a religious movement that started in Germany in the seventeenth century, in oppo- sition to the dead orthodoxy and ungodliness that characterized the so-called Lutheran church. The church had come to consider that doctrine as of the highest importance and guarded it with all exactness, while placing vastly less importance on the manner of life. It is easily seen that such a dogmatism could not appeal to the minds of the people and satisfy those who asked what they should do to be saved. If one would by a figure represent the schism and dissension that has arisen in the church through this movement, then let him fancy a number of sheep going a-grazing on a dry sand-hill where they could find a blade of grass here and there, scarcely sufficient to keep them from starving to death. If then at the side of this meager pasture-land some one opened a gate to a green and beautiful meadow, it would surely not be any wonder if the sheep with joy hurried thither to find rich pasture. About the same is the case with the separatism from the State church of which so much is spoken. In 1700 the consistory complained before the grand governor in Stockholm that Pietism had penetrated [lit., intruded] into the capital, which complaint called forth nigh unto the same feelings as the cry, " The pest is coming." A thorough inquiry was undertaken, with the result that four students, a druggist, and a chamberlain were found to be infected with Pietism. As an instance of how horrible Pietism was con- sidered, the following incident may be cited, which happened in Finland. The priest Ulstadius, a teacher named Shaefer, and a student by the name of Ulhegius expressed their doubts about the blessing of the work of an unconverted priest, and this was con- sidered as something decidedly dreadful. It was considered that they had bound the Word of God by the condition of the person. The consequence was that they were in 1689 imprisoned and kept for three years. Then Shaefer and Ulhegius recanted, but Ul- stadius was sentenced to death. His sentence was mitigated by the king to imprisonment for life, and he passed thirty years in prison till his death. Shaefer went to America, but returned, driven by a remorseful conscience over his abnegation, and expressed the same opinion as before. He was also sentenced to death, but his sentence was mitigated and he was kept in prison nineteen years until his death. Surely none can be found who can avoid shuddering at thinking of such events. The coarsest rationalism and materialism gained entry not only with the people but even among the priests, so that instead of preaching the Word of God they often preached entirely different matters. If, for instance, the text was about the widow's son in Nain, they would in that find occasion to speak about the benefit of laying out cemeteries outside the cities. In con- 96 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT nection with such godless preaching stands also the ungodly life of the priesthood. Frequently they were not only priests, but also whiskey distillers and saloon keepers, and would not seldom themselves establish saloons in the vicinity of the churches. In the north of Sweden there was a priest who had established several saloons about the ehurch. When the bell rang for the third time he went and drove the people out of the saloons and into the church, and after the service the saloons were opened as before. Without such facts as these we could not fully understand the many vocifer- ous complaints that arose against corruptions in the church. In the north of Sweden the meetings continued, and could not there be exterminated. They were conducted by laymen — not preaching laymen, but such as read from Luther's collection of ser- mons, as yet is customary up there in Norrland. I have spoken with old persons in Westerbotten, who have said that in their childhood it was not uncommon to journey several miles, sometimes going twenty miles on foot, to hear a sermon of Luther read. Eventually Mission societies began to be organized, and Mission houses began to be built, the first in Umea city, afterwards in Gefle and Jonkoping, and finally everywhere in the country. There was great contention over Article XIV. of the Augsburg Confession, which prohibits lay preaching, that was called forth by the labor of the preaching laity. They had finally to put up with the preaching of the laymen, whether it comported with said article or not, since it was at all events a fact that could not be denied and which also proved a great blessing. Besides, sometimes Christians did not dare to pray aloud with their own families, from fear that somebody might stand outside, lis- tening, and afterwards inform against them that they had preached to strangers ! Then lay meetings were prohibited ; and in 1845 a peasant in Dalecarlia was fined 100 kro- nors for the reason that he in his home read the Lord's Prayer and a sermon from Luther's collection ; and then, because he held this meeting on Sunday, he was fined, in addition, five riksdaler for breach of the Sabbath. When he could not pay these fines in money he had to do it by sitting in prison, kept on water and bread. Since that time the prison at Gefle has not seldom been filled with such as had been appre- hended for transgressing this law and brought bound into prison. Yet when they came there they did not find the days sad, but expressed the joy of their hearts by joining in songs of thanks to God, and people gathered outside the prison to hear the singing." On one occasion a man came to an officer of the crown and gave notice that several persons had gathered for a religious meeting at such and such a place. The constable went to the place, found the door shut, but knocked and demanded, in the name of the law, to be admitted. During the delay the worshipers, by previous plan, made some rapid changes in the appearance of the room, so when the constable entered he did not find any occupied with reading the Word of God ; instead the table was filled with beer-mugs, pipes, and cards, which made him exclaim, with disappoint- ment: "Why, here are no Pietists, but only good Lutherans." The present law is somewhat milder, to be sure, but the principle is the same in both, namely, an at- tempt to smother religious movements with civil weapons. And it is not required that the church council shall prove that the preaching layman has done harm, but if only the church authorities consider his preaching as tending to schism of the church, he may be fined or sentenced to imprisonment on water and bread. Late years furnish many instances where honest citizens have had to go to prison for having testified of the Lord. A policeman who was once ordered to conduct such an offender to prison re- marked afterwards : ' ' That was the meanest act I ever did in my life." Our authorities cannot understand that spiritual things require spiritual weapons. There is hardly anything on which history testifies so clearly, and yet it seems that nothing is so diffi- cult for them to learn, as this simple truth. It is evidence of weakness in the church when it needs to borrow the prisons of the State to quell religious movements. Regarding the religious movements in our country, an unexpected turn took place IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 97 in 1872 through the question, " Where is it written ?" The question first touched upon the reconciliation, but did not stop there. One thing brought on another, and the Communion became a burning question. " Is the Communion properly conducted in the State church ? " This began to be asked with increasing earnestness. Formerly small societies had been organized to celebrate communion in closer harmony with the Word of God, but now a great part of the believers in general began to consider this matter. Believing priests were heard to admit that it was not properly managed — were heard to sigh and deplore that they had to serve a communion that was incom- patible with the Word of God. So the question was more and more earnestly asked, "Has God given the communion to his people, or to the world ? " After much hesitating many abstained from communion for several years — private communions with the per- secutions following. Then followed the "communion societies" and the "circle so- cieties," and next the celebrated "Communion Petition " to the king, signed by over twenty-two thousand persons, including forty-two clergymen. This being denied, the celebration of the Lord's Supper in private was continued. Christian churches also began to be organized in several places. This church organization occasioned many difficulties and disagreements. It seems, however, as though the difficulties had abated more and more, and in some places the work has already gone very far. To those who are unfamiliar with such organizations and who think they are something dread- ful, let me explain that applicants for membership, after full inquiry has been made about them and the church has voted to receive them, are brought before the assem- bled church and answer the following questions: "Do you believe on God the Father, on Jesus Christ the only Son of God, and on the Holy Ghost ? Will you live holily and righteously in this world, to the glory and praise of God's name ? " When these questions are answered in the affirmative, a blessing is invoked upon them, and they are considered members. It is surely natural that the sober and the chaste sepa- rate theniselvesjirom drunkards and the unchaste, and likewise that those who love Jesus and want to live for him dissever themselves from those who do not love him. Thus the more may they be able to encourage, comfort, teach, instruct and support each other. No Christian is so perfect that he can live without the assistance of other Christians. He who professes himself so good a Christian as not to need communion with others must be a petrified Christian. But such a union of Christians is also neces- sary on account of their work. Unity is strength. The mission work is important and incumbent upon Christians. If they work, only each for himself, they will accomplish little compared with what they can do if they unite their efforts. Many little brooks make a great river, but if each brook flows by itself it will dry up or sink into the sand. It belongs to the Christian's grand purpose here on earth to work for the diffusion of the gospel of Christ and for the salvation of men. The independent *movement is a return to the true church as delineated in the Bible and in the Augs- burg Confession. What this movement opposes is that untruth, that worldliness, that co-mixture of the spiritual and the worldly, and that religious slavery which without doubt prevails within the State church. And he who says that this is to oppose the church, makes the church identical with this worldliness, this slavery, et cetera ; but that would be drawing up a poorer certificate of character for the State church than we should want to sign. Yet a few words before we close. In Sweden people enjoy the privilege of organ- izing associations for all possible purposes and to institute all kinds of "orders," and the ministers of the Swedish church are frequently high dignitaries in the order of Freemasons. Dancing clubs, gaming clubs, et cetera, are permitted, and this without being called " separatism " and without seeming to require exceptional laws. Then we ask why gatherings for mutual edification about the Word of God and unions for godliness should be considered as disseverance of the church and occasion exceptional laws. What we ask is that the privilege may be granted with the same liberality to 7 98 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT some of the members of the church to gather about the Word of God and to celebrate the memorial of the death of Jesus, as others are permitted to gather around the gam- ing tahle, at balls, and so forth, and it does not seem to be an unreasonable request. The spokesmen of the church ought to have learned something from history. But his- tory ever repeats itself. "Had we lived in the time of our forefathers," said the Jews, " we should not have put the prophets to death ; " but they killed Christ. After them came the Papacy, who said: "Had we lived in the time of the Jews, we should not have killed Christ ; " and in the meantime the Roman Catholic church butchered mul- titudes of the faithful witnesses of Christ. Then came another time, when it was said : "Had we lived at the period of the Reformation, we should not have shared in the blood of the reformers." Thus the thing is repeated from time to time, and it seems as though nothing better is to be expected. However, if the State understood what harm it does to the church it means to protect when it lends her its prisons, it would withdraw its hand. If the church is to gain anything, it must be by the power of truth. Everything she gains through violence may be put down to her loss. May God give all who govern the church and other matters of religion grace to consider this, and may none of those who have God's kingdom on earth at heart grow weary of praying that what is still wrong may yet be righted, and of thanking God for everything that in these respects has so far been accomplished. "CAN WE BELIEVE ?" Under this title Dr. Waldenstrom writes to The Homeland's Friend the following keen arraignment of the Swedish State church. The hand of a master in controversy is clearly visible : "Christ rand his apostles casting their adversaries in prison, or imposing fines on them ? God forbid! " Thus speaks the Wdktitren [The Watchman, a Lutheran State .church paper] regarding the church court of 1868. When I read those words in the Hemlandsiannen I became astonished. " Can it be possible ? " I thought. " Is it actually the intention that we shall review and criticise the State church, guided by the example of Christ and the apostles ? " Very well : if that is permitted, then may it be done ! 1. Can we believe that Christ or the apostles would have ordained an earthly king, without regard to whether he lived in Christ or in sin, as the highest bishop over their ■ church, solely on the ground that he was the king of the State ? 2. Can we believe that Christ and his apostles would have ordered a human so-called confession of fai.h to.be drawn up, according to which his own Word should be inter* preted ? And by church discipline, with warning, private and public, and finally ex- communication, treat those who love God's Word above everything and ask no greater grace than to be able to live conformably with the same in everything ? To this class does the undersigned venture to confess himself, and the Wdktaren complains that the authorities have not exercised this discipline " on such men," which is " their inexo- rable duty." 3. Can we believe that Christ and his apostles would have held a confirmation such as the priests now annually hold in all the churches, where a great number of ungodly people are made full members of the church ? 4. Can we believe that Christ and his apostles would have held a communion such as the priests now hold in sill churches where the blessed bread and wine are handed to all kinds of people that care nothing about the Lord, and this with the prayer that the Lord may keep them. unto eternal life, just as though they were already on the way there ? . . . IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 99 7. Can we believe Christ aid his apostles would have been high or low Freemasons and such like, as now the bishops and priests of our church are ? 8. Yes, can we believe that Christ and his apostles, at beholding the bravery with which the Swedish State church tramples the Word of God under its feet, would im- agine that it yet laid claim to being a church of Christ, and that believing priests were met with who maintained this claim ? 9. Can we believe that Christ and his apostles would call them " Separatists" who would not participate in things at variance with the Word of God, and that they would censure and hackle them as disturbers of the peace, subverters, lawless, etc. ? These are only questions. The answers are left to each and every one that has a mind for truth. WHAT IS THE CHURCH? From Dr. Waldenstrom's answer to this inquiry we take the following : Any church denomination, in the now common signification, is not known in the Bible. The church is also in its character the union of the believing, not a union of be- lievers and the ungodly, much less a union of the ungodly. Even if hypocrites who, by reason of human short-sightedness, cannot be discerned, should mix themselves in the communion of believers, it does not change the character of the communion from being a church of the believing. A temperance society, e.g., does not cease from being such because some one who is secretly a drinker has smuggled himself in. But if the object of the society is to unite the temperate and drunkards, then it ceases to be a temperance society. Likewise, if a Christian band enlarges itself and becomes a so- ciety of both believers and the ungodly, then it has lost its character as being a con- gregation or church of God. Should it after all make pretense to be a church of God, then it is to be looked upon as a dismissed rector would be regarded who persists in the pretense that he is a rector. The sacraments and the external organizations are not and do not constitute the church. The church consists of persons who are sancti- fied (not merely who have the means to become sanctified) by faith in Christ, and in consequence of this one faith even in externals it appears as one body or one community. The church does, therefore, always appear under certain external forms. But these forms laid upon a multitude of the ungodly or a society of Christians and ungodly per- sons, would make them a Christian church just as little as a monkey would become a man because he is dressed in human apparel. "GOD'S ETERNAL PLAN OF SALVATION." From Dr. Waldenstrom's book with the above title we take the fol- lowing : Herein is love, etc. (1 John 4: 10). We have remarked before that the salvation which God in Christ has prepared for the world is in the Scripture called sometimes redemption, sometimes reconciliation. All these three expressions, save, redeem, rec- oncile, denote the same thing seen from different sides . . . the never-drying but constantly overflowing fountain from which all his deeds of salvation emanate. * O, may we let our Heavenly Father be as good as he is ! The expression "reconciliation," on the other hand, presents the essential nature of salvation. For salvation consists just in the reconciliation of man with God. Therefore let us now examine those pas- sages where it speaks of salvation as a reconciliation. It is necessary to examine what the Word of God says, and in its light to calmly test what men have taught alongside of the Word of God, and which has often disconcerted simple-hearted souls. Not onlv in the Christian religion, but also in heathenism, is felt a need of reconciliation. A witness exists within man, a witness which nothing has been able to entirely silence, 100 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT a witness? that says it is not possible for man to be saved or arrive at peace without rec- onciliation. Even the heathen feel that their happiness depends on their standing in a proper relation to God ; but they feel also that the relation now existing is not the proper one, and it fills them with misery before their gods. Accordingly their hearts also cry for reconciliation. Their many sacrifices, god-worship, self-tortnres, pilgrim- ages, etc , are just so many cries to God for reconciliation. This feeling is no delu- sion, but a profound truth. All thoughts of salvation without reconciliation bear wit- ness of a torpid conscience or of efforts to smother it. The Holy Scriptures testify with the very greatest sharpness of the necessity of a reconciliation. The sole object of the coming of Christ and his work in the world was reconciliation. All religion — the heathen, the Jewish, the Christian — is permeated with the need of reconciliation. Not to smother or to explain away this need, but to confirm, enforce, and satisfy it, was Christ sent by the Father into the world. . . . In connection with the statement that the heathen worship their god so as to appease his wrath, believing that he is angry towards them, Dr. Waldenstrom says (page 386) : But, sad to tell, this belief is not only found among the heathen, but it lies so deeply rooted in all human nature that it will even prevail where the Word of God is pos- sessed and read. One result has been that one has often considered Christ, whom God in grace has sent to reconcile us to himself, as one on whom God has poured out his wrath so as to enable him to be gracious to us. Yes, many really living and dearly beloved children of God see in this the very essentials of the work of Christ, and even fear that Christ would be entirely superfluous were they not permitted to believe it is so. It seems to them that they can never escape the wrath of God unless his wrath has been permitted to vent itself over some other one in their stead. To their mind the chief work of Christ is that he should be a shield against God ; or, so to say, a lightning-rod for his wrath, enabling them to feel safe befora him. May God open their eyes more and more ! They do not realize the harm they do to themselves by thinking God to be less worthy than he deserves. And besides, God desires to be properly known to his children. Against all such improper conceptions the Scripture teaches that no change in the state of GocVs heart towards man has taken place in con- sequence of man's sin ; therefore, that it was not God who needed to be reconciled to man, but that it was man who needed to be reconciled to God ; and as a consequence, reconciliation is an act emanating from God and is directed towards man, purposing not to conciliate him (man), but to cleanse him from sin and restore him to a proper relation to God. That, as a consequence of man's sin, no change has taken place in the state of God's heart, may perhaps be far above our comprehension. Yes, one may be ready to call it the greatest absurdity that the love of God should not have suffered some abatement through the fall. But however absurd and foolish it may appear, yet so it is. If you are not able to comprehend such love, that is nothing to the purpose. It is all the better as it is. And by this has God proven that he so loved the world, although fallen in sin, that he has given to it his only Son for a Savior. With God is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. He remains what he is from eternity to eternity. Terrible is the injury and disaster which the sin of man has caused ; but notwithstanding, it has not been able to effect that disaster of changing the state of God's heart. As the deluge reached high above the highest mountain, but not up to the sun so as to extin- guish and cool it, so the sin of man, to be sure, sufficed to destroy all flesh on the earth, but not to transform the state of God's heart or to make him anything but love. God is love. God has not only been love or become love, but he is love from eternity to eternity — The Perfect Love. But perfect love can never be diminished, for then it IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 101 would no more be perfect. Only that which is imperfect can be increased or dimin- ished. So the love of God never needed to be restored, for it was never lost; it never needed to be increased, for it was never diminished. God loves because he is love, and lie remained love in spite of our fall. God's love for the world was not one before the fall and another after the fall ; and it did not become another still after the death of Christ. A higher degree of love cannot be conceived than this, that God gives his only Son. But with such a love has he loved Cain as well as the Virgin Mary, Judas as well as John, Demas as well as Paul. Even as God makes his sun to shine as gently on the field of the ungodly as on that on the righteous, and as he permits the rain to fall as abundantly on the furrow of the ungodly as on that of the righteous, so he has also given Christ for the ungodly as well as for the godly, and not to help up his love to them, but to help them up out of sin and help them to a proper love. Therefore Paul does not say that God heightened his love in that Christ died, nor that the change which through our fall took place in the state of God's heart was remedied or restored through the death of Christ, but he says : " God proves [Swedish Bible] his love towards us, in- that Jesus died for us while we were yet sinners " (Rom. 5 : 8). And John does not say hereby has the love of God been again restored, but " Hereby know we [Swedish Bible] the love of God, because he laid down his life for us " (1 John 3 : 16). And again : "In this was manifested, the lope of Goi towards ?/s," etc. (1 John 4 : 9, 10). And when the Lord himself would represent this state of God's heart in a figure, he related the stories of the missing sheep, the lost piece of silver, and the prodigal son. The prodigal's father did not love hi ; son any less now than before. The shepherd grieved over the lost sheep, j r et he loved it so that for its sake he left the ninety and nine and went after that one which was lost. Take notice: Christ does not set this forth to show how God's heart was before the fall, or how it had become after his death, but to show how it ever has been and ever will be towards sinners. Peradventure some one will now say: " Not to enable him to love man must God be reconciled, but to enable him to give his grace to man. What if his love remained unchanged : yet without an expiatory reconciliation no grace was possible for sinners." Tins is, to be sure, a very important objection. And so we would first ask : Is any such thing to be read in the Word of God ? The answer is : No, nowhere. Where then is it taken from 7 Answer : It is taken from that improper image of God which through the fall has been branded into our natural heart. But this image cannot be reconciled with that which the Word of God gives us. But, secondly, we ask : Was it not grace when God gave his Son for the redemption of sinners ? Can any greater grace be conceived of, either in heaven or on earth ? Grace is such love as is entirely unmerited on the part of him towards whom it is shown. The sending of Christ into the world, his work and death, are not a basis for the grace of God but a consequence of the grace of God; yes, the very highest conceivable expression of this grace. For no demonstration of love has been so unmerited, no act of God has been such perfect grace, as the very act that he gave to the world his only Son. Yes, verily, behind all the acts of God stands his love and grace as the ever unshaken ground. WHAT SHALL WE PREACH ? When the Mission friends built a house of worship at Gefle, the home of Dr. Waldenstrom, he preached the dedication sermon, taking the above theme. His opening prayer was as follows : In the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. O Lord God, we thank thee that thou art so gracious and helpest so willingly and doest so well towards us. We thank thee that thou art merciful, patient, and of great goodness. We thank 102 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT thee that thou dealest not with us after our sins, nor rewardest us according to our in- iquities. We thank thee that thou hast sent thine only Son into the world to be the Savior of sinners. We thank thee that thou hast given us thy holy Word, which is sure, and profitable for instruction, and able to make us wise unto salvation. We thank thee that thou permittest us to gather around this thy Word, and that thou hast promised that it shall not return unto thee void, but that it shall be living, powerful, and fruitful [fruit-bearing] to the salvation of sinners We thank thee that we know that wherever two or three are gathered in thy name, thou art in the midst of them. We thank thee that we know that thou desirest not the death of any sinner, but that all men everywhere shall repent and live. Therefore bless us now and give us thy Holy Spirit, and be with us at this time. Give us eyes that we may see and ears that we may hear, and obedient hearts that we may receive with willingness what thou speakest in thy holy Word. Give us a true stillness in spirit, and help us to look up to thee and expect every good and perfect gift from thee. Let this day be to us not only a festal day, but a day of blessedness and salvation, for thou art our God. Amen. What will be preached in this house ? Wholesome or unwholesome things ? Will such things be promulgated as are designed to draw the hearts of men up to heaven or away from heaven— to awaken men from the sleep of sin or to confirm them iu their ungodly disposition ? Will here be heard such things as are designed to create be- lieving, devout, and happy people, or, on the contrary, such as will make the people godless and unhappy ? Let us hear, and then judge each for himself. We shall preach that all men are sinners ; that everything called man is in its nature destroyed by sin. When we preach thus, we lean above everything on the Word of God. This Word says of men: " They are all gone out of the way," etc. We shall not only preach that all are sinners, but also that there is no difference be- ticeen one sinner and anotlier before God. In this we again lean before everything on the Word of God, which we regard as the potent judge in all spiritual matters. "There is no difference," says the apostle. " All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." ... We shall preach, further, that as long as a person is in his sins he cannot be saved. When we preach this, we lean again on the firm rock, the Word of our God. This Word says : Into heaven nothing enters that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie (Rev. 21 : 27). . . . But for those who are in sin the Bible proclaims no salvation. This is also supported by the testimony of man's own conscience ; for also in this matter the conscience testifies with the Word of God. As soon as one has learned to feel that he is a sinner, he also feels that, in the condition in which he finds himself, it is impossible to enter the kingdom of God. . . . To this one often hears the objection that God is good, and one therefore shall hope that ultimately all will be saved. But directly against that we say : The very circumstance that God is good excludes for one that is evil all possibility of being saved. Salvation depends on an intimate personal life-communion between God and man. But such a communion is not possible as long as God is God and man evil. ... If you look at the doctrine of eternal condemnation from such a point of view, as though it should be an immutable demand by God's righteousness to torture out of sinful man a certain measure— an infinite measure of suffering- as payment of that debt which he has incurred through sin, then we do not wonder that over such a thought your heart is torn in two; for no thought can be more unworthy of God, more violating of his honor, or more unfit for one who professes to know God ; and nothing can be more warrantable than a "lightning" [Swedish adjective] protest against the doctrine of the eternal condemnation seen from such a point of view. But if you look at the matter from man's point of view, from the point of view that he is evil, and that for his coming into heaven it not only requires that God is God and willing to forgive all his sins, but also that man shall have a mind fit for heaven, then the matter will appear differently. . . . O that you who yet live in sin, who are on a way to perish, under- IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 100 stood that it is on your part the unmercifulness lies when you forfeit heaven and salva- tion. O that you also understood the things which belong unto your peace, and would turn to God while it is yet time. Further, we shall preach that God loves the world. " For God so loved the world," etc. (John 3 : 10). But when we preach this we know that we do not only stand on the lirna foundation of God's Word, but also that our preaching meets in the innermost part of every person a voice which testifies and says : " It is right, it is right." . . . We shall preach that Jesus is a Savior for all men ; for publicans and harlots, for Pharisees and Sadducees, for drunkards and adulterers, for the children of sin and death of all kinds, for the whole world, without exception. It is also our joy to know that we do not need, in preaching, to make any distinction between persons. For Christ says : '• Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will comfort you " [Swedish transl.J (Mat. 11 : 28). We shall preach that Jesus is the only Savior. The Word of God says : " Neither is there salvation in any other " (Acts 4 : 12). . . . We shall preach that Jesus is the Savior in that he has himself vanquished our enemies — sin, death, the world, and the devil ; that the only way to be saved through Christ is to believe on him ; that he who says he is in Christ must also walk even as Christ, walked. DR. WALDENSTROM'S LETTERS. On the inside cover pages of the Pietiden magazine he has been accus- tomed to write, in the form of familiar letters, answers to many inquiries. His signature, "P. W.," so widely known among Swedish people, identi- fies each letter. We extract from a collection of these, published under the title of "Letters on Religious Topics." God's Way of Seeking Bedeess. When you ask whether it is possible for God to save us without the work of Christ, we answer a decided No ! But when on that account you wonder if then the work of Christ ought not properly to be considered a payment to God, a payment demanded by his righteousness in case he should save us, then you go quite astray. In exactly the same manner can one say that it is not possible for God to save sinners without the work of the Holy Spirit, but from that it does not follow, by any means, that the work of the Spirit is a payment to God. No ; both the work of Christ and the work of the Spirit are the means that God has used and uses for the salvation of sinners, and he uses just these means because we cannot be saved by any other means. " The blood of Christ is shed for the remission of sins." You ask whether that expression does not imply that the blood of Christ is a payment to God. That no such thing lies in the expression itself, you will readily understand from other similar expressions, as when it reads: " With the heart man believeth unto righteousness." It ought surely to be manifest that in that expression does not lie any such meaning as that faith should constitute a payment to God. No ; but faith is held forth as a means whereby man is made righteous. As to what those words mean, that the blood of Christ has been shed for the remis- sion of sins for many, I think we have the best explanation in Rom. 3, where Paul says that God has set Christ forth through the blood to be a propitiation [throne of grace] for sinnprs. And notice : it is not Christ [himself] that has set himself to be a propitiation for sinners against God, but it is God, that has set him to be such a propitiation, that he may through him be gracious to sinners and save them. All is of God through Christ. You wonder, further, if God's righteousness and honor did not, however, demand 104 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT a perfect redress for our sin, because through our sin they were certainly violated. To that I can give no other answer than this, that the Scriptures do not in a single place present reconciliation from the point of view of such a demand from God for redress. If it is true that the Father and the Son are one, and that he who sees the Son also sees the Father, then we ask : Did the Son's righteousness and honor demand any redress for our sin ? To this I believe that none will answer anything but No. The prevailing theology is wont to say that the Father demanded and the Son gave him redress. But if this is so, then we find another righteousness in the Son than in the Father, and they are no longer one. I read in a late publication, that if one asserts that God never has demanded a perfect redress, it would be the same as saying that God had never been righteous. But in precisely the same manner it could be said of Christ : "If one asserts that Christ has never been wronged so that he Has demanded a perfect redress, then it is the same as to say that he has never been righteous. " Surely you can see where that leads. But if you cannot say that of the Son, neither can you say it of the Father, provided it is true that the Father and the Son are one. No, brother, the redress which the righteous Father sought was the deliverance from sin of the lost children, and for this redress he gave his only Son. The same is also true with regard to the talk about the redress of God's honor. If your honor has been violated by some one, I believe you will better satisfy your honor if you have compassion over the offending one and seek to save him, than if you de- mand "redress" from him or from some one else in his stead for the violation you have suffered. And I believe, when you do this, you will act according to his ex- ample who is good unto the unthankful and to the evil; yes, he who has given his only Son to save them that offended him. When I look upon the Son, of whom the Scripture says that he is the express image of God's person, then I see that he sought no other honor than that of saving sinners. Of his violated honor he never spoke one word, and when on the cross he wept over those who deepest violated his honor : " Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do," then he truly "satisfied " his honor. Never could his honor be more glorified through anything else than it was when he died for their salvation who had wronged him. But in this case the Son was a reflection of the Father's glory. Not by demanding recompense, but by saving sinners, God has "satisfied" his honor and glorified his righteousness. Or what do you think ? When the angels .sang at the birth of Jesus: "Glory be to God in the highest," do you believe they meant that now the man was born in whose suffering and blood God was to receive a sufficient recompense for that violation which his honor had suffered through our sin ? No -" unto you is born this day a Savior : " that was the burden of their song when they sang: "Glory to God in the highest." When I consider how the Lord Jesus, in the story of the Prodigal Son, describes God, then I see everything except the talk of demanding redress for the Father's honor. In just that parable you may particularly see how the Father maintains his honor. Yes, brother, that word is without doubt true, that he that sees the Son sees the Father. That the ordinary theology gives a totally different image of the Father from that of the Son cannot be denied. Whatever the fact may be, yet one dares not say that the Son possessed such a righteousness that he demanded satisfaction in the blood of another for the violation it had suffered ; but that he at the same time was righteous, and righteous as God, neither does one dare to deny. Now, farewell ! The Lord bless you and all brethren. May he keep us firm in his Word and iu the faith through all the days of our life ! For such is his good and gracious will. Amen. September, 1876. IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 105 The Son the Image of the Father. That many have become troubled over the talk that " P. W." denies the divinity of Christ, is certainly painful ; but, to be sure, every one ought to perceive that if the' divinity of Christ be anywhere actually denied, it is there where it is preached in such a manner as to give a totally different image of the Father from that of the Son ; and that if the divinity of Christ be maintained anywhere, it is there where it is preached in such a manner as to give the same image of the Father as of the Son. Yet when the mind is bitter or agitated by fear, one does not see anything ; but through all will the Lord Jesus fully help his own, for that is his office and his meat. In heaven will all the children of God see and speak and sing in harmony. March, 1877. Are the Sacrifices Payment to God ? Dear Brother : You ask if the sacrifices in the Old Testament were not offered unto God, and if not, Christ's sacrifice was not a sacrifice unto God. Answer : It is written, both of the sacrifices of the Old Testament and of the sacrifice of Christ, that they were sacrifices unto God. When persons publicly assert that I deny this, they speak con- trary to the true facts. What I deny is this, that the sacrifices should be a payment to God. That it was God who asked of Abraham that he should sacrifice his son, and that it was unto God Abraham went to sacrifice him — these stand written in plain words ; but that the sacrifice should be a, payment to God is not written. That it was God who ordered the sacrifices of worship, also that it was unto God they were offered, that is written in plain words ; but that they were a payment to God is nowhere written. In the New Testament I can also see that God requires the Christians to present them- selves as living and holy sacrifices unto him (Rom. 12) ; but that there should be any payment in these sacrifices I cannot see. God has appointed every Christian in a cer- tain place [station] to a certain work, and it belongs to every Christian to offer himself in that work, in that place, to God. That is the sacrifice God requires, but not as a payment. Thus has also God appointed his only Son to the work of saving sinners. That work could not be completed with less than giving his life unto death. The Son sacrificed himself. He sacrificed his life unto God ; he sacrificed it for the ac- complishment of the work that the Father gave him. God also required that sacrifice of him. For such was his solicitude for the salvation of sinners, that when it could not be done in any other manner he gave his Son and desired of him the sacrifice that he should descend in the likeness of sinful flesh, and by the consecration of his own life seek and save the lost ; and the Son said: " I delight to do thy will, O my God." But the sacrifice was not any payment on the Son's part, nor was it on the Father's part any demand for the payment of the debt of sin. That is nowhere " written," but is a doctrine of men. Christian Union. You mention that the experience of the past has shown that all attempts to unite Christians of different confessions of faith have failed, and I know that too. I know, too, one thing more : that all attempts to eradicate intemperance have so far also failed. And yet I rejoice over every new and powerful attempt which in the name of the Lord is being made towards that end. Do you think that one should for such reason cease to battle against the deeds of the flesh ? No, brother : may we rejoice over every approach in love between those who believe on the same Savior. Should one attempt fail, let us then make another. If one does not gain everything at once, yet shall such a battle never take place without bearing some fruit. To lay down the weapons in the battle against party spirit may have the same consequences as if 106 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT one laid them down in the warfare against other deeds of the flesh. Each new battle against an enemy is a link in that chain of conflicts by which he shall finally be van- quished. In a war many battles will take place which are not decisive victories, but which nevertheless contribute respectively to the issue of the war. I believe the same is true of the battles against the hosts of darkness ; and I ask you, look at Mr. U. L. Moody's work, and at the religious activity in our own land ! They bear testi- mony of what blessing follows when Christians allow the life in Christ to be more than unity in dogmas. There was a priest once who said to another: "I like a dead Lutheran better than a living Baptist." The other replied : " Yet I would rather go to heaven as a Baptist than go to hell as a Lutheran." We have much to learn from those words. The Baptism of Children. I hold child baptism to be a true and Christian baptism. That I ought to be per- mitted to express freely and openly. I shall also leave the Baptists liberty to express a contrary view on their part. It need not interrupt our love at all. Your uncertainty whether it is right to baptize children into the Lutheran faith when they are not able to decide for themselves whether they will belong to this denomination is due entirely to a misconception— one which I have otherwise found to be very common among the Baptists. We never baptize our children to become Lutherans. We never baptize them on the Augsburg Confession, but only on the general apostolic faith. So all arguments against child baptism from that quarter disappear entirely. Only those who are ignorant of the real facts can advance such arguments. Now farewell ! The Lord bless you with peace. Dear brother, remain firm in Christ and in the words of his grace ! June, 1877. Hating Sin while Loving the Sinner. I remember a few words by Luther which I read the other day. He says : "If anybody would paint a true likeness of God, let him paint such an image as to be pure love ; as though the nature of God were nothing but a fiery furnace of such love, filling heaven and earth If one will paint and picture love, let him make an image that re- sembles neither man nor angel, but let it be God himself." Ay, brother, thus does God look. That he hates all sin and unrighteousness, we may read in the Scripture and learn by experience. If he did not hate sin, then he were not good. See, here is a figure : You will never call a man good who does not hate sin ; nor, if you see a man who hates another, will you call him good. But if you see a man who hates sin, and at the same time devotes labor, property, and life to rescue sinners whom he sees bound in sin, then he is certainly a good man. Yes, only from those who hate sin can one expect something to be done to rescue sinners. For instance, if one shall expect of any man energetic endeavors for the deliverance of drunkards, it must be from a man who heartily hates that sin in which drunkards lie. Had not God hated sin as he did and does, he would not have sacrificed his only Son for the saving of sinners. Therefore when the " Scribes " come and try to perplex you on this point, saying that one may not distinguish between the sin and the sinner, ask them if they do not acknowledge that God lores sinvers. If they acknowledge that, then ask them further if God also lores sin. Should they answer No, then ask how they can say thus when it will not do to distinguish between the sin and the sinner. Ah, brother, this matter is really so simple that it needs much skill to be able to pervert it. Of this Rosenius says : "That God hates the sin. visits and punishes our sin, is not incompatible with God's unchangeable love. It is, on the contrary, but a further proof of his love and kindness towards us when he attacks that which is our IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 107 destruction and also our greatest affliction." There you can see that he had learned to discriminate between the sin and the sinner ; yes, that he even was able to see in the jhittdtij with which God visits the sin an expression of God's hate towards the sin, and an expression of his love towards us who have sinned. This, to be sure, we also Lave always preached. That God hates the sin but loves the sinner belongs for a certainty to the A, B, C of the gospel ; but those who have arisen to defend human devices in conflict with the Word of God, sad to tell, seem to become more and more blind. June, 1676. Free Communion. With regard to the "free communion," it is sad, to be sure, that Christians in many places contend about it. For my part, I believe that the only proper way is to let everybody be free. Those who cannot partake in the communions of the State church, but gather separately — why, dear, leave them in peace. They certainly do no harm, and one cannot deny that the Lord Jesus is with them. Those who cannot partake in the private communions, but go to the church — why, dear, leave them in peace. The Lord Jesus is also with them. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. One should not judge or despise the other. Let everything be done in peace. One may not fetter the conscience of the other. The Lord has patience with the feeble. Now farewell ! The Lord be with you and bless you. Greet the brethren and pray for me. March, 1878. Many Slanders. Dear Brother : It is impossible for me to write everywhere to confute all rumors which people in their blind zeal for pure doctrine cause to be circulated. Generally it must not surprise you if you hear one say that we deny the divinity of Christ ; an- other, that we deny the humanity of Christ ; the third, that we award no greater sig- nification to the suffering of Christ than to that of Paul, Peter, etc. Yes, there are found preachers with great religious zeal who travel about and in a smiling and pity- ing manner (so as to be believed) persuade simple-hearted Christians that I deny now this, now that, and failing to prove what they say by my writings, they then claim that I have said so in private letters which they have seen with their own eyes, or else what other veracious persons have seen, etc. Just such as Paul in 2 Thess. 2 : 2 de- clared had befallen him when he says: "Be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from w. n Or else they say : "He will soon come with that denial ; he does not venture yet, but it will come." In this way they do everything they can to inspire dread in the hearts of the simple. Against such I can only refer to my writings. They testify of what I believe. But my slan- derers do not read these, finding it easier to make me a heretic by stories which they have either invented or heard others relate. The same has in every period befallen all who have dared to advance the Word of God against the devices of men. But it is God who answers for the truth of his Word. What we have to guard against is the recom- pensing of like with like. It is he who paints in an image the Father different from the Son that denies the divinity of Christ, For how can he be God who is so unlike the Father ? To give another image of the Father than that of the Son, and yet say that that one maintains the divinity of Christ, is quite the same as if somebody drew a square on a slate and afterwards attempted to prove that this figure was a circle. More about Baptism. Those who disapprove of child baptism frequently mention faith and say that none should be baptized but those who through the gospel have attained unto faith inChrist ; also that it is important for the believer to obey the command of the Lord and be bap- 108 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT tized. But these persons do not possess such demonstrative power as one might sup- pose. For if any one comes to them, confesses, and is baptized, and it afterwards ap- pears that he did not really believe, yet they do not disapprove of his baptism, and they baptize him again if he actually attains to faith. And, further, within their own homes grow up little children to be three or four years old, who show such ardent and sim- ple faith in Jesus that they might be meet models for their parents ; yet they do not baptize these, although they believe on Jesus; nor do they tell them it is God's will that all believers be baptized, and that it is important for them to obey God's command. That it would be wrong to bind the young child by baptism to any denomination is willingly admitted. I do not know where that is done. I have baptized many chil- dren, yet I have never baptized any child to Luther or the Lutheran church or to the Augsburg Confession, but I have baptized all on the general apostolic faith into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Neither have I ever seen that this baptism constituted any fetter that in any manner prevented them from joining which- ever denomination they chose when they had grown up. Therefore it is not right to call child baptism a religious outrage against the child. It is no greater outrage than if I lay the hands on the child and bless it ; and at all events a much smaller " out- rage" than when, during its delicate childhood, I implant in its heart and understand- ing the tenets of the Lord which it cannot examine for itself. May our brethren, the Baptists, do us justice, and know that with us is found just as sincere and honest con- victions as with them, and just as earnest a will to qbey the Lord as they have, although we understand this matter differently. May God bless us with his grace and his Spirit ! May he give our brethren, the Baptists, grace to see that he has not instituted baptism as a boundary- wall between Christians and Christians. Many of them see it already, and feel oppressed by that party spirit towards their former brethren into which they have come ; but other Bap- tists are sincere and believe they are thus doing God service. May God open their eyes and expand their hearts ! Farewell in the Lord. June, 1878. The Debt of Sin. To speak of paying the debt of sin is quite against the Scripture. A debt of money can be paid, but not a debt of sin. If the debt of sin were paid, then to be sure the sin would not be debt any longer. But the Scripture teaches differently. All sin is debt, and no payment can make the sin anything but crime and debt. The debt of sin can he forgiven, but not paid. So you can see that in all those places where it is likened to a debt of money (viz., Luke 7 : 41, 42 ; Mat. 18 : 27, 32) not a word is spoken of pay- ment, but of remission. Read those words as they stand, and you will not be deceived. From this you will also understand how directly against the truth those speak who say that I deny the debt of sin. He that teaches that the debt of sin is paid, he it is that denies the debt of sin. For Tie must of course teach that the sin is no longer any debt, provided he is serious about the payment. It is as clear as day : If the debt of sin "is really paid, then the sin is no longer debt ; if the sin is still debt, then it is not paid, for a paid debt can no longer be debt. O brother, let us leave human doctrines and abide by the Word of God. December, 1878. The Liberty of God's Children. You wonder how you shall understand what I said in a former letter about Chris- tians that take communion in the State church : " God is with them and blesses them and fills their hearts with joy." I would answer : That it is not a proper and Biblical communion when those who live in open sin are indiscriminately admitted to the com- munion-table, as is now practiced within the State church in most places. On that IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 109 point there is not likely to be more than one opinion. When, however, the question is whether, in present difficult circumstances, Christians must or ought to separate themselves from the communion of the State church, then opinions may differ, as also experience shows. Christian love forbids us to deny that honest and upright convic- tions are found on both sides. We may find Christians that cannot partake in the com- munions of the State church on account of their consciences, and we may find Chris- tians who cannot partake in the Free communions on account of their consciences. Well, now, what is to be done about it ? For my part, I think when one as well as the other acts according to his conscience, as before God, in simplicity and meekness, then is God certainly with him and blesses him. Neither the one nor the other can then be said to sin. It will be sin only when conscience is violated. I have seen Christians come from the private communions full of blessed joy ; again I have seen others, just as true and sincere children of God, come from the communion in the State church full of blessed joy ; and who dares to say that the joy of the one, but not that of the other, is from God ? Therefore I advise most heartily : Let us not judge each other, but grant every one the liberty to act according to what he honestly believes is God's will. Just as little would I advise any one to partake in the private communions in violation of his conscience, as I would advise any one to partake of those of the State church in violation of his conscience. One ought never to expect that all Christians should attain the same understanding at once. Though you have a better understand- ing and insight than your brother, yet I believe that it pleases God better if your brother in his simplicity acts in accordance with his own honest conviction of what be the will of God, than if he, against his conscience, or doubtful and uncertain of God's will, should act according to your insight, the rightness of which he has not yet been able to see. A true insight is good ; an obedient mind is better ; a true insight together with an obedient mind is the very best. The true insight may be lacking, but the pious and obedient mind is still pleasing to God. Now I hope that you understand my mean- ing. Then you may judge according to the Word of God. May God give us grace to increase more and more in insight, in meekness, in obe- dience, in brotherly love ! March, 1879. MISSION CHURCHES IN THE UNITED STATES. It is hoped that the foregoing pages have set in clear light the present religious situation in Sweden and Norway, as well as given an intelligent idea of the discontent, spiritual hungering, and revivals which have de- veloped into this great free church movement ; an awakening which is very remarkable in some of its features, and which will rank among the won- derful religious movements among men since repentance and remission of sins have been "preached in his name among all nations." Herein also are the chief data for a correct understanding of the relig- ious condition of the Scandinavians in this country. Most of them have left their northern homes so recently, and they keep up such close ac- quaintance with current events in their " old home-land," that it may be said, in general, that the currents of religious thought among Scandina- vians in both countries are very similar. All adult Scandinavians have been reared Lutherans ; the Lutheran church in this country is substan- tially the same as in Sweden and Norway, except that it is here shorn of its State patronage and civil authority for ecclesiastical persecution, and is greatly liberalized by its free surroundings. There is here among the 110 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT Swedes the same Free Mission movement, breaking away from the Lu- theran church, as in Sweden. The number of Swedish " Mission " and " Ansgarii " arid "Independent " and " Free " churches in this country is not fully given in any published statistics, but it is not far from eighty churches, some of which have several hundred members. Their church confessions of faith and rules are very similar to those given above from Sweden, and here, as there, independent of each other, and free from any formal and exact copying from any source other than the Bible. Their preachers speak without manuscript, and their churches largely develop the lay element in Christian work. They are divided into two branches, which are not different in any im- portant particular. One of these is the "Ansgarii Synod," composed of ministers. It is to be formally dissolved in May, 1885. The other branch is called the " Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Mission Synod." It held its eleventh yearly meeting in Red Wing and St. Paul, Minnesota, May 30 to June 9, 1884 Delegates and pastors were present from seven States, and 29 churches are enrolled in its statistical tables. Of these, ten have a membership of 100 or more, and one has 420 members. A number of free Swedish churches do not unite with any association, preferring entire in- dependency. After their experiences in Sweden with ecclesiastical control, this swinging off into extreme independency is not surprising. Just so did many Congregational churches after coming out from under the op- pressions of the Established church in England. The Swedish Mission churches in this land are doing a good work under very discouraging circumstances. They are far too widely scattered to enjoy, conveniently, the fellowship and co-operation with each other which would be very helpful. They also lack that great leadership and associational unity which the Free churches enjoy in Sweden. Some of their churches are so strongly " Independent " that they do not yet fully see that warm fellowship and hearty co-operation in the work of the Lord are not injurious to true independency, and are a real church grace. They are also in great need of more ministers, that they may give preaching services to the many Swedish communities that are now desti- tute ; and also that they may enlarge their work by improving the many opportunities that open before them. A sufficient supply of ministers cannot be got from Sweden. The "fields white unto the harvest " in Swe- den, Norway, Denmark, Russia, and Finland, lying at their very doors, make it very difficult to get men enough to supply their own needs ; and the theological professors at Kristin ehamn said that the men for the work in America must, most of them at least, be developed from among the Scandinavians in the United States. Their own calls are so pressing that they are compelled to hurry their young men into the work with much less of training than they desire to give them. IN SWEDEN" AND NORWAY. Ill NEEDS OF THE WORK. Christians in America or in England who would love to aid this great awakening, so strangely borne upon the wings of the " wind from the Holy Spirit," fanning into flame the long-quenched embers of spiritual life in Sweden and Norway, can well do so in either or all of four ways : 1. By placing the means in the treasury of the American Home Mis- sionary Society to help support Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish mission- aries to preach the gospel among their countrymen in this land. Among the Swedes this work may be prosecuted under special advantages of economy and fruitfulness, by rendering our assistance in harmony with the advice and co-operation of the Free Mission churches and ministers. Our work is their work, and their work is our work. Among the Norwegians and Danes in the United States there is yet very little of the distinctively Free church movement corresponding to the Mission churches in Scandi- navia. But many among these nationalities are turning away from the Lutheran church. Some of these go into Swedish Mission churches ; some into Unitarianism ; some into Congregational churches ; while many stand aloof from all religious influences. But in these ways no large work will be done among them. The times are pointing to a Free church move- ment among themselves. Let it be remembered that about one-sixth of the entire Scandinavian population of the world is already in the United States, and the end is not yet. Will not all who cherish the history and grand achievements of the Congregational churches, and who love their New Testament principles of church liberty and order, express their grat- itude for this new development of these principles in far-off lands, by send- ing a special offering to this Society for its work among the Scandinavians ? 2. By endowing two Scandinavian professorships, one Swedish, and one Norwegian or Danish, in our theological seminary at Chicago. These professorships should be filled by native Scandinavians. They are very greatly needed if we are to have suitable Scandinavian ministers. Where shall the Swedish Free Mission churches get their trained ministers, unless they have a school where their students can study, and at the same time perfect their knowledge of the Swedish language and literature ? Whence shall come Norwegian and Danish missionaries and pastors, without some such training-school for them ? 3. By giving financial aid to the ministers' training-schools at Kristine- hamn and Winslof, in Sweden. They have no endowment funds nor library. God has given a great work into their hands. They need help. 4. By starting a training-school for ministers in Norway or Denmark. The language of both countries is the same. The very interesting Free Mission movement now fairly started in Norway cannot have permanent and safe growth without trained pastors and teachers. As yet it has al- most none of these. 112 A WIND FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT Information from American or Scandinavian pastors and laymen re- specting the religious needs of Scandinavian communities anywhere in the United States, will be gladly received by the author of this report. THE BIBLE THE HIGHEST STANDARD. These pages cannot better be closed than by quoting Dr. Walden- strom's words of ardent loyalty to the Holy Scriptures in a letter in the Pietistev. 1 They are as inspiring as a fresh breeze from the Reformation : As far as the Socinians and my relations to them are concerned (since Bishop Landgren continually associates me with them), I must ask every one who can pass a just judgment to make a comparison between the teaching of the Socinians and the contents of my writings, and he will find the difference to be heaven-wide. But if the Socinians in any respect speak as God's Word speaks, it would be unreasonable for me on their account to give the lie to God's Word. No, for me the matter stands thus : before everything else fidelity to God's Word. No matter who— if it be a Socinian, a rationalist, yea, the devil himself — speaks a truth, so must I and will I for the sake of God's Word acknowledge the same. And, on the other hand, it may be a Lutheran, it may be Luther himself, Rosenins, or any other teacher, yea, even an angel of God, who says anything which is not true, then must I honor God and consider their word as error. Therefore, if anyone says, "Thus and thus the Socinians teach," for all that I will not say, " Then it is wrong ; " and if any one says, " Thus and thus the Lutheran church teaches," for all that I will not at once answer, "Then it is right." But I will, with God's grace, see what God says. And if they answer, "Do you then think that you understand the Scriptures better than our fathers ? " for all that I will go to God's Word and say: "Lord God, what sayest thou?" In anyway to allow oneself to be frightened or enticed away from seeing what stands written, or to allow oneself to be forced for the sake of " the Confession " to pervert God's Word, that I do not believe to be right, nor do I think my ministerial oath compels me there- to. Be that as it may, certain it is that the question, " How stands it written ?" has spread about and is every day spreading about more widely among the Christians of our land, both pastors and laymen, with a power which four years ago no one sur- mised. More and more is it becoming difficult for Christians to trust to the assurances or proofs of the Scribes. Despite all warnings, all complaints, all accusations, and all threatenings, it is forcing itself upon them that oven the Lutheran theology must allow itself to be judged after God's Word. June, 1876. 1 The translation of this letter was kindly furnished by Rev. F. E. Emrich, of the Tabernacle church, Chicago. Date Due JAI9sj **\ re o r — "t ^ — tr. FE 23'53 - AJ . '.-it y_ -■ ■ §> S 6 f 9 roKeHo,ySpnt,n Sweden and Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Librai-y 1 1012 00040 4212 fcf V9J