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Pietism

Pietism, with its emphasis on individual conversion and personal spirituality, and its appeal to the emotions, gained foothold at the beginning of the 18th century. From this background, the traditional revivalist movements emerged at the beginning of the 19th century. They have remained typical features of Finnish religious life until the present day and have usually stayed within the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Large revival movements include the Prayer Movement, the Awakening Movement, the Finnish Evangelical Movement and the Laestadian Movement. Some of these movements are specifically local, others find support in the entire country.
Relations between the Church and revival movements have traditionally been fairly good but in the past few years differences have emerged, mainly concerning the status of women (as pastors) in the movements and the debate on homosexuality. Most revivalist movements find the Church´s attitude too liberal on both questions. Some pastors refused to collaborate with female pastors, which led to litigation. In the majority of the revival movements, attitudes towards homosexuality have not changed much as opposed to the attitudes of the public. This has led to a situation, where some parish unions stopped giving financial support to mission organizations who have a rejecting attitude toward homosexuality.

D 25 May 2017    AKimmo Ketola

CNRS Unistra Dres Gsrl

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