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Finland The Reformation
The Protestant Reformation that Martin Luther initiated
in
Germany in 1517 spread quickly to other countries. German
merchants, students, and missionaries soon brought
Lutheran
doctrines to Scandinavia, where for centuries German
influence
had been strong, and where, moreover, there was some
receptivity
to the new doctrines. By the time Luther died in 1546,
Lutheranism was firmly implanted in the Scandinavian
countries.
Sweden-Finland converted to Lutheranism largely through
the
efforts of Gustav I Vasa, who acted mainly for political
reasons,
especially in order to strengthen the monarchy. The
decisive
break with Rome took place in 1527 at the Riksdag held at
VasterAs. This acceptance of Lutheranism enabled Gustav I
Vasa,
with the help of the aristocracy, to break the political
power of
the Roman Catholic Church, which had stood in the way of
his
desire for a stronger centralized state. The confiscation
of
Church properties that accompanied the Reformation also
provided
an enormous economic windfall for both the aristocracy and
the
monarchy. Before the Reformation, the Church had owned
about onefifth of the land in Sweden.
In Finland there was little popular demand for the
Reformation because more than 90 percent of the homesteads
were
owned by the farmers, and the Church, which owned less
than 10
percent, used most of its income to support schools and
charities. Lutheranism was instituted without serious
opposition,
nevertheless. In part, this was attributable to the
gradual and
cautious manner in which Lutherans replaced Roman Catholic
doctrines while retaining many Catholic customs and
practices.
The Lutheran Church was not firmly established finally
until
1598, when the last Catholic king of Sweden-Finland,
Sigismund,
was driven from the throne.
The outstanding ecclesiastical figure of the
Reformation in
Finland was Mikael Agricola (1506-1557), who exerted a
great
influence on the subsequent development of the country.
Agricola
had studied under Luther at Wittenberg, and, recognizing
the
centrality of the Bible in the Reformation, he undertook
to
translate the Bible into Finnish. Agricola's translation
of the
New Testament was published in 1548. He wrote other
religious
works and translated parts of the Old Testament as well.
Because
Finnish had not appeared previously in print, Agricola is
regarded as the father of the Finnish literary language.
After
1554 he served as the bishop of Turku, the highest office
of the
Finnish church.
The Reformation brought two educational benefits to
Finland.
Its emphasis on religious instruction in the vernacular
languages
supported an increase in literacy, especially after the
Ecclesiastical Law of 1686 had confirmed royal control
over the
Lutheran Church of Sweden-Finland and had charged it with
teaching the catechism to each church member. Another
benefit of
the Reformation was the founding of Abo Academy in 1640 to
provide theological training for Finnish clergymen. Abo
Academy
was the precursor of the University of Helsinki, which
later
became the center of higher education in Finland and the
focus of
Finland's cultural life.
Data as of December 1988
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