Lutheran Salvationists? The Development Towards Registration As an Independent Faith Community in the Salvation Army in Norway with Focus on the Period 1975-2005 |
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Author:
| Lydholm, Gudrun Maria |
Foreword by:
| Larsson, John |
Preface by:
| Green, Roger |
ISBN: | 978-1-4982-9788-2 |
Publication Date: | Mar 2017 |
Publisher: | Wipf & Stock Publishers
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Imprint: | Wipf and Stock |
Book Format: | Ebook |
List Price: | Contact Supplier contact
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Book Description:
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The idea of a state religion is seldom connected to religious freedom and liberal, modern, and democratic states. However, such a situation existed in Norway until 2012, when the Lutheran Church was the state church of Norway. A large majority of the population belonged to the church, even though the percentage in 2013 had fallen to well over seventy-five. The relationship between the church and minority religious movements demanded adaptation and compromises from the minority...
More DescriptionThe idea of a state religion is seldom connected to religious freedom and liberal, modern, and democratic states. However, such a situation existed in Norway until 2012, when the Lutheran Church was the state church of Norway. A large majority of the population belonged to the church, even though the percentage in 2013 had fallen to well over seventy-five. The relationship between the church and minority religious movements demanded adaptation and compromises from the minority churches. The Salvation Army's enculturation and accommodation during its 128-year history in Norway illustrates such a situation. The book examines how The Salvation Army accommodated itself both doctrinally as well as practically to the situation of a dominant state church. The study reveals such a close affiliation of Salvationists to the Norwegian Church as a state institution, that it raises the question of whether a concept of civil religion was implicitly present in Salvationists' view of the state church and their own adherence to the church. This situation also raises the question of what constitutes a real church. The book indicates the tension between Lutheran and Salvationist ecclesiology as well as the influence from the Lutheran Church.