Joel Halldorf is a fourth-generation Swedish Pentecostal, so it was natural for him when he became a historian of evangelical religion and politics to take a powerful interest in essentially the most famous figure in his tradition: Lewi Pethrus.
Born in 1884, Pethrus was a tireless, creative leader of a comparatively small religious group that received little notice on the time. After guiding the Swedish Pentecostal movement, Pethrus helped shape Swedish society by entering politics—something Pentecostals didn’t do back within the Nineteen Forties. Along the way in which, he founded a Christian newspaper and spoke out against secularism.
“If the church should learn one thing from Pethrus,” said Halldorf, “it’s that there isn’t a have to fear the lack of power, the lack of status, and marginalization. Because once you’re on the margin, you may do numerous creative things as a church.”
Halldorf, creator of Pentecostal Politics in a Secular World, spoke with CT about Pethrus’s lasting influence on his country, the impact of secularism on Swedish society, and the several political priorities of Swedish and US evangelicals.
Why was Lewi Pethrus such a very important figure in Sweden?
When some people want to know themselves, they go to a therapist. As a historian, I am going to the past. Lewi Pethrus was a number one architect of the movement that shaped me, my family, and my friends.
He was a charismatic figure and public speaker, so the gifts of the Holy Spirit, including reports of healings and speaking in tongues, were a very important a part of his ministry. Not only did Pethrus establish contacts and friendships all around the Swedish Pentecostal movement, he also created institutions that became pillars of the Pentecostal movement resembling Bible schools, a journal, songbooks, and conferences.
You discuss Pethrus’s surprising political transformation. How did that occur?
During World War I, Pethrus rose to turn out to be essentially the most distinguished leader of the Swedish Pentecostal movement. He viewed the war as a consequence of hedonism, arguing that individuals had turned away from God and society, and called on people to desert the sinking ship of this world, join Pentecostal congregations, and await the approaching coming of the Lord.
When World War II broke out about 20 years later, Pethrus saw that secularization had dire and ongoing consequences for society: war, authoritarian politics, and lack of spiritual freedom. This propelled him into working for the political reform of Swedish society. He was perhaps the primary Pentecostal leader on the earth to maneuver self-consciously into party politics on the national level.
What are the notable institutions that Pethrus began?
In the Nineteen Forties, Pethrus began a every day newspaper, Dagen, in addition to a radio station that broadcasted in Sweden. The country had very particular laws and a state monopoly on radio broadcasting. When Pentecostals were denied access to this state-sponsored radio, Pethrus challenged the law by pirate broadcasting, that’s, broadcasting via an offshore boat.
Pethrus’s political work also helped lay the muse for the Christian Democrat political party, which was founded within the Nineteen Sixties. Today, the Christian Democrats usually are not only represented within the Riksdag (Swedish parliament) but several members of the party also function ministers in the federal government. While the party has Christian roots and lots of of its representatives belong to different churches, they’ve developed a more secular and right-wing profile within the last decade.
Additionally, I don’t think there have ever been as many Pentecostals in Sweden’s government as there are today. This fascinating connection all began with Lewi Pethrus.
As for Dagen, it continues to be Sweden’s major Christian newspaper and has an ecumenical readership.
How did Pethrus advocate for his positions?
In Pethrus’s time, Sweden was moving toward a rational, secular, Enlightenment posture, particularly toward an infatuation with what’s referred to as the “Swedish sin,” a progressive posture toward sex and nudity. Pethrus publicly opposed sex, drugs, and rock ’’n’ roll, often debating his opponents within the media and writing books that planted the Pentecostal flag.
When it involves politics, what distinguishes Swedish evangelicals from Americans?
Having lived within the US during my years as a student, I’ve experienced several US presidential elections and discussed politics extensively with US friends who’re evangelical or Pentecostal. It’s a wierd experience as a European. When you come to the United States, there’s a lot in common—you recognize the services, the type of sermons, spiritual expressions, the hymns. Everything may be very recognizable until you begin talking about politics.
European evangelicals are inclined to view the role of presidency, especially the welfare state, quite in a different way from US evangelicals. To understand why, one must return 100 years and see that in Europe, lots of the churches, including Pentecostals, Evangelical Free churches, Baptists, and Methodists, were a part of larger social movements, resembling the employees’ movement and the temperance movement. These movements helped change Swedish society and other European countries within the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as they moved from monarchy and the old regime toward democracy.
Many of the evangelicals were within the liberal camp, working alongside the Social Democrats and against the conservative party, which desired to keep power within the hands of the king. This created an alliance that continued through the twentieth century. As a result, the politics of evangelical movements in Sweden are way more centrist. They are in the center—not right-wing and never socialist or Communist, but fairly liberal politically.
The state churches in England and France and even the Swedish Lutheran church supported the monarchy. They wouldn’t get onboard with democracy. That led to a lack of credibility for Christianity.
There’s a very important lesson here for Christians: If you, as a church, tie yourself to a political system or movement, after which that system loses credibility in society, because the monarchy did, you’ll go down with it.
US evangelicals have tied themselves very closely to 1 particular political party. If this party loses its public credibility, the evangelicals will lose their credibility too.
Where do Pentecostals and other Christians in Sweden align politically today?
There are three areas by which we are able to see distinctive Swedish Christian politics today as a legacy from Pethrus. First, they don’t wish to have a small state. Swedish Christians generally imagine there ought to be a powerful welfare state that may take care of the poor.
Second, Swedish Christians wish to have strong morality in society. For example, they imagine it ought to be difficult to get access to alcohol and medicines. They are more right-leaning on moral issues than on social issues.
Third, polls have shown that evangelicals in Sweden are literally more pro–environmental politics, pro-migration, and pro-pluralism than secular voters. If you ask Swedish voters, “Do you think that Muslims must have the correct to construct mosques in your city?” evangelicals might be more likely than other Swedish groups to say yes, because they imagine that religious freedom is important for their very own existence.
Modern Swedish society was created largely by the employees’ movement and the Social Democratic Party, with a powerful religious undercurrent. Now that we’re experiencing some post-secular revival in Sweden, religion is talked about and debated more. Pentecostal movements from Brazil and Africa are growing here, and Syrian Orthodox have entered the country.
What is it prefer to be an evangelical in Sweden today?
There’s a really complex picture here. We can see what sociologists call depersonalization, which implies individuals are moving away from religious traditions. It has turn out to be difficult to boost children in religious households, because secularization is accelerating. But we can also see a countermovement, because modernity has failed to satisfy its guarantees.
The promise of modernity was utopian societies with robust communities and a wealthy culture. While modernity has brought blessings, today we also struggle with social fragmentation, increasing mental illness, an limitless cultural war, and a wave of shallow entertainment. I think this has woke up a spiritual longing by which individuals are turning back toward religion and Christianity. However, this longing could possibly be utilized by politicians in search of something they will use as a tool to fill within the gap that religion seems to have left in society.
Would it’s fair to consider Pethrus as Sweden’s Billy Graham?
The existence of Billy Graham is an indication of how mainstream evangelicalism was in America during his time. This evangelist built close relationships with presidents and could possibly be called “America’s pastor,” as his biographer, Grant Wacker, has written.
Even though Pethrus shared lots of the visions of Graham, the Swedish public square didn’t have room for a Pentecostal pastor, and even an evangelical pastor, to take that position. If there was a non secular figurehead for society, it will be a representative of the Church of Sweden, the state church.
But also because he lived in such a secular nation, Pethrus was at all times “the opposite” in Swedish society. He never belonged to the bulk culture. On the one hand, he appreciated this position, because it gave him the liberty to challenge the mainstream and switch the Pentecostal movement into another counterculture. But however, Pethrus longed for social respectability. He loved to cite professors and distinguished politicians who said good things in regards to the movement. He desired to shape Swedish society beyond his own particular movement—very similar to Billy Graham did within the US. But Pethrus could never be a Swedish Billy Graham.
Right now, Pethrus is within the news because antisemitic comments he made within the Thirties have surfaced. What should we find out about this controversy?
While Swedish Pentecostals were troubled by the rise of Nazism, ideas related to this movement seeped into the revival. Pethrus was, as an example, concerned with the fate of the Jews, and saw the growing migration to Palestine as a achievement of biblical prophecies. Accordingly, he understood the persecution as a part of God’s plan, because it increased this migration—and he even suggested that the persecutions were a consequence of the sins of the Jewish people. This was a nasty case of victim blaming, in other words, and one which shows that antisemitism could be an integrated a part of Christian Zionism.
Pentecostals put a terrific emphasis on ethics, and when Pentecostals go into politics, they often do that with the ambition to create a society that reflects their biblical norms. But when this is finished through censorship, laws, and restrictions, they could find yourself near fascism.
In January 2004, a distinguished Pentecostal leader in a non secular community called Knutby sexually abused his young nanny and convinced her to murder his wife and their neighbor (who survived).
How did this incident affect your faith, the Pentecostal church, and the Christians around you?
During the Nineteen Nineties, there have been numerous renewal movements inside Swedish Pentecostalism that attracted young people, and the congregation in Knutby was one in every of these. What first gave the impression to be an isolated and tragic happening turned out to reflect a deeply unsound and sectarian environment, where a murder was orchestrated by the local Pentecostal pastor. The leadership of the Pentecostal church in Knutby manipulated their congregation through references to special revelation and esoteric interpretations of the Bible, and thus created a cesspool of sex, violence, humiliation, and even murders.
I used to be never personally part of those charismatic and experiential groups, but several of my friends were involved. Even if none of them went to Knutby, the events there showed how unsuitable things can go in sectarian groups who separate from the mainstream and check out to be, let’s consider, theologically progressive.
How did it affect the Pentecostal movement in Sweden overall?
It gave Pentecostalism a nasty status. I remember how local schools canceled their visits to an Easter play our congregation put up. These things happened all around the country.
Within the Pentecostal movement, it resulted in a powerful coming together. One of the legacies from Lewi Pethrus was a rejection of denominational structures, but Knutby made the necessity for a company and a few type of oversight over the congregations apparent.
Around this time, Karisma Center, one in every of the more controversial congregations in Stockholm, also collapsed, which helped tamper among the charismatic fervor from the Nineteen Nineties. The mainstream stepped up and tried to create order.
What style of impact can you continue to see today?
The tendency within the Pentecostal movement has been to emphasise that the events in Knutby were exceptional and reflections of the psychological setup of a corrupt local leadership. And, in fact, that is in some sense true. But there are still questions that should be asked: Why did Knutby attract so many young Pentecostals, and the way can the risks for manipulation that biblicism and charismatic authority bring with them be addressed? There has, unfortunately, been a reluctance to have these conversations.
What has the influx of immigrants meant for the church?
This has meant so much for the Pentecostal movement in Sweden. To begin with, many churches worked along with local authorities to search out housing and help for individuals who got here. By playing a constructive role here, relations with other local organizations were created, and among the trust that had been lost attributable to Knutby was rebuilt.
Pentecostal churches have also been in a position to add groups of Pentecostals from Africa, Asia, and Latin America to their congregations—they usually have also reached latest converts. This has given latest energy to the churches. But, in fact, pluralism of this type also has its challenges.
