Sweden's Baptist History

From Erik Ruden's, "The Baptist Witness in Scandinavia and the North," Baptist Quarterly 28.2 (April 1979): 76-83.

1920's Swedish Baptist Church Bell Tower View Kiron Iowa IA RPPC Photo Postcard

Origin

Among the Pietists of the eighteenth century there were some who leaned towards faith in believers' baptism, but it was not until the 1840s that the Baptist doctrine gained a firm footing in the country. The impact came partly from the USA and partly from Germany. F. O. Nilsson (1809-1881), a Methodist and colporteur, was immersed by J. G. Oncken in Hamburg, and on 21st September 1848, the first Swedish Baptist church was organized in Borekulla on the west coast. The little flock suffered severe persecution, which culminated in Nilsson's banishment from the country in 1850. The sentence was strongly criticized in the liberal press, and Sweden became the object of some uncomplimentary attention abroad. The Swedish Minister in London wrote: "The English cannot conceive a free social order in which the principle of freedom or liberty of conscience is lacking to the extent that a person may be convicted for no greater an offence than having expressed a belief in a different form of Christianity from that prevailing in the land." Ten years later the sentence on Nilsson was rescinded.

Sweden’s Baptist Founder

The actual founder of the Baptist faith in Sweden and its great leader was Anders Wiberg (1816-1887), a former minister of the Lutheran Church. He resigned from his priestly office on account of his doubts about the Lutheran doctrine and was baptized in 1852. The uncompromising adherence to his conviction is shown in the preface of his book about Christian baptism, where he accounts for his faith: "I have no wish to be offensive and still less to be misjudged, ridiculed and condemned by God's people. But I cannot, in conflict with my conscience, distort the Scriptures to please folk or to preserve confidence and affection even among Christians. I have lost this world, I do not wish to lose the world to come as well!' (Wiberg's book, whose title may be translated Who should be baptized and what does baptism mean? was published in Stockholm in 1852.) The influence which Wiberg exerted was apparent in almost every sphere of the expanding Baptist movement. He proved himself to be a clear-thinking interpreter of Baptist faith and a brave defender of religious liberty. The repeated actions of the authorities against the Baptists contributed towards the fall of the old religious legislation.

The banishment of thousands of men and women was impossible, and in a few decades the traditions of hundreds of years were broken. Politically the Baptists were radicals. It was true that Baptists saw themselves first and foremost as a revival movement where the dominating interest was the salvation of the individual, but the condition of Swedish society stimulated practical social and political activity. In the beginning of the twentieth century eight Baptists were members of the Swedish Parliament (Riksdagen). During his twenty years as a MP the well known Baptist leader and publicist Jacob Bystrom (1857- 1947) was particularly engaged in matters related to religious liberty, national sobriety and social justice.

The Growth and Progress of the Baptist Union

The Baptist Union grew rapidly but outward progress and enthusiasm were not matched by inward maturity and firmness. The rise of "the new movement" (the Pentecostal movement), with its features of the outpouring of the Spirit, baptism in the Spirit and speaking in tongues, added thousands of new members to the Baptist churches but also created internal criticism and conflicts. In 1913 the Filadelfia Baptist Church in Stockholm was separated from the Baptist Union because it refused to conform to the doctrine of closed communion which prevailed in the union at that time. The decision of separation was a regrettable mistake with tragic consequences for the future.

Within the Baptist Union the "new movement" continued to thrive with Orebro as the centre and with John Ongman (1845-1931), pastor of the Filadelfia Baptist Church in Orebro, as the powerful leader of the Orebro Mission Society's extensive enterprise in Sweden and abroad. The rift between the Baptist Union and the Orebro Mission Society took place in the 1930s, after Ongman's death. In recent years, however, a many-sided cooperation has developed between the two conventions, particularly in the fields of pastoral training and foreign mission. The Orebromissionen (formerly called the Orebro Mission Society) has a Baptist profile but does not as yet belong to the Baptist World Alliance. The present membership of the Baptist Union is 22,480 in 443 churches and of the Orebromissionen 20,936 in 280 churches.

Bethel’s Seminary

Betelseminariet (the Bethel Seminary), the first institution on the European continent for training pastors, is at present in a period of dynamic development. More than forty pastoral candidates study at university level for three years, the Bible Institute receives a growing number of laymen for one-year courses, and a special department for church music, offering three-year courses, was opened in 1977. Other new departments are evening classes in biblical studies and advanced classes for ordained ministers. The total number of students is 127. The Foreign Mission acts in cooperation with independent church bodies in Zaire, India, Japan and Thailand. The missionary workers abroad number eighty-five in all. The activities within Sweden of the Baptist Social Mission are particularly focused on the problems of youth and of immigrants. The work abroad includes disaster relief and health projects. The Women's Association was formed in 1914 with the aim of giving financial assistance to pastors' widows and pastors' families hit by sickness. Today the association is working to support home and foreign mission projects, and has in recent years laid special emphasis on leadership training. The Youth Association has been active since 1905; and had a membership in 1978 of 22,866 children and young people in Sunday schools and various groups. "A home for everybody" is the overall theme for studies about the Christian fellowship, the meaning of the family, the earth as a home for all nations, etc. Sjoviks Folkhogskola (Folk High School) completed its fifty-seventh year in 1978. The new ordinance for this type of school extends the right of each school to create its own profile in regard to ideology and curriculum. Sjovik has also developed into an important place for conferences and courses. The number of regular students in 1978-79 is ninety-eight. The short courses last year were attended by 678 men and women.

Ecumencial Activity

With regard to ecumenical activity, it should be said that the idea of cooperation between local churches dominates over denominational planning in sparsely populated regions as well as in the new population centres. The Baptist Union is a member body of the Swedish Free Church Council (including its relief organization the Free Church Aid), the Swedish Mission Council and the Ecumenical Council. In 1951 the Swedish Parliament passed a law of religious liberty which, remarkably enough, was the first of its kind. It did not, however, change the Lutheran Church's status of being the Established Church. In the old Swedish society Christian politicians played a decisive role in the struggle to overcome social distress. Today Sweden faces the problems of alcohol and drugs, unemployment among young people and tendencies to racism, caused by an increasing influx of immigrants and political and religious refugees. The Jesus movement and the charismatic revival of the 1970s have had a good effect on the Swedish denominations and particularly on the young generation of the Swedish Lutheran Church. Several churches of the Swedish Baptist Union give thanks to the Lord for the blessings of the revival on individual members. We pray that the spiritual awakening may also have such an influence on today's generation of Christians that they take their responsibility in Swedish society as seriously as the members in the first six decades of the Baptist movement.¹

1. https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/bq/28-2_076.pdf