The History of Laestadianism in Norway by Orkana

THE HISTORY OF LAESTADIANISM IN NORWAY– AN INTRODUCTION

Bengt-Ove Andreassen, Roald E. Kristiansen and Rolf Inge Larsen

Orkana Akademisk

Bengt-Ove Andreassen, Roald E. Kristiansen, and Rolf Inge Larsen

Translated from Norwegian by Adam King | www.adamstekst.no

Originally published as Læstadianismens historie i Norge, Orkana Akademisk, 2024

Cover image: From a tent meeting in Kila in the 1930s. Photographer: Karl Mikalsen. Montage: Rolf Mathisen.

This publication has been supported by UiT The Arctic University of Norway and the Tromsø Research Foundation

ISBN: 978-82-8104-596-5

www.orkana.no post@orkana.no

THE EARLY REVIVAL PERIOD IN NORWAY (1845–1861)

Homeland of the revival

Although in the beginning Laestadianism belonged to Swedish ecclesiastical history, the revival spread so quickly across national borders that it can be said that the Cap of the North is the revival’s real homeland. The revival spread incredibly quickly. Its first adherents were mainly Kven and Sámi. This was probably owed to the fact that the Laestadian preachers, both those visiting and eventually those who lived there were themselves members of one of these two groups. It was only after 1870 that there were larger numbers of Norwegians.

Social context

The Laestadian revival came to Norway at a time of political and social unrest in Europe, which led to the rise of the 1848 revolutions, the labor movement, and the Crimean War, among other events. In religious terms, conditions in Norway

were somewhat different from the rest of Europe. Religious legislation was liberalized with the Dissenter Act and the abolition of the Conventicle Act, which afforded the opportunity for a more open display of religious practice both on an individual and an organizational level. The outcome quickly became apparent in the establishment of free church communities. A number of missionary organizations were founded within the state church. The influence of both Norwegian Haugianism and international catalysts contributed toward the emergence of a new form of Christian revivalism led by lay people. Laestadianism was one such catalyst.

The Laestadians marked themselves off from three areas of Norwegian society: a religious separation against the state church and dissident congregations, a cultural separation against social changes that were perceived as undesirable, and a political separation against certain aspects of the Norwegian political system such as Norwegianization. All these separations became the subject of debate in the public discourse. Nevertheless, talk of the revival was not marked solely by skepticism. Many were curious about what the revival was and why it was attracting so many people.

When Daniel B. Juell (1808–1855) arrived in Tromsø as its new bishop in 1849, the church had found a man who was well acquainted with revivals. Juell viewed the rise of religious fervor and zeal with both interest and sympathy, even though this could provoke considerable unrest in the church and in society. In the winter of 1849–50 he travelled to Kautokeino to investigate reports of the revival there. In his summary to the government he expressed the hope that the revival would benefit the local population and referred to Laestadius’ activities in Karesuando as a model for the fruit the revival could bear. But when Juell eventually realized that the revival was beginning to escalate, he asked the aging priest Nils Vibe Stockfleth to travel

to Kautokeino to calm tempers. He was not successful; while Stockfleth was kneeling before the altar during a service, one of the awoken crept up into the pulpit and cursed the priest. Following this the bishop shifted his strategy: disruptive revivals could present a great hazard and ought to dealt with firmly in order to preserve the public peace. This perception became characteristic of the official view of Laestadianism in the latter half of the nineteenth century.

Revival leaders and their work

The revival’s earliest leaders were – with the exception of Laestadius himself – mostly men of little education, but who felt called to preach by virtue of their religious conversion. Johan Raattamaa (1811–1899) became one of Laestadius’ foremost collaborators early on and was of great importance to the rise and spread of the revival.

In an autobiographical statement from 1847, Raattamaa reports that he was born to settler parents in Kuttainen in the parish of Karesuando. He was raised in a religious home, but soon developed other interests. In his youth he became seriously ill. This led to religious reflection, but without major consequences. At the age of seventeen he was confirmed by Laestadius, who understood that Raattamaa was a capable young man and therefore gave him extra tuition with a view to employing him as a teacher. This turned out well and Raattamaa began teaching Sámi children with great zeal.

Raattamaa was also a skilled organizer of revival circles. His home in Saivomuotka was called an “Academy of Lapland” because the Laestadian preachers would travel there when they needed clarification of questions about which they had doubts.

Juhani (Johan) Raattamaa took over leadership of the revival after Læstadius’ death. Photographer: Mia Green, Haparanda. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Despite the fact that the revival work was often subject to internal tensions, Raattamaa led the work in a unifying manner. His undisputed status within the revival is clear from a letter that the preacher Johan Takkinen wrote from Calumet in Michigan on January 1st, 1885 that was sent to preachers in Northern Troms and Finnmark. Takkinen wrote that Raattamaa had the best knowledge of the Bible and that he, in concert with the congregation, had led the revival for forty years. Raattamaa was therefore to be considered a “hero of faith” on the same level as Paul, and his disciples ought to be faithful to him and to each other.12

Saivomuotka also received visits from Norway, for example from men seeking authorization for their preaching activities.

Key preachers such as Peder Olsen Fjelldal (Meri-Pietari), Erik Johnsen (Junssan-Erkki), John Mikkelsen (Mikkola-Jomna) and many more visited Raattamaa’s home in order to be approved. From Saivomuotka, Raattamaa also wrote a number of letters to congregations at home and abroad. During conflicts, letters were often sent to Norway in which Raattamaa offered advice on how best to handle them. In this way he helped to keep the revival united while keeping a firm hand on the leadership.

Raattamaa was Finnish-speaking and sometimes needed help with gatherings where Swedish was the main language. He received such help from Mathilda Fogman (1835–1921) in Övertorneå, just south of Pajala. By virtue of her training as a midwife and her knowledge of languages, she acted as Raattamaa’s secretary and had the authority to write letters on his behalf. Many other employees also took part in the revival work. The work was performed in several ways: (1) via the mission schools Laestadius established in the northern lappmark, (2) via temperance campaigns, which drew the laypeople directly into the revival work, and (3) by a strong ethical emphasis on the need to live a Christian life.

Mission schools

In both Norway and Sweden there was a close relationship between school and church. When Laestadius was appointed provost in 1843, he was also given responsibility for creating a system to improve education for Sámi children in Torne lappmark. The work led to the establishment of a system of itinerant schools that Laestadius called “mission schools.” What was distinctive about these was that it was the school’s teachers who would move around, not the children. Laestadius himself employed the school’s teachers; the first to be hired was Johan Raattamaa to work in Lainio in 1848.

The mission schools became an important instrument for the revival because Laestadius found many of the teachers in the revivalist circles. At the time, Christianity was the most important school subject and the teaching of it was characterized by the preaching of repentance. The message was personalized and could lead to awakening among children. This practice had clear consequences.

The mission schools formed the basis for the development of the Laestadian tradition. The gatherings assumed their regular form against the backdrop of the way the mission schools worked. The preacher’s place behind a table at the front of the assembly room reflects the teacher’s place behind a desk. The form of the preaching is reminiscent of school teaching, with the teacher beginning from a text that is subsequently explained and expounded upon. Surrounding it all were other elements that also belonged to schools, e.g. prayer and the singing of hymns.

The temperance cause

After school, the schoolteachers gathered people for meetings where intensive revival work was carried out, partly in the form of campaigning for the temperance cause and partly as evangelical preaching. The latter was not really permitted since it contradicted the Conventicle Act (abolished in Sweden in 1858). However, Laestadius had argued in his priestal examination in 1843 that temperance work ought to be rooted in religious conversion.

Per Boreman describes the Laestadian temperance work as a battle against “the great dragon.” The social conditions in Lappmark were marked by widespread availability of alcohol, despite the fact that it had been forbidden to bring alcohol into Lappmark since 1842. Laestadian tradition has often placed great

emphasis on how Laestadian preaching entailed an implacable battle against the “dragon of liquor” and that the revival was largely successful in its efforts. Laestadius himself was at the forefront of this fight against the “dragon,” and many of his sermons address the dangers of alcohol abuse.

An example of how the lay preachers worked for the temperance cause is the first temperance preacher sent out by Laestadius. This was Johan Raattamaa’s brother, Pekka Raattamaa (1803–1888). Pekka himself had long struggled with alcohol abuse, but was eventually converted and took a vow of temperance. He then made himself available to Laestadius and in the fall of 1847 was sent to Jukkasjärvi as a preacher. He took with him some sermons from Laestadius which he was to read aloud. Pekka succeeded in his work and led a revival that came to affect the entire rural community. In his speeches, Pekka stressed how little attention people paid to drunkenness and the liquor trade, being more interested in profanity and punch-ups. They thought they shared Luther’s faith, but lacked Luther’s character. In this way, he maintained, most people walked around with their heads in heaven and their hearts in hell.13

Important collaborators in the revival work

We can single out three people among the most important itinerant preachers who were sent to Norway in the early days of the revival, all of them Sámi: Ieš-Pieti (Per Andersson Wasara, 1815–1896), Posti-Heikki (Henrik Nilsson Unga, 1819–1898) and Antin-Pieti (Per Anders Nutti, 1825–1898).

Ieš-Pieti’s winter residence was on the Finnish side in Peltovuoma in the municipality of Enontekiö, but he spent the summers in Northern Troms with his reindeer herd.

As he spoke three languages, he was in demand and often traveled on preaching tours to Balsfjord, Skjervøy and

Ieš-Pieti (Per Wasara) was a Finnish Sámi who had a summer residence in Northern Troms. He was one of the pioneers of the Laestadian revival in Northern Troms. Source: Hjalmar Westeson, Ödemarksprofetens lärjungar. Stockholm 1922, p. 111.

Nordreisa. He was among the first to join the revival in the mid-1840s and made donations toward Laestadius’ missionary work. After the unrest in Kautokeino in 1852, the office of the Bishop of Tromsø provided him with a salary for his preaching work. In Finland, he was appointed as a judge in Enontekiö’s district court, where he became involved in the campaign against alcohol abuse. When he was in Pajala in the winter, he often acted as a guide for Laestadius when the latter was on parish errands; he also acted as priest Aatu Laitinen’s spiritual guide after Laitinen had joined the Laestadian revival. Ieš-Pieti is buried at Eidebakken cemetery in Lyngseidet. A commemorative stone was erected there in 1974, paid for by the Karesuando congregation.

Posti-Heikki (1819–1898) from Lainiovuoma in Karesuando parish joined the revival at an early stage.

He worked a courier who served the monthly postal route between Alta and Karesuando via Kautokeino. On the Norwegian side of the border the route began in Bossekop, Western Finnmark’s most important marketplace, and it was probably in connection with the market there that the first emissaries from Lappmark began their work. Through Post-Heikki’s activities, the revival spread to circles around the Alta fjord.

Posti-Heikki (Henrik Nilsson Unga) was a Swedish Sámi and courier on the route between Alta and Karesuando, as well as one of Læstadius’ early collaborators. Source: Hjalmar Westeson, Ödemarksprofetens lärjungar. Stockholm 1922, p. 131.

Antin-Pieti (1825–1898) was one of Laestadius’ first colleagues.

He had his winter residence in Lainio but came to the Tromsø area, where the Nutti family had grazing rights for their reindeer herd, every summer. He is said to have become awoken when he attended one of Laestadius’ confirmations in 1845, but only came to faith in the spring of 1847 while he was living in Balsfjord. As a preacher his main area of activity was in Lyngen, but in the summers he visited congregations from Ofoten in the south to Varanger in the north. Laestadians in Northern Troms regard Antin-Pieti as their spiritual father.

Antin Pieti was from Karesuando and became very important to the spread of Laestadianism, especially to Northern Troms. Source: Hjalmar Westeson, Ödemarksprofetens lärjungar. Stockholm 1922, p. 85.

In addition to these three pioneers of the revival there were several other preachers who became important for the spread of the revival on the Norwegian side of the border. Two of them were the brothers Juha Mathis Siikavuopio (1828–1881) and Heikki Naimakka (1823–1909) from Karesuando parish. The former accompanied Antin-Pieti on his trip to Skibotn in 1848 when the revival was being introduced in Lyngen. He later settled in Skibotn. His brother also joined the revival at the end of the 1840s and became an important preacher, especially for Swedish migrants in Northern Troms.

Spread of the revival

Laestadianism came to Norway with the sending out of preachers and testimonial evangelism, two common forms of spreading the Christian message. The sending out of preachers is a deliberately action initiated by a congregation that has seen a need for the message to be spread to a specific place or people. This is missioning in its classic form. Evangelism is when the believers themselves cannot help but bear witness to what they have seen and heard, such as in the Bible’s account of the miracle of Pentecost in Jerusalem (Acts 4:20). In contrast to classical missioning, evangelism is a less organized activity. We can see that during Laestadius’ own lifetime the Laestadian revival took root in many places. The revival had a major impact in Øst-Finnmark, especially among the Kvens in Varanger. The revivals in Southern Finnmark/Ofoten grew as a result of the Sámi bringing the revivalist fervor with them when they arrived in the coastal areas with their reindeer herds. In Western Finnmark and Northern Troms the revival quickly established itself among immigrated Kvens and settled Sámi.

The Laestadian revival movement emerged around the priest Lars Levi Læstadius in Swedish lappmark in the mid-nineteenth century. In this book we follow the movement over to the Norwegian side of the border and show how it spread in Norway in the latter half of the nineteenth century, the splits it underwent, and how the different groups have continued up to the present. Topics such as ethnicity, politics, schooling, and the relationship with the official church are central to the way the movement developed.

This English edition is an abridged version of the original Norwegian work LæstadianismenshistorieiNorge.

ISBN 978-82-8104-596-5

Orkana Akademisk