Sweden was pagan Paganism is a blanket term used to refer to various polytheistic, non-Abrahamic religious traditions. Its exact definition may vary. It is primarily used in a historical context, referring to Greco-Roman polytheism as well as the polytheistic traditions of Europe before Christianization. In a wider sense, extended to contemporary religions, it before the 11th century, when the country underwent Christianization The historical phenomenon of Christianization, or Christianisation , is the conversion of individuals to Christianity or the conversion of entire peoples at once. It also includes the practice of converting native pagan practices and culture, pagan religious imagery, pagan sites and the pagan calendar to Christian uses, due to the Christian. From the Protestant Reformation The Protestant Reformation was the European Christian reform movement that established Protestantism as a constituent branch of contemporary Christianity. It began in 1517 when Martin Luther published The Ninety-Five Theses, and concluded in 1648 with the Treaty of Westphalia that ended one hundred and thirty-one years of consecutive European in the 1530s until 2000, the country was officially Lutheran Lutheranism is a theological movement to reform Christianity with the teaching of justification by grace through faith alone. Lutheranism identifies with the theology confessed in the Augsburg Confession and the other writings compiled in the Book of Concord. Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology, with the Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden is the largest Christian church in Sweden. The Church of Sweden professes the Lutheran branch of Christianity, and is a member of the Porvoo Communion. With 6,751,952 baptized members, it is the largest Lutheran church in the world, although combined, there are more Lutherans in the member churches of the Evangelical Church in (Swedish Swedish ( svenska ) is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the coast and on the Åland islands. It is to a considerable extent mutually intelligible with Norwegian and to a lesser extent with Danish (see especially "Classification"). Along: Svenska kyrkan) having the status of state church A state religion is a religious body or creed officially endorsed by the state. Practically, a state without a state religion is called a secular state. The term state church is associated with Christianity, and is sometimes used to denote a specific national branch of Christianity. Closely related to state churches are what sociologists call. As of 2008, 72.9% of the Swedes were members of the church, a drop of 1.4 % compared to 2007. Less than 4 percent of the Church of Sweden membership attends public worship during an average week; about 2 percent are regular attenders.^[1]

Numerous other religious groups are represented in the Swedish society. The history of the Jews in Sweden The history of Jews in Sweden can be traced back to the seventeenth century, as vouched for by church records at Stockholm, from which it appears that several Jews had been baptised into the Lutheran Church, a condition at that time imposed upon any Jew who desired to settle in Sweden. In 1681, for example, two Jews of Stockholm, Israel Mandel and can be traced back to the seventeenth century. Due to immigration, there is also a significant number of Muslims During the eighteenth century, Sweden formed an alliance with the Ottoman Empire. This, coupled with the fact that the Swedish king Carl XII lived under Ottoman protection from 1709 to 1714, made the Swedes interested in Islam. Soon, Sweden granted freedom of worship to Muslims. During the eighteenth century, many dissertations about Islam were, as well as Syriac Christians Syriac Christianity comprises multiple Christian traditions of Eastern Christianity. With a history going back to the early centuries of Christianity, in modern times it is represented by denominations primarily in the Middle East and in Kerala, India. Services in this tradition tend to feature liturgical use of ancient Syriac, a dialect related. Immigration, most notably from Poland Poland /ˈpəʊlənd/ (Polish: Polska), officially the Republic of Poland (Rzeczpospolita Polska), is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north. The total area of and former Yugoslavia Yugoslavia is a term that describes three political entities that existed successively on the western part of Balkan Peninsula in Europe, during most of the 20th century, is also the reason behind the fast growth of the Catholic Church in Sweden The Roman Catholic Church in Sweden or simply the Catholic Church in Sweden, is a relatively small but growing branch of the Catholic Church, constituting 2% of the population of the predominantly Lutheran country of Sweden. It is one of the fastest growing Catholic Churches in Europe, despite the wide-spread secularism in Sweden.

Norse Paganism

Before the 11th century, Swedes adhered to Norse paganism Norse paganism is a term used to describe the religious traditions which were common amongst the Germanic tribes living in Nordic countries prior to and during the Christianization of Northern Europe. Norse paganism is therefore a subset of Germanic paganism, which was practiced in the lands inhabited by the Germanic tribes across most of Northern, worshipping Æsir In Old Norse, áss is the term denoting a member of the principal groups of gods of the pantheon of Norse paganism. They include many of the major figures, such as Odin, Frigg, Thor, Baldr and Tyr. They are one of the two groups of gods, the other being the Vanir. In Norse mythology, the two are described as having waged war against one another in gods, with its centre at the Temple in Uppsala The Temple at Uppsala was a religious center in Norse paganism once located at what is now Gamla Uppsala , Sweden attested in Adam of Bremen's 11th century work Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum and in Heimskringla, written by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century. Theories have been proposed about the implications of the descriptions of. The shape and location of this temple is sparsely documented, but it is referenced in the Norse sagas The sagas , are stories about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history, about early Viking voyages, about migration to Iceland, and of feuds between Icelandic families. They were written in the Old Norse language, mainly in Iceland and Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum Gesta Danorum is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th century author Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Literate", literally "the Grammarian"). It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark and is an essential source for the nation's early history. It is also one of the oldest known written documents, and is also described by Adam of Bremen Adam of Bremen was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. He is most famous for his chronicle Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum (Deeds of Bishops of the Hamburg Church). It was probably destroyed by King Ingold I in 1087 during the last known battle between the pagans and the Christians.

While Norse mythology Norse mythology has its roots in Proto-Norse Nordic prehistory. It flourished during the Viking Age and following the Christianization of Scandinavia during the High Middle Ages passed into Nordic folklore, some aspects surviving to the modern day as a distinct religion was officially abandoned following the Christianization of Scandinavia The Christianization of Scandinavia took place between the 8th and the 12th century. The realms of Scandinavia proper, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, established their own Archdioceses, responsible directly to the Pope, in 1104, 1154 and 1164, respectively. The conversion to Christianity of the Scandinavian people would require more time, since it, belief in many of its mythological creatures A legendary creature is a mythological or folkloric creature such as "tomtar A tomte (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈtɔ̀mːtɛ]) or nisse (Danish) (pronounced [ˈnìsːɛ]) is a mythical creature of Scandinavian folklore. Tomte or Nisse were believed to take care of a farmer's home and children and protect them from misfortune, in particular at night, when the housefolk were asleep. The Swedish name tomte is derived from a", trolls Originally more or less the Nordic equivalents of giants, although often smaller in size, the different depictions have come to range from the fiendish giants – similar to the ogres of England – to a devious, more human-like folk of the wilderness, living underground in hills, caves or mounds. In the Faroe islands, Orkney and Shetland tales, and dwarves Dvergar or Norse dwarves are highly significant entities in Norse mythology, who associate with rocks, the earth, deathliness, luck, technology and forging. They are identified with Svartálfar ('black elves'), and Døkkálfar ('dark elves'), due to their apparently interchangeable use in early texts such as the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda lived on for long time in Scandinavian folklore Scandinavian folklore is the folklore of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and the Swedish speaking parts of Finland.

As of 2009, there exists a small number of practicing neo-pagans Germanic Neopaganism is the modern revival of historical Germanic paganism. Precursor movements appeared in the early 20th century in Germany and Austria. A second wave of revival began in the early 1970s adhering to the faiths and customs of Norse mythology Norse mythology has its roots in Proto-Norse Nordic prehistory. It flourished during the Viking Age and following the Christianization of Scandinavia during the High Middle Ages passed into Nordic folklore, some aspects surviving to the modern day, including the nonprofit organization Swedish Asatru Assembly.

Christianization of Sweden

The earliest campaign to Christianize The historical phenomenon of Christianization, or Christianisation , is the conversion of individuals to Christianity or the conversion of entire peoples at once. It also includes the practice of converting native pagan practices and culture, pagan religious imagery, pagan sites and the pagan calendar to Christian uses, due to the Christian the territories that form what today is the country of Sweden was made by the monk Ansgar Saint Ansgar, Anskar or Oscar, was an Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen. The see of Hamburg was designated a "Mission to bring Christianity to the North", and Ansgar became known as the "Apostle of the North" (801–865). Making his first visit to Birka During the Viking Age, Birka listen (Birca in medieval sources), on the island of Björkö (literally: "Birch Island") in Sweden, was an important trading center which handled goods from Scandinavia as well as Central and Eastern Europe and the Orient. Björkö is located in Lake Mälaren, 30 kilometers West of Stockholm, in the in 829, he was granted permission to build a church. In 831, he returned home and became Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen, with responsibility for Christianity in the north. Around 850, he came back to Birka, where the original congregation had been shattered. Ansgar tried to reestablish it, but it only lasted a few years. During the following hundred years, attempts at Christianization would largely fail.

Christianity first gained a hold in Västergötland Västergötland is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (landskap in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden. In older English literature one may also encounter the Latinized version Westro Gothia, some time shortly before or around the turn of the millennium. According to Adam of Bremen Adam of Bremen was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. He is most famous for his chronicle Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum (Deeds of Bishops of the Hamburg Church), the Christian king Olof Skötkonung, who ruled from c. 995 to c. 1022 was forced to limit Christian activities to the western province. When King Stenkil ascended to the throne in 1060 Christianity was firmly established throughout most of Sweden, although the people of Uppland Uppland ( listen ) (Uplandia) is a historical province or landskap on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic sea. It has an extremely short and strangely shaped land border with Åland, an autonomous province of resisted the new religion.

The last king adhering to the old religion was Blot-Sweyn Sweyn was a Swedish king c. 1080, who replaced his Christian brother-in-law Inge as King of Sweden, when Inge had refused to administer the blóts (pagan sacrifices) at the Temple at Uppsala. There is no mention of Sweyn in the regnal list of the Westrogothic law, which suggests that his rule did not reach Västergötland. According to Swedish, who reigned 1084–1087. A national church of Sweden was not organized until the middle of the 12th century, during the reign of Eric the Saint Eric IX of Sweden (c. 1120 – May 18, 1160) was a Swedish king c.1150 – 1160. No historical records of Eric have survived, and all information about him is based on later legends that were aimed at having him established as a saint (1150–1160). According to legend, Erik also undertook the First Swedish Crusade, a military expedition aiming to convert the Finns Finnish Paganism and Catholic Christianity from 1050 until 16th century Today predominantly Protestant ; to Christianity and conquering Finland Finland (pronounced /ˈfɪnlənd/ ), officially the Republic of Finland Finnish: Suomi; Swedish: Finland (help·info), is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden on the west, Norway on the north and Russia on the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland as Swedish territory. (However, no archeological data or written sources seem to support the legend. The diocese and bishop of Finland are not listed among their Swedish counterparts before the 1250s.)

Pre-Reformation Swedish religious leaders----including Bridget of Sweden, founder of the continuously functioning Roman Catholic cloister at Vadstena----continue to be held in high regard by the population as a whole. Her nunnery at Vadstena is one of Sweden's pre-eminent tourist attractions.

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation in Sweden is generally regarded as a political tool used by the king to secure control over the church and its assets. Shortly after Gustav Vasa was elected king in 1521, he requested that the Pope would confirm Johannes Magnus as Archbishop of Sweden, replacing Gustav Trolle, who had supported the Danish king Christian II and was convicted for treason. When the Pope refused, Gustav Vasa started to promote the Swedish Lutheran reformers Olaus, Laurentius Petri, and Laurentius Andreae. Gustav Trolle was eventually forced into exile, and soon all ecclesiastical property was transferred to the Crown. The ties with Rome were cut, and in 1531 Laurentius Petri was elected the first Protestant primate of Sweden.

Originally, no changes were made to official church doctrine. Gradually, in spite of popular protests against the introduction of "Luthery", teachings were aligned with continental Protestantism. King John III of Sweden, one of Gustav Vasa's sons, later took measures to bring the Church back towards Catholicism. However, after his death, his brother, Duke Charles summoned the Uppsala Synod in 1593, which declared Holy Scripture the sole guideline for faith, with four documents accepted as faithful and authoritative explanations of it: the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, and the unaltered Augsburg Confession of 1530.^[2]

The move put Charles at odds with the heir to the throne, his nephew Sigismund III Vasa, who was raised in the Catholic faith. Although Sigismund promised to uphold Lutheranism, Duke Charles aspirations to power led to the War against Sigismund, a power struggle that was effectively decided at the Battle of Stångebro in 1598, in favour of Charles - and Protestantism.

During the era following the Reformation, usually known as the period of Lutheran Orthodoxy, small groups of non-Lutherans, especially Calvinist Dutchmen, the Moravian Church and Walloons or French Huguenots from Belgium, played a significant role in trade and industry, and were quietly tolerated as long as they kept a low religious profile. The Sami originally had their own shamanistic religion, but they were converted to Lutheranism by Swedish missionaries in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Liberalization and other faiths

Not until liberalization in the late 18th century, however, were believers of other faiths, including Judaism and Catholicism, allowed to openly live and work in Sweden, although it remained illegal until 1860 for Lutheran Swedes to convert to another religion.

Islam in Sweden

During the eighteenth century, Sweden formed an alliance with the Ottoman Empire. This, coupled with the fact that the Swedish king Carl XII lived under Ottoman protection from 1709 to 1714, made the Swedes interested in Islam. Soon, Sweden granted freedom of worship to Muslims. The Baltic Tatars were the first Muslim group in modern Sweden. The faith arrived in the country primarily through immigration from countries with large Muslim populations (such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Morocco, Iraq, Iran and Somalia) in the late 20th century. Although there are no official statistics of Muslims in Sweden, estimates counts 300 000 – 350 000 ethnic Muslims in the year 2000.^[3]

Free churches

The 19th century saw the arrival of various evangelical free churches, and, towards the end of the century secularism, leading many to distance themselves from Church rituals. Leaving the Church of Sweden became legal with the so-called dissenter law of 1860, but only under the provision of entering another denomination. The right to stand outside any religious denomination was established in the Law on Freedom of Religion in 1951.

Today, the Swedish Free Church Council (Swedish: Sveriges Frikyrkosamråd) organizes free churches in Sweden, belonging to various Protestant denominations: Baptists, Methodists, Reformed, Pentecostal etc. In total the member churches have around 250,000 members. The largest member church is the Mission Covenant Church of Sweden, with approximately 65,000 members

Religion in Sweden today

The constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respects this right in practice.^{[citation needed]} The Government at all levels seeks to protect this right in full and does not tolerate its abuse, either by governmental or private actors.^{[citation needed]} The rights and freedoms enumerated in the constitution include the rights to practice one's religion and protection of religious freedom. The laws concerning religious freedoms are generally observed and enforced at all government levels and by the courts in a non-discriminatory fashion. Legal protections cover discrimination or persecution by private actors.^[5]

At the end of 2008, 72,9%^[1] of Swedes belong to the Church of Sweden, a number that is decreasing by about one per cent every year, and Church of Sweden services are sparsely attended (hovering in the single digit percentages of the population).^[6] The reason for the large number of inactive members is partly that until 1996, children became members automatically at birth if at least one of their parents were a member. Since 1996, only children that are baptised become members. In 2009, nearly 72,000 Swedes left the Church of Sweden, considerably more than in 2008 when 50,504 Swedes left the Church of Sweden ^[7]. Some 275,000 Swedes are today members of various free churches (where congregation attendance is much higher), and, in addition, immigration has meant that there are now some 92,000 Roman Catholics and 100,000 Eastern Orthodox Christians living in Sweden.^[8] Due to immigration, Sweden also has a significant Muslim population. As many as 500,000 are Muslims by tradition^[9] and between 80,000 - 400,000 of these are practicing Muslims. (See also Islam in Sweden)

Eight recognized religious denominations, in addition to the Church of Sweden, raise revenues through member-contributions made through the national tax system. All recognized denominations are entitled to direct government financial support, contributions made through the national tax system, or a mix of both. Since the population is predominantly Christian, certain Christian religious holy days are national holidays. School students from minority religious backgrounds are entitled to take relevant religious holidays.^[5]

No recognition or registration is required to carry out religious activity. Religious groups that want to receive government aid may apply for it. The Government considers the number of members in the group and its length of establishment, but applies no specific criteria.^[5]

Religious education covering all major world religions is compulsory in public schools. Parents may send their children to independent religious schools, all of which receive government subsidies, provided they adhere to government guidelines on core academic curriculum.^[5]

The Office of the Ombudsman against Ethnic Discrimination investigates claims of discrimination "due to race, skin color, national or ethnic origin, or religion." Discrimination on religious grounds is illegal, including discrimination in the work place and in the provision of public and private services.^[5]

According to the most recent Eurobarometer Poll 2005,^[10]

• 23% of Swedish citizens responded that "they believe there is a God".

• 53% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force".

• 23% answered that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life force".

Phil Zuckerman, an Associate Professor of Sociology at Pitzer College writes of several academic sources who have in recent years placed atheism rates in Sweden between 46% and 85%, with one source reporting that only 17% of respondents self-identified as "atheist".^[11]

Sweden ranks aside with France, South Korea, Japan, Czech Republic and the Netherlands on having a large minority or even majority of its citizens who have no religion. An article on Sweden's official website asserts that that just three out of 10 Swedes state that they have confidence in the church. The article lists the following facts about religion in Sweden:

• Almost 8 out of 10 Swedes are members of the Church of Sweden - 7 million.
• Only 1 in 10 Swedes thinks religion is important in daily life.
• Around 7 out of 10 children are christened in the Church of Sweden.
• Just over 5 out of 10 weddings take place in church.
• Almost 9 out of 10 Swedes have Christian burials.
• Islam has around 130,000 adherents in Sweden (more according to Muslim sources).^[12]

See also

• Christianization of Scandinavia
• Church of Sweden
• Roman Catholicism in Sweden
• History of the Jews in Sweden
• Islam in Sweden
• Bahá'í Faith in Sweden
• Buddhism in Sweden
• Religion in Europe
• Religion by country
• Demographics of atheism

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Church of Sweden statistics
2. ^ N.F. Lutheran Cyclopedia, article, "Upsala, Diet of", New York: Schrivner, 1899. p. 528-9.
3. ^ Åke Sander (2004), “Muslims in Sweden”, in Muhammad Anwar, Jochen Blaschke and Åke Sander, State Policies Towards Muslim Minorities: Sweden, Great Britain and Germany, Berlin : Parabolis; pp.218-224
4. ^ (Swedish)Svenska Kyrkan Statistiek pagina Medlemmar 1972-2008 excel file
5. ^ ^{a b c d e} "International Religious Freedom Report 2006 - Sweden". U.S. Department of State - Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. 2006. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71410.htm. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
6. ^ Church of Sweden, Members 1972-2007, PDF document in Swedish
7. ^ In- & utträden 2003 - 2009 pdf
8. ^ Statistics about free churches and immigration churches from Swedish Wikipedia - in Swedish
9. ^ Swedish Newspaper - in Swedish
10. ^ "Eurobarometer on Social Values, Science and technology 2005 - page 11" (PDF). http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_225_report_en.pdf. Retrieved 2007-05-05.
11. ^ Zuckerman, Phil (2006). "Atheism—Contemporary numbers and Practices". in Michael Martin. The Cambridge Companion to Atheism. Cambridge University Press -. pp. 47–50. ISBN 0521842700. http://books.google.com/books?id=tAeFipOVx4MC&pg=PA47&dq=%22cambridge+companion+to+atheism%22&psp=1&sig=xERpBqAy_zS2ZXsRyR0TaJOvDSk#PPA47,M1. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
12. ^ Celsing, Charlotte. Are Swedes losing their religion? Sweden.se, 1 September 2006. Retrieved 20 February 2010.

External links

• Church of Sweden - Official site
• Eurel: sociological and legal data on religions in Europe

Categories: Religion in Sweden

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