Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 9.djvu/503

 LUTHl&AMISM

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LUTH1RANI8M

eame Lutheran during the re^pis of Frederick I and Omstian III. Rationalism, mtroduced from Den- mark, made great progress in Norway. It was op- poeea by Hauge and by Norwegian followers of Qrundtvig. A Free Apostolic Churcn was founded by Adolph Lammers about 1850, but later reunited with ibe state church. Norway passed laws of toleration in 1845, but still excludes the Jesuits.

(c) Sweden was freed from the Danish yoke by Guistavus Vasa in 1521, and two years later the liberator was chosen king. Almost from the outset of hiB reign he showed himself favourable to Lutherans, and by cunning and violence succeeded in introducing the new religion into his kingdom. In 1529 the Refor- mation was formally estabQshed by the Assembly of &ebro, and in 1544 the ancient Faith was put under the ban'6f the law. The reign of Eric XI V (1560-8) was marked by violent conflicts between the Luther- ans and the Cal vinists. The latter party was favoured hy ibe king, and their defeat in 1568 was followed by ^c's detlm)nement. His successor, John III (1568- 92), conferred with Gre^oiy XIII on a reimion of Sweden with the Cathohc Church, but, as the pope oould not grant all the concessions demanded by the Idng, the negotiations were unsuccessful. The next king, Sigismund (1592-1604), was a Catholic, but, as he fived in Poland (of which he was king from 1587), the Government of Sweden was administered by his uncle Duke Charles of Sudermanland, a zealous Luth- eran, who used the power at his command to secure his proclamation as King Charles IX in the Assembly of Nordkoeping (1604). The successor of Charles was the famous general and statesman, Gustavus Adol- phus (1611-32). For the nart he took in the Thirty Years War, he is venerated by Lutherans as the reli- gious hero of their Church, but it is now admitted that reasons of state led Gustavus into that conflict. He was succeeded by his only daughter Christina, who became a Catholic and abdicatea in 1654. By a law of 1686 all persons in the kingdom were required under severe penalties to conform to the state Church. A law pa^ed in 1726 against religious conventicles was rigidly enforced against the Swedish Pietists (Ldaare) from 1803 till its repeal in 1853. The law against reU-

e'ous dissidents was not removed from the statute M)ks till 1873. The Swedish Church is entirely con- tndled by ^e state, and the strict orthodoxy which was enforced prevented at first any serious inroads of RationaJism. But since 1866 there has formed within the state Chm-ch a *' progressive partv'', whose pur- pose is to abandon all symbols and to laicize the church. The two universities of Upsala and Lund are ortjiodox. The Grand Duchy of Finland, formerly united to Sweden, but now (since 1809) a Province of Russia, maintains Lutheranism as the national Church.

^3) Lutheranism in Other Countries of Europe, — (a) P<Maiid. — Lutheranism was introduced into Poland during the reign of Sigismimd I (1501-48) by young men who had made their studies at Wittenberg. The new teachings were opposed by the king, but had the powerful support of the nobility. From Danzig they spread to the cities of Thorn and Elbing, and, during tne reign of Sigismund II (1548-72), steadily gained eround. A union symbol was drawn up and sizned by thie Protestants at Sandomir in 1570, and three years later they concluded a religious peace with the Catholics, in which it was agreed that all parties should enjov equal civil rights. The peace was not lasting, and dining two centuries there was almost continual religious strife which finally led to the down- fall of the kingdom. With the connivance of Poland, Lutheranism was established in the territories of the Teutonic Order, East Prussia (1525), Livonia (1539), and Courland (1561).

(b) Hungary, Transylvania and Silesia. — ^Theteach- ingp of Luther were first propagated in these countries

durihjg the reifli of King Louis II of Hungary and Bohe* mia (1516-26;. The king was strongly opposed to religious innovation, but after his death civil discords enabled the new doctrine to gain headway. In Silesia Lutheranism was protected by the dukes, and in 1524 it was established in Breslau, the capital, by the municipal council. Freedom bf worship was granted in Transylvania in 1545, and in Hungary in 1606. The Lutherans were soon involved in quarrels with the Calvinists. The German element among the Protestants favoured the Augsburg Confession, but the Reformed faith had more adherents among the Hungarians and Czechs. In Silesia the Lutherans then^dives were divided on the doctrine of justifica- tion and the Eucharist. Caspar Schwenkfeld (d. 1561), one of the earliest disciples of Luther, assailed his master's doctrine on these points, and as early as 1528 Schwenkfeldianism had many adherents among Lutherans. The memory of Schwenkfeld is still held in veneration in Silesia and in some Lutheran com- munities of Pennsylvania. Lutheranism made some gains in the hereaitary states of Austria and in Bo- hemia during the reigns of Ferdinand I (1556-64) and Bfaximilian II (1564-76). The Lutherans of Bo- hemia rebelled against the imperial authority in 1618, but were defeated, and the Catholic Faith was pre- served in the Hapsburg dominions. (See Aubtro- HuNGARiAN Monarchy; Hungary.)

(c) Holland was one of the first countries to receive the doctrines of Luther. Emperor Charles V, anxious to avert the disorders which foUowed the Reformation in Germany, used great severity asainst those who prop>ajKated Lutheranism in the Netherlands. His son, Philip II of Spain (1556-98), was still more rig- orous. The measures he employed were often des- potic and unjust, and the people rose in a rebellion (1568), by which Holland was lost to Spain. Mean- while the relations between the Lutherans and Cal- vinists were anything but cordial. The Reformed party gradually gained the ascendancy, and, when the republic was established, their political suprem- acy enabled them to subject the Lutherans to many annoying restrictions. The Dutch Lutherans fell a prey to Rationalism in the eighteenth century. A number of the churches and pastors separated from the main body to adhere more closely to the Augsbui^ Confession. The liberal party has a theological semi- nary (founded in 1816) at Amsterdam, while the orthodox provide for theological training by lectures in ^e university of the same city.

(4) Lutherans in America. — (a) Period of Founda- tion (1624-1742). — Lutherans were among the ear- liest European settlers on this continent. Their first representatives came from Holland to the Dutch col- ony of New Netherlands about 1624. Under Governor Stuyvesant they were obliged to conform to the Re- formed services, but freedom of worship was obtained when New Amsterdam (New York) was captured by the English in 1664. The second distinct body of Lutherans in America arrived from Sweden in 1637. Two years later they had a minister and organized at Fort Christina (now Wilmington, Delaware), the first Lutheran congregation in the New World. After 1771 the Swedes of Delaware and Pennsylvania dis- solved their union with the Mother CJhurch of Sweden. As they had no English-speaking ministers, they chose their pastors from the Episcopalian Church. Since 1846 tnese congregations nave declared full commun- ion with the Episco(MJians. The first colony of Ger- man Lutherans was from the Palatinate. They ar- rived in 1693 and founded German town, now a part of Philadelphia. During the eighteenth century large numbers of Lutheran emigrants from Alsace, the Palatinate, and WOrtemberg settled along the Hudson Riv^r. Gn the Atlantic coast, in New Jersey, Vir- ginia, North and South Carolina, were many isolated groups of German Lutherans. A colony of Lutherans