Kontinuitet och förändring i Svenska kyrkans identitet

Abstract

Continuity and Change in the Identity of the Church of Sweden

In the Christian church nothing is right simply because it is old and has been done «always» or because it is new and fresh. As shown already in the New Testament, both continuity and change need to be evaluated, as they both can shape true Christian identity — and deform it.

The most thorough-going change in the history of the Church of Sweden is its 16th century reformation which resulted in both gains and losses for its identity. This complex package of changes gained a greater awareness of the Christian faith through the use of the vernacular, and a restoration of the primacy of Scripture and thereby of Catholic balance and structure. But it also led to a loss of freedom and unity with the Church universal, an unsound subordination under national political power, and a weakening of the magisterium.

The article discusses present and future changes that do not hurt the identity of our church and those that do. Disestablishment belongs to the former category, as well as the fact that this church is no longer (if ever) a «folk church». What really hurts the Christian identity of the Church of Sweden is the politicization of its constitution and leadership (named «democratiza-tion»), together with its steadily decreasing amount of substantial faith, i.e. faith really believed and defended against competing ideas and norms.