Church of Norway - History

History

The Church of Norway traces its origins to the introduction of Christianity to Norway in the 9th century. Norway was Christianized as a result of mission from both the British Isles by Haakon I of Norway, Olaf I of Norway and from the Continent Ansgar. Still, it took several hundred years to convert Norway to Christianity, culminating on 29 July 1030 with the Battle of Stiklestad, where King Olaf II of Norway was killed. One year later, on 3 August 1031 he was canonised in Nidaros by Bishop Grimkell, and few years later enshrined in Nidaros Cathedral. After this Nidaros Cathedral with St. Olav's shrine became the major Nordic place of pilgrimage until the Lutheran reformation in 1537. Since 1568 Saint Olaf's grave in Nidaros has been unknown.

Saint Olaf is traditionally regarded as being responsible for the final conversion of Norway to Christianity, and is still seen as Norway's patron saint and "eternal king" (Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae). The Nordic churches were initially subordinate to the archbishop of Bremen, until a Nordic archdiocese of Lund was established in 1103. The separate Norwegian archdiocese of Nidaros (in today's Trondheim) was created in 1152, and by the end of the 12th century covered all of Norway, parts of present Sweden, Iceland, Greenland, the Isle of Man, the Orkney Islands, the Shetland Islands, the Faroe Islands, and the Hebrides.

Another place of medieval pilgrimage in Norway is the island of Selja on the northwest coast, with its memories of Saint Sunniva and its three monastery churches with evidently Celtic tradition similar to Skellig Michael.

The Reformation in Norway was accomplished by force in 1537 when Christian III of Denmark and Norway declared Lutheranism as the official religion of Norway and Denmark, sending the Roman Catholic Archbishop Olav Engelbrektsson into exile in Lier in the Netherlands (now in Belgium). Catholic priests were persecuted, monastic orders were suppressed, and the crown took over church property, while some churches were plundered and abandoned, even destroyed. Bishops (initially called superintendents) were appointed by the king. This brought forth the tight integration between church and state still prevalent today. After the introduction of absolute monarchy in 1660 all clerics were civil servants appointed by the king, but theological issues were left to the hierarchy of bishops and other clergy.

When Norway regained national independence from Denmark in 1814, the Norwegian Constitution recognized the Lutheran church as the State Church.

The pietism movement in Norway (embodied to a great extent by the Haugean movement fostered by Hans Nielsen Hauge) has served to reduce the distance between laity and clergy in Norway. In 1842, lay congregational meetings were accepted in church life, though initially with limited influence. In following years, a number of large Christian organizations were created; they still serve as a "second line" in Church structure. The most notable of these are the Norwegian Missionary Society and Norwegian Lutheran Mission.

After the Nazi Vidkun Quisling was made dictatorial head of state by the German occupiers during World War II, and introduced a number of controversial measures such as state-controlled education, the Church's bishops and the vast majority of the clergy disassociated themselves from the government in the Foundations of the Church (Kirkens Grunn) declaration of Easter 1942, stating that they would only function as pastors for their congregations, not as civil servants. The bishops were interned with deposed priests and theological candidates from 1943, but congregational life continued more or less as usual. For three years the Church of Norway was a church free of the State.

Since World War II, a number of structural changes have taken place within the Church of Norway, mostly to institutionalize lay participation in the life of the church.