Skevikarna

Last updated

Skevik's farm on the island Varmdon in the Stockholm archipelago outside Stockholm Skeviks gard.jpg
Skevik's farm on the island Värmdön in the Stockholm archipelago outside Stockholm

Skevikare, or Skevikarna, was a Swedish Radical Pietist Christian community founded in ca. 1722 by the "Eriksson brothers", two Swedish Army officers.

Contents

After initial prosecution by the Lutheran Orthodox authorities, they went on exile in Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands during 11 years. In 1745 they were allowed to return to Sweden, where they established the community on the island Värmdön in the Stockholm archipelago outside of Stockholm.

After having been accepted by the authorities, they received many visitors, including two of Sweden's kings, showing them the respect they were denied for so many years. After Pietism was accepted as a legitimate expression of Lutheranism by the state church authorities, the Skevikare community eventually disestablished around 1830.

The literature produced by the community remains preserved by the Royal Library in Stockholm.

History

Their history is one of the most intriguing of the Radical Pietistic movement in Scandinavia. It started about 1720 with the "Eriksson brothers" among the Swedish population of west Finland. These two former officers in the Swedish Army preached the Pietist spirituality, why they were soon brought before court, having denied some of the doctrines of the Lutheran Church of Sweden.

After a seven-year-long trial they arrived in Stockholm in 1733 to be officially exiled. But instead of awaiting the final decision, they asked for permission to leave the country immediately together with their 60 followers, which was accepted.

Exile

View over Altona (1850) Blick uber Altona 1850 Stich.jpg
View over Altona (1850)

They first left for Copenhagen, Denmark, but were not welcomed. So, a sailing ship was bought, and the whole community went aboard. At that time their movement had grown to about 90 persons, some coming over from Sweden and Finland, others joining in Denmark. Then for several years, they had to stay on the ship, sailing up and down the coasts of Denmark and Norway, very seldom allowed to anchor at any harbour. At one time they were being shot at from a town. Another time a woman needed to go ashore to get help to give birth to her child, which she was denied. At winter, they had to anchor outside a desolate coast and dig caves on the shore for the elderly to live in, because of the coldness aboard the ship. Finally, they came to Altona (then belonging to Denmark), a town where many Pietists and Mennonites were living, and could settle there. But not for long. They were too radical even for Altona, and had to leave, not finding a resting place anywhere. So they went to the Netherlands, and had about the same story there.

The Skevik period

View from Varmdo (1865), oil painting by King Karl XV (1826-1872) Varmdoutsikt.jpg
View from Värmdö (1865), oil painting by King Karl XV (1826–1872)

After 11 years of exile hardships living as strangers and pilgrims, they were allowed to return to Sweden in 1745. A wealthy salesman who admired them bought them a farm on the Värmdö island outside of Stockholm. At this farm, called Skevik, from which they got their name, they finally settled, and stayed there for the rest of their lives. From there they secretly distributed a lot of Pietistic and mystic literature, keeping in contact with other like-minded Christians all over Northern Europe.

During this time they had many visitors, among them even two of Sweden's kings, showing them the respect they were denied for so many years.

With the end of the Skevikare community around 1830, the Radical Pietistic movement in Sweden ceased. [1] [ citation needed ]

Practices

By the locals they were known also as the Främlingarna ('Strangers'), which they also called themselves, and were described as "hermits" wearing hooded coats and having long, loose hanging hair spread over their shoulders. When members of their community had died, they usually came to one of Stockholm's graveyards at night, leaving the body on the ground inside the church area's outer wall. Then the priest would bury the corpse the next day. This practice lead to the people of Stockholm beginning to tell ghost stories about that place at nights.

Legacy

Memorial stone for the Skevikarna outside of Church of Saint John in Stockholm Skevikssten.jpg
Memorial stone for the Skevikarna outside of Church of Saint John in Stockholm

There is also a large cave-like formation on Värmdö island, where the Skevikarna used to gather for prayer and meditation. This cave was used in a scene in Ingmar Bergman's movie The Seventh Seal (1957).

After the movement's demise, the farm was handed over to the local authorities, and the memory of the Skevikarna faded away. However, about half a century later, a newly arrived priest to the island was handed an old handwritten journal by a parishioner. When the priest sat down at home later in the evening, to read the book, he found that the Skevikarna had recorded their exile story, and he later made it into a small booklet. [2]

Much of their handwritten literature is preserved at the Royal Library in Stockholm and in Uppsala.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gustav Vasa</span> King of Sweden from 1523 to 1560

Gustav I, commonly known as Gustav Vasa, was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560, previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm (Riksföreståndare) from 1521, during the ongoing Swedish War of Liberation against King Christian II of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Gustav rose to lead the Swedish War of Liberation following the Stockholm Bloodbath, where his father was executed. Gustav's election as king on 6 June 1523 and his triumphant entry into Stockholm eleven days later marked Sweden's final secession from the Kalmar Union.

Pietism, also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christian life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Converge (United States)</span> Baptist denomination

Converge, formerly the Baptist General Conference (BGC) and Converge Worldwide, is a Baptist Christian denomination in the United States. It is affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance and the National Association of Evangelicals. The headquarters are in Orlando, Florida. The current president of Converge is John K. Jenkins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evangelical Covenant Church</span> North American Christian denomination

The Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) is a Radical Pietistic denomination of evangelical Christianity. The denomination has 129,015 members in 878 congregations and an average worship attendance of 219,000 people in the United States and Canada with ministries on five continents. Of Lutheran Pietist roots and founded in 1885 in North America by Swedish immigrants, the church is now one of the most rapidly growing and multi-ethnic denominations on the continent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High church Lutheranism</span> Movement in Lutheranism

High church Lutheranism is a movement that began in 20th-century Europe and emphasizes worship practices and doctrines that are similar to those found within Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Anglo-Catholicism. In the more general usage of the term, it describes the general high church characteristics of Lutheranism in Nordic and Baltic countries such as Sweden, Finland, Estonia and Latvia. The mentioned countries, once a part of the Swedish Empire, have more markedly preserved Catholic traditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mission Covenant Church of Sweden</span> Swedish Christian denomination

The Mission Covenant Church of Sweden, founded in 1878, was a Swedish evangelical free church in the Radical Pietist tradition. It was the second-largest Protestant denomination in Sweden, after the national church, the Church of Sweden. In 2011, the Mission Covenant Church of Sweden completed a merger with two other denominations, resulting in the new denomination Uniting Church in Sweden. The denomination was a member of the Swedish Free Church Council, the International Federation of Free Evangelical Churches, and the World Communion of Reformed Churches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valentin Ernst Löscher</span> German orthodox Lutheran theologian

Valentin Ernst Löscher was a German orthodox Lutheran theologian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Leopold</span> Swedish Pietist martyr

Thomas Leopold was one of the prophets and martyrs of the Swedish Pietist movement during the 18th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lars Ulstadius</span>

Lars Ulstadius, was a Finnish Pietist, who personified the first appearance of Radical Pietism in Finland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radical Pietism</span> Pietists who broke with Lutheranism

Radical Pietism are those Christian churches who decided to break with denominational Lutheranism in order to emphasize certain teachings regarding holy living. Radical Pietists contrast with Church Pietists, who chose to remain within their Lutheran denominational settings. Radical Pietists distinguish between true and false Christianity and hold that the latter is represented by established churches. They separated from established churches to form their own Christian denominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sven Rosén (Pietist)</span>

Sven Rosén (1708–1750) was a Radical-Pietistic writer and leader.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reformation in Denmark–Norway and Holstein</span> 16th century transition to Lutheranism

During the Reformation, the territories ruled by the Danish-based House of Oldenburg converted from Catholicism to Lutheranism. After the break-up of the Kalmar Union in 1521/1523, these realms included the kingdoms of Denmark and Norway and the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, whereby Denmark also extended over today's Gotland and Øsel in Estonia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fredrik Gabriel Hedberg</span> Finnish Lutheran pastor and vicar

Fredrik Gabriel Hedberg was a Finnish Lutheran pastor and vicar. He was a Neo-Lutheran theologian, a prominent figure in the Finnish evangelical revival movement and a leader of confessional Lutheranism in Finland.

Gråkoltarna was a religious mystic-apocalyptic sect within Radical Pietism, active in Stockholm in Sweden in the 1730s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Gustaf von Essen</span> Finnish priest (1815–1895)

Carl Gustaf von Essen was a Finnish Pietistic priest.

Peter Spaak was a Swedish Protestant Reformer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gustaf Palmquist</span> Swedish Baptist pastor (1812–1867)

Gustaf Palmquist, also Palmqvist, was a pioneer Swedish Baptist pastor and missionary in Sweden and the United States. He was one of three brothers, including Johannes and Per Palmqvist who were active early in the Baptist movement in Sweden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Läsare</span> Pietistic movement in Sweden and Finland

Läsare or the Reader movement was a Swedish Pietistic Christian revival movement of people who stressed the importance of reading, that is, reading the Bible and other Christian literature. It was influenced by both the Herrnhuters and the Methodists and has been described by scholar George M. Stephenson as a "second religious reformation in Sweden".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conventicle Act (Denmark–Norway)</span> Danish–Norwegian law regarding religion

The Conventicle Act was a decree issued 13 January 1741 by King Christian VI of Denmark and Norway and forbade lay preachers from holding religious services – conventicles – without the approval of the local Lutheran priest. The law was repealed in 1839 in Denmark and 1842 in Norway, which lay the groundwork for freedom of assembly.

The Mission Friends was an interdenominational Christian, mostly Pietist and Radical Pietist association in Sweden and among Swedish Americans in the United States, that eventually had an impact on several Protestant denominations and their missionary societies today, even outside of Lutheranism, the Swedish community, and the United States, eventually influencing other communities and forming new independent Radical Pietist, Baptist – especially Swedish Baptist – and later on Pentecostal and Charismatic free church denominations.

References

  1. While there were still some inhabitants left at the Skevik community, a French writer said this of them: "We will here make some mention of a sect called Skevikare, established at Wermdoeum, a little island near Stockholm. These people are the remains of those sectaries who, induced by the scruples of a timorous conscience, separated themselves from the Swedish church in 1738." (should be 1728). "When they first withdrew themselves from the established religion, they appeared to despise the public mode of worship, the sacraments, and still more, the priests; by which they necessarily drew upon themselves great persecutions, and were even banished the kingdom; but obtained permission in 1746 to reside in Wermdoeum, where they bought some lands called Skevik, from which they are generally named Skevikare. Many of their doctrines are whimsical, but their conduct is virtuous." – Travels through Denmark and Sweden. To which is prefixed, A journal of a voyage down the Elbe from Dresden to Hamburg, Pierre Marie Louis de Boisgelin de Kerdu, 1810.
  2. Gustaf Janzon, "Bidrag till Skevikarnes historia" (1866)