The development of ELCF since the 1970's.docx

2020

The Faculty of Theology uses the Urkund system (plagiarism recognition) to examine all doctoral dissertations. Cover design: Topi Kairenius ISBN 978-951-51-6738-5 (pbk.) ISBN 978-951-51-6739-2 (PDF) Unigrafia Helsinki 2020 Conducting research in the field of ecumenical theology was not only theoretically ecumenical but also ecumenical in practice. Several national and international scholars and theologians have provided me platforms for ecumenical reflection on the topic of episkopé and ecumenism in general. I want to thank my colleagues in the standing committees of the Ecumenical Research Forum and Societas oecumenica, the members of the Joint Commission of Orthodox Lutheran dialogue, the members of Finnish Lutheran Pentecostal dialogue, and the teachers and students of the Global Ecumenical Theological Institute 2017, as well as the Strasbourg Ecumenical Institute and the Lutheran World Federation. Special thanks go to

Review of Ecumenical Studies Sibiu, 2020

The purpose of the article is to analyse the degree of theological diversity and coherency displayed by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland in theological dialogues with different Orthodox churches in the 2010s. The ELCF engaged in a bilateral dialogue with the Orthodox Church of Finland and the Russian Orthodox Church. Theological diversity and coherency are dependent on the composition of the delegations, in which gender balance and the chosen theological lines both play a role. The chosen theological line and gender balance are also interwoven.

This thesis gives a brief presentation of the church history climate in Finland in the 1800s and early 1900s and then goes deeper with enquires into the joint birth-history and theology of what is today the Evangelical Free Church of Finland (Suomen Vapaakirkko) and the Swedish speaking Evangelical Free Church of Finland (Missionskyrkan i Finland). The thesis looks into the historical events, revivals and theological views that helped pave the way for, and shaped, the Free Church movement in Finland. The thesis also touches on the denominational process of the Swedish speaking Evangelical Free Church of Finland as late as in the early 2000s. The aim of the thesis is achieved through historical research methods with primary and secondary written sources.

Estonian Lutheranism, with its institutions, forms of religious identity and theological re- search, has its own specific character. This singularity, however, comprises a combination of theological, social, political and historical aspects. One of the factors that has shaped and is characteristic of Estonian Lutheranism is its international dimension.The central question in the development of the international dimension of Estonian Lutheranism throughout the 20th century, which is being discussed in the article, is its influence on local religious identity. The history of foreign influence and how it relates to religious identity is the key to understanding the identity of the Estonian Lutheran Church in the 21st century.

2016

In 2013, she defended her thesis on the socioethical discussion on the ecumenical dialogue between the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Finland and the Russian Orthodox Church and received her ThD according to cotutelle-contract at the University of Eastern Finland and the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald (Germany). The dialogue between the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF) was one of two long-lasting Orthodox-Lutheran bilateral dialogues that crossed country borders in Europe. 1 This dialogue commenced in 1970 and lasted until 2014. There are plans to continue the dialogue in spring 2016. Between 1970 and 2014, the dialogue survived through significant changes of its societal context. The dialogue itself included many different doctrinal and socioethical themes, which were discussed from churches' theological points of view. The aim of this article is to present an overview of this dialogue, especially its societal connections and the reasons the dialogue changed and led to the current situation. To call the broken situation of the dialogue between the ROC and the ELCF as the end of this dialogue is a point of view that is not shared by the participant churches. In order to explain and justify this view, I will first present the ecumenical orientation of both churches in the 2000s. Second, I will present an overview of the dialogue's socioethical discussions 1 The other dialogue is the one between the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) and the Russian Orthodox Church, which commenced in 1959. Heiko Overmeyer has studied the theme of peace in the dialogues between the EKD and the ROC and those of the Bund der Evangelischen Kirchen in der DDR (BEK) and Russian Orthodox Church in: Heiko Overmeyer.

Because the signing of the Leuenberg Agreement in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF) was rejected specifically on theological grounds, it's appropriate to analyze the arguments theologically and to find out if the basic situation has, from this point of view, changed – not forgetting the practical side of the matter. 2 The main focus of this paper is on the systematic theological analysis of the decision made by the General Synod and on evaluating whether these arguments are still valid. Analysis of the church's political tendencies both now and then and of the general historical background as well as the innovating of new constructive solutions is left out. In the description of the general discussion, only the most important addresses, from the point of view of theological evaluation, are dealt with. The most important task here is to explicate the theological and ecumenical intentions lying behind the 1977 decision and to reflect on how the argumentation is congruent with the ecumenical line

Perichoresis, 2015

As the main religion of Finland, but also of entire Scandinavia, Lutheranism has a centuries-long history. Until 1809 Finland formed the eastern part of the Swedish Kingdom, from 1809 to 1917 it was a Grand Duchy within the Russian Empire, and in 1917 Finland gained independence. In the 1520s the Lutheran Reformation reached the Swedish realm and gradually Lutheranism was made the state religion in Sweden. In the 19th century the Emperor in Russia recognized the official Lutheran confession and the status of the Lutheran Church as a state church in Finland. In the 20th century Lutheran church leaders preferred to use the concept people’s church. The Lutheran Church is still the majority church. In the beginning of 2015, some 74 percent of all Finns were members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. In this issue of Perichoresis, Finnish historians interested in the role of church and Christian faith in society look at the religious history of Finland and Scandinavia. The ar...

My task is to reflect, as a systematic theologian, on the current status and future of Lutheranism based on Estonia’s example. My reflection consists of three parts and starts with the clarification of the concept of ‘Lutheranism’ and the methodological approach used for defining Lutheranism – the accessibility and comprehensibility of Lutheran identity for us. Next, I consider options for assessing the current status of Lutheranism and illustrate this by reflecting on the role of Lutheranism in present-day Estonia. Finally, I explicate the theologically profound and comprehensive significance of education for a projection of the future of Lutheranism – and Estonia – in the light of the current status of Lutheranism.