Why is Scandinavia House hosting this website?Scandinavia House exists to support the tiny believing remnant in Scandinavia. It helps graduate students from Scandinavia study at Concordia Theological Seminary, providing low cost room and board. It also serves as a ‘liaison’ between that remnant and confessional Lutherans in America. This means we are very much aware of the spiritual situation in Scandinavia. In a word, it is catastrophic. The Church of Sweden leadership has abandoned the faith. Although there are remnants of believers, most churches are beautiful, empty whitewashed tombs in which the precious Gospel is no longer heard. Few people enter these magnificent tombs, aside from occasional concerts. This situation varies only slightly among the Scandinavian countries. We believe a primary cause of this catastrophe is the 500 years of State control of the Church. The way this occurred is briefly summarized elsewhere on this site. We believe America has been greatly blessed by our Freedom of Religion, and that separation of Church and State is primarily intended to protect the Church from the State’s encroachments. The spiritual devastation in Scandinavia is a horrifying example of what we can expect in the U.S. if the State is allowed to control the Church. Why is Scandinavia House hosting this site? Simply because we do not want to see the tragedy of Scandinavia repeated in America. |
Christopher C. Barnekov, PhD |
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