Lögberg-Heimskringla - 23.04.1999, Síða 3

Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 23. apríl 1999 • 3
Christian for a thousand years
The following address was given at the
Þorrahlót in Arborg, 27 March 1999.
Pastor Ingthor Isfeld
Gott kvöld. Good evening.
And thank you for inviting me
to speak to you this evening.
I have been ask to talk about the
Celebration of One Thousand Years of
Christianity in Iceland.
Next year’s celebration is actually
twofold, since in the year 2000 the sail-
ing to North America by our ancestors
and the adoption of Christianity at
Alþingi are both being celebrated. Of
the two events the land discovery is the
more colorful and visible event. A ship
sailing on the ocean attracts more atten-
tion than the ocean itself, which after all
is there all the time. But in a manner of
speaking Christianity is the ocean.
When we stop to think about it, the
discovery of North America, as great
and remarkable a feat as that was, is but
a footnote in the history of the Icelandic
nation, compared to the decision made
at Alþingi in the summer of the year
1000, that the country should be
Christian. That decision brought monu-
mental changes for the next millenni-
um.
Knowing that many of you are quite
familiar with how the Alþingi adopted
Christianity as the official religion of
Iceland in the year 1000, and how you
are well aware of the deep roots of
Christianity in Iceland, I have chosen
not to go much into history, but rather
dwell on the importance of our
Christian inheritance, a thousand years
later.
About a month ago I came across
an article in the Morgunblaðið
from Iceland, written by Sigurður
Pálsson, pastor at the Hallgríms Church
in Reykjavík. The author is a former
superintendent of Christian Education
in Schools in Iceland. He wrote about
the need to strengthen the curriculum in
high schools, by teaching more ethics
and the cultural history of the Westem
world, including the history of the con-
tribution made by Christianity.
In his article Pastor Sigurður quot-
ed the President of the University of
Iceland, Páll Skúlason, where he wrote:
“The entire history of thought in the
Westem World—including the history
of philosophy, science, and literature—
are in their common form as well as in
detail, impossible to understand except
in the light of Christian teachings and
the student must constantly take these
into account...”
If this is tme in the Westem world
in general, it is particularly tme among
the Icelandic people. I read some-
where—I cannot find where—that in
the 1880s, every single person in
Iceland, except twelve individuals, had
been baptized in the Lutheran Church.
The adoption of Christianity in
Iceland was a defining moment in the
history of the nation. That decision set
the nation on a course which meant that
its entire culture has been deeply
marked and colored by the Christian
faith.
Starting with the legal system; edu-
cation; the health system and the gener-
al idea of society being a whole unit
where one person is responsible for the
other, rather than a collection of feuding
clans; the writing of the sagas; the fos-
tering of literacy; the strong pacifism
and a sense of civic duty; all have been
deeply influenced by the Christian faith.
In fact Christianity is, though many
people in Iceland may not realize it, the
core of its culture and the framework
that holds the nation together. The
Christian influences are so deeply
ingrained, that they have become a part
of the landscape, so to speak.
It is of great importance to celebrate
historical dates, to look back now and
then to see where we have been. It is of
particular importance not to lose sight
of the collective wisdom, gained over
hundreds of years of experience and
often through much sacrifice.
We live in the information age, and
the sheer volume that flows is such that
many have decided not to bother with
history. The thinking is, if it is old, it is
outdated. A twin thought to this one is
the idea that human progress is
inevitable, and that cultures always
progress. Such a view, however, is only
possible if we ignore history. History
teaches us that cultures can and do get
destroyed and societies can regress,
rapidly at times.
There is still one more idea floating
around in the secular culture currents of
today, that human nature also progress-
es. That is a very nai've idea, but amaz-
ingly common. Human nature is such
that it can be ennobled but unfortunate-
ly it is even more easily corrupted.
Building culture takes generations,
deconstruction takes a lot less time.
Related to what has been said above
is the idea, quite widely held in the
Westem world today, that the Christian
faith can be safely discarded without
any great loss to society. Now if we
were to allow the deconstruction of
Christianity to continue, we would have
to find a new structure to build a post-
Christian culture on. It seems to me that
such a process would lead to severe
regression and cultural upheaval. After
all many of the very best and most ben-
eficial aspects of our culture are based
on Christian thought and need people of
Christian conviction to uphold and sup-
port them. I would include democracy
itself in this list.
After all, democracy rests on the
Christian idea that I am my brother’s
and my sister’s keeper. This is now
challenged as the teaching of Jesus is
contradicted by replacing it with “I
have my rights.” Of course human
rights are important. But a society that
puts that idea at the top of the list will
obviously be tom apart by conflicting
interests, as the rights of one person
conflict with the rights of an other. And
the strong win.
This century that is now coming to
an end has seen very strong forces rise
up against the Christian Church in the
Westem world, including Iceland and
Canada. More Christians have suffered
persecutions and martyrdom in this cen-
tury, than in the previous nineteen cen-
turies of Christendom together.
Two monumental forces have risen
up in the twentieth century, bent on
removing the Christian Church and
eradicating Christian belief and found-
ing a new society, a new culture built on
secular premises. The less successful of
the two was Nazism, building the Third
Reich, and the far more successful was
Communism, which reached its high
point under Stalin, who had over
100,000 priests and, nuns shot, and
closed and blew up churches all over
the Soviet Union.
We all know where these two
experiments led.
Now I am not saying that the
Church is perfect, very far from it. It
regresses and progresses and is very
much a human institution, though I
believe it to be divinely inspired, where
it is at its best. The history of
Christianity in Iceland over the last
1000 years, teaches us how we humans
in our frailty often are corrupted. There
have been dark times, abuse of power,
greed, laziness, and waywardness.
There is always a great deal of room for
improvement in anything we humans
think and do.
But all in all we would do well for
ourselves to think long and hard about
what we as individuals, and the
Icelandic People as a whole owe the
Christian Church, and about what it
would mean to us, our children, and our
grand children, if the light Jesus lit were
to go out.
I for one will celebrate the 1000
years the Icelandic nation has been
Christian with a great deal of joy and
thanksgiving. I will remember with
much thanksgiving the wisdom of those
who gathered at Alþingi in the summer
of the year 1000, as well as the thou-
sands of dedicated disciples of Christ,
men and women, who have so enriched
the culture and the life of the Icelandic
people.
I think of Þorgeir Ljósvetningagoði,
Guðríður Þorbjamardóttir, Guðbrandur
Þorláksson, Hallgrímur Pétursson, Jón
Vídalín, Matthías Jochumsson,
Guðmundur góði, Friðrik Friðriksson,
Jón Bjarnason, Páll Þorláksson, frú
Lára Bjarnason, Rebekka Johnson,
Ingibjörg Ólafsson. On and on the list
could go, not to mention all the unsung
heroes of love and care. I know that
many of you will have your own list,
your own angels of love.
It is my prayer that the Icelandic
people will retain the social values
Christianity has enriched them with,
and that the Christian faith may spread
further and deeper among the new gen-
erations of this coming century in order
that these values may be retained.
Again, thank you for having me and
for giving me a hearing. God bless the
Christian Church in Iceland and among
us here in Canada as well. Hafið þökk
fyrir áheymina.