Ritröð Guðfræðistofnunar - 01.01.1990, Page 241

Trúarlíf Islendinga
dents. This is obviously an interpretation which it would perhaps be better to
leave unstated, allowing the reader to interpret the data for himself. But after
considering the matter, we thought it appropriate to forward our interpreta-
tion or hypothesis, and thus make it availabale for consideration in a wider
context. There is much to think about, but here we will concentrate on only
one point: the church understood in a rather narrow sense.
The German religious scholar, ErnstTroeltsch, made an analysis of Christian
associations in which he distinguished three main types: church, sect and
mysticism. Troeltsch’s analysis is in many ways helpful in understanding the
religious practices of the Icelanders. In Iceland we can find all three types of
Christian association. The national church bears all of the marks of a church
in Troeltsch’s definition: It is a broad, open, general institution which em-
braces everyone without requiring any personal obligation in return, except
perhaps confirmation. It is the church of the entire nation, claiming 93% of
the Icelandic population as members. The activities of other Icelandic Chris-
tian associations also make their mark upon the religious life and practices of
the Icelanders. They bear the characteristics of the kind of association which
Troeltsch calls sects. One is not born into a sect in the way that it is sometimes
said that one is born into the national church; rather one is „born again“. A
personal return to the faith is a requirement for membership—as emphasized
by the ritual of adult baptism—and fear of God and exemplary morals are
strongly demanded.
It is sometimes hard to pin down that which Troeltsch calls mysticism; but
from his definition, one may infer that it bears many characteristics in com-
mon with that which we have here called private or personal religious faith,
for instance, departure from established creeds and forms of worship in favor
of „a purely personal and inward experience.“ Those adopting this type of
religious attitude usually feel no need to share their faith with others. Conse-
quently, they have no need for a „community of the faithful“, in the form of
either church or sect.
It is perhaps appropriate to reconsider the question of the Christianity of
the Icelanders in the light of Troeltsch’s classification. One way to answer this
question is to inquire into the perspective from which it is asked. There are
many such perspectives, each of which depends upon a somewhat different
conception of the church. The concept of a national church is not only a sta-
tistical or sociological notion, which may be utilized to produce a quantitative
measure of those adhering to Christianity, but embodies a certain theological
understanding of the nature of the church: that the church belongs to every-
one—to the whole nation—because, and only because, the undeserved mercy
of the Creator is offered to all.
According to this understanding of the church, and the theology which
underlies it, it is a permanently moot point who is to count as Christian and
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