Ritröð Guðfræðistofnunar - 01.01.1990, Page 242

Studia theologica islandica
who is not. Neither the national register, which classifies people by denomi-
nation, nor any sociological survey could ever be considered a reliable source
for making such a determination. Indeed, there is no human criterion which
may be applied to undeserved mercy at the hands of God.
The matter appears entirely different from the point of view adopted by
most Christian sects. There, the church is not viewed as belonging to everyone,
but only to the chosen few—those who have experienced religious rebirth:
who have personally reaffirmed Christianity and do not hide the fact. Sects
often arise in reaction to the „invisibility" of the church, which, being open to
all, fails to present an uncompromisingly Christian face to the world. The line
between the faithful and the faithless is more clearly drawn in the sects than
in the national church. And the attitudes taken by the sects and by the church
to the suirounding world are quite different. The national church is strongly
disposed to adapt itself to its surroundings, while the sects want to have as little
as possible to do with the corrupt world in which they find themselves.
This comparison reveals that the attempt to divide people up into Christians
and non-Christians is much more appropriate from the point of view of the
Christian sects than from that of the national church.
What may be said here about those Icelanders who profess a personal faith?
They prefer to describe themselves as believers after their own individual fash-
ion than as adherents to Christianity. The majority of them belong formally
to the national church, have their children baptized and confirmed, and in
many other ways take advantage of the services which the Church of Iceland
provides. But their adherence to the theoretical basis of the church is suffi-
ciently weak or unclear that they do not choose to identify themselves as Chris-
tians. Little can be said here about the extent to which private believers exhibit
a Christian disposition, for we have little or no data concerning this; but as to
their religious views and their interest in those matters which are closest to the
heart of the church, we can say that they differ from those of professed Chris-
tians, according to the results of our survey.
Because religion in Iceland is organized around a national church there are
obvious difficulties in classifying people according to their attitudes toward the
Christian faith. This is one consequence of the conception of the church as
an open institution, as explained above. If this conception is applied uncriti-
cally, everyone is considered Christian who belongs to the national church. But
it must be remembered that there is another, narrower conception which takes
more into account than formal membership. A distinction may be made be-
tween active and inactive membership, with reference to devotion to the
church as reflected in participation in church activities and adherence to its
theoretical foundations. In accord with this narrower conception, some have
spoken of a „church within the church“—a nucleus within the larger body of
the church.
This narrower conception may appear to conflict with the notion of the
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