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Netherlands and Scandinavia
139
Progress in Sweden
In Sweden also, young men from Wittenberg carried the water of
life to their countrymen. Two leaders in the Swedish Reformation,
Olaf and Laurentius Petri, studied under Luther and Melanchthon.
Like the great Reformer, Olaf aroused the people by his eloquence,
while Laurentius, like Melanchthon, was thoughtful and calm. Both
were of unflinching courage. The Catholic priests stirred up the
ignorant and superstitious people. Upon several occasions, Olaf
Petri barely escaped with his life. These Reformers were, however,
protected by the king, who determined upon a reformation and
welcomed these able assistants in the battle against Rome.
In the presence of the monarch and leading men of Sweden, Olaf
Petri with great ability defended the reformed faith. He declared that
the teachings of the Fathers are to be received only when in accord
with Scripture; that the essential doctrines of the faith are presented
in the Bible in a clear manner, so that all may understand them.
This contest serves to show us “the sort of men that formed the
rank and file of the army of the Reformers. They were not illiter-
[153]
ate, sectarian, noisy controversialists—far from it. They were men
who had studied the Word of God and knew well how to wield the
weapons with which the armory of the Bible supplied them. [They
were] scholars and theologians, men who have thoroughly mastered
the whole system of gospel truth, and who win an easy victory over
the sophists of the schools and the dignitaries of Rome.
The king of Sweden accepted the Protestant faith, and the na-
tional assembly declared in its favor. At the desire of the king, the
two brothers undertook the translation of the whole Bible. It was
ordered by the diet that throughout the kingdom, ministers should
explain the Scriptures, and that the children in the schools should be
taught to read the Bible.
Freed from Romish oppression, the nation attained to a strength
and greatness it had never before reached. A century later, this
hitherto feeble nation—the only one in Europe that dared lend a
helping hand—came to the deliverance of Germany in the terrible
struggle of the Thirty Years’ War. All Northern Europe seemed
about to be brought again under the tyranny of Rome. The armies of
6
Ibid., bk. 10, ch. 4.