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The idea of mission in F innish clerical L utheranism during the C ontinuation W ar 1941–1944
Author(s) -
Tilli Jouni
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
nations and nationalism
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.655
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1469-8129
pISSN - 1354-5078
DOI - 10.1111/nana.12072
Subject(s) - adversary , relation (database) , state (computer science) , theology , world war ii , political science , law , philosophy , computer science , computer security , algorithm , database
On 25 J une 1941 F inland embarked on a war against the S oviet U nion, as part of G ermany's O peration B arbarossa. The war that was about to begin could be considered acceptable and even advantageous politically. However, theologically this was not necessarily the case. The topic of the article is how the war between the states of F inland and the S oviet U nion could be justified publicly in relation to a religion whose core message is not to kill, to turn the other cheek to – and even love – the enemy. Due to the close and long‐lasting relationship between the state, the army and the established church, Lutheran priests had a significant role in the war effort. The analysis shows that the answer provided by F innish L utheran priests to the question drew significantly upon two versions of missionary thought, the national mission and the world‐historical one. The empirical material consists of articles, speeches, sermons and statements.