[Grem] "Reforming" the Church of Sweden

[Emoke Greschik]

"Reforming" the Church of Sweden


* by Bruce Bawer <https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/author/Bruce+Bawer>
November 24, 2017 at 5:41 pm*

*https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11433/sweden-church-jackelen
<https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11433/sweden-church-jackelen>*
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   -

   Even as the other key players in Swedish society have adapted to the
   rise of Islam within the country's borders, so has the Church of Sweden.
   -

   If you look at Jackelén's Wikipedia page, you will see that her motto is
   "God is greater." In Swedish, it is *"Gud är större."* In Arabic,
it is "*Allahu
   akbar,"* the words that muezzins in mosques around the world shout from
   the tops of their minarets.
   -

   We cannot know what is really in this woman's heart; but one thing we
   can be sure of is that when Islam does eventually take over Sweden, her
   remarkable history of appeasement will not save either her or her Church
   from a brutal reckoning.

The Church of Sweden, although no longer a state church, remains an
important force in Swedish society. In a time when Sweden's political,
media, and academic establishment are eager to jettison pretty much
everything that makes Sweden Swedish, no institution plays a more central
role in the preservation of the nation's cultural heritage than the
national church. Yes, ethnic Swedes have become overwhelmingly secular,
but, like their cousins elsewhere in Scandinavia, they still look to their
national church as a bearer of tradition and a setting within which they
wish to baptize and confirm their children and hold their weddings and
funerals.

Yet, even as the other key players in Swedish society have adapted to the
rise of Islam within the country's borders, so has the Church of Sweden.
The church's primate <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primate> – its
equivalent of the Pope or Archbishop of Canterbury – is a 62-year-old woman
named Antje Jackelén, who holds the title of Archbishop of Uppsala. Popes
and archbishops traditionally have official mottoes. Pope Francis's motto
<https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/elezione/stemma-papa-francesco.html>
is "*Miserando atque eligendo"* ("mercy and choice"). It was his motto as
Archbishop of Buenos Aires, and he chose to retain it upon his elevation to
the papacy. If you look at Jackelén's Wikipedia page, you will see that her
motto is "God is greater." In Swedish, it is *"Gud är större."* In Arabic,
it is "*Allahu akbar,"* the words that muezzins in mosques around the world
shout from the tops of their minarets. These are also, of course, the last
words that are heard by many people around the world before they are blown
to bits by suicide bombers or run over by jihadists at the wheels of
trucks. Some might argue, to be sure, that the Muslim deity is different
from the God of Christianity, but Jackelén is not one of them: she has said
<http://www.morgonbladet.nu/news.php?name=160306094324> explicitly that the
two deities are one and the same.

"God is greater" was Jackelén's motto in her previous position as
Archbishop of Lund. It is also the title of a book
<https://www.bokus.com/bok/9789188552969/gud-ar-storre-ett-herdabrev-for-var-tid/>
she published in 2011. She has always claimed that she took it from the
First Epistle of John. Yes, the words do appear in that epistle, but only
as part of the statement
<https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/1-John-Chapter-3/> at 1 John 3:20
that "God is greater than our heart." In any event, her motto was not
subjected to nationwide scrutiny until she was selected to head the Church
of Sweden in 2013 and announced that she, like Pope Francis, would stick
with the same motto. In response to this news, critics accused her of "flirting
with Islam."
<https://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/kulturdebatt/ann-heberlein-biskop-antje-jackelen-ar-storre-an-lena-anderssons-debatteknik/>
The newspaper *Östersunds-Posten* ran an editorial
<http://www.op.se/opinion/ledare/arkebiskopens-valsprak-ar-aningslost-milt-uttryckt>
calling her "clueless" and noting that in Swedish, the words *"Gud är
större,"* in isolation, sound strained and unnatural.

Antje Jackelén, the Archbishop of Uppsala, puts Muhammed on an equal plane
with Jesus. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

For anyone who had any doubts, it has since become clear that the
Jackelén's reason for picking her motto are exactly what they always seemed
to be. Recognizing that the concept of Jesus Christ as Savior is a major
impediment to what may euphemistically be referred to as her ambitious
interfaith efforts, she has made a point
<http://www.morgonbladet.nu/news.php?name=160306094324> of downplaying the
importance of Jesus and of stating that, when it comes to the question of
salvation, Jesus does not really matter. In March of last year, noting that
Jackelén's "relationship with Islam" had occasioned widespread criticism,
*Morgonbladet* interviewed
<http://www.morgonbladet.nu/news.php?name=160306094324> her "in order to
get a better picture what she really thinks about the link between
Christianity and Islam." Asked about Muhammed, she spurned the orthodox
Christian view that he was a "false prophet" and maintained that "[i]n
times when Islam is used to legitimize violence and terror, it is important
to remember that Muhammad still inspires millions of people today in their
pursuit of justice, peace, and a virtuous life." Of course, to speak of
Muhammed, a military conqueror, as a model of peace and virtue rather than
of violence and terror
<http://www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Themes/jihad_passages.html> is sheer
whitewashing. Asked whether she believes the Angel Gabriel appeared to
Muhammed, as claimed in the Koran, Jackelén "declined to answer."

Last year, three female priests in the Church of Sweden initiated a hashtag
campaign, #Mittkors ("My cross"), in solidarity with the Christian victims
of Islamic terror in the Middle East. On August 18, 2016, Ann Charlott
Alstadt noted <https://www.aftonbladet.se/kultur/article23358239.ab> in
*Aftonbladet* that Jackelén's spokesman, Gunnar Sjögren, had publicly
condemned this campaign, calling it "un-Christian," suggesting that it was
an invitation to "religious war," and warning that "the Cross risks being a
distancing marker, dividing us into a 'we' and a 'them.'" Asked in a Twitter
Q&A
<http://www.dagen.se/antje-jackelen-tog-strid-for-korset-och-kyrkan-1.766804>
why she refused to help persecuted Christians in the Islamic world,
Jackelén herself replied: "We do not help people because *they* are
Christians, but because *we* are Christians."

As head of the Church of Sweden, Jackelén has not let her power go to
waste. She has just finished overseeing an extensive revision
<https://samnytt.se/ny-genuskorrekt-kyrkohandbok-gud-ska-inte-langre-kallas-han-eller-herren/>
of the church's manual, its equivalent of the Anglicans' *Book of Common
Prayer.* The main goal was to make the language more "inclusive" – which
meant, among other things, removing references to God as "He" or "the
Lord." As Jesus Christ was indisputably male, the revision also involved
pushing God the Son into the background as much as possible. In the local
parishes around Sweden, there was considerable opposition to many of the
changes recommended under Jackelén's oversight. On November 23, however, a
national Church synod approved
<http://www.kyrkanstidning.se/nyhet/kyrkomotet-har-sagt-ja-till-ny-handbok>
the revisions by a considerable margin. A jubilant Jackelén proclaimed:
"Let us show the world that we are a church that can deal with diversity."

It would be foolish to assume that Jackelén's ecclesiastical revolution
will end with this victory. On the contrary, there is every reason to
believe that her success at Thursday's synod will inspire her to redouble
her efforts to transform the Church of Sweden into a more Islam-friendly
institution – one that ultimately, at the very least, puts Muhammed on an
equal plane with Jesus Christ. No, we cannot know what is really in this
woman's heart; but one thing we can be sure of is that when Islam does
eventually take over Sweden, her remarkable history of appeasement will not
save either her or her Church from a brutal reckoning.

*Bruce Bawer is the author of the new novel* The Alhambra*(Swamp Fox
Editions). His book* While Europe Slept *(2006) was a New York Times
bestseller and National Book Critics Circle Award finalist.*
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