The Religious Origins of Democratic Pluralism: Paul Peter Waldenström and the Politics of the Swedish Awakening 1868–1917 by Mark Safstrom (review)

A long and complex relationship exists between the rise of modern Protestantism and democratic political thought in the West. Some scholars see them as intricately related while others see them as absolutely divorced, if not antithetically opposed. The question of the secularization of Western culture is likewise engaged; does modern participatory democracy demand at least the acceptance of religious freedom and pluralism, if not the elimination of the influence of religion altogether? Both poles of the question are claimed, as well as numerous positions in the middle. If religion and democracy do go together, how is it that they can not only co-exist, but even support each other?

This book contributes to this debate by examining one individual, Paul Peter Waldenström (1838–1917), who held a leading position in both Swedish religious and political life from 1868 to 1917. He was quite a mix: the recognized leader of the Free Church movement in Sweden, and a powerful religious figure in the nineteenth-century Swedish Awakening, he was also a member of the Swedish parliament for decades, and an important political figure who pushed for greater political enfranchisement for the people of Sweden. Waldenström fought to define a “middle way” between the conservative power of the traditional political and religious powers, including the State Church of Sweden, on the one hand, and radical political forces, such as the Labor unions, Socialists, and Marxists, on the other. Believing that Swedish society should be freed from the religious monopoly of the Lutheran State Church (including its control over Christian dogmatics), he was a leading figure in opening up Sweden for other forms of Christian expression, and for the right of individuals to decide their religious identities for themselves. Politically, Waldenström fought for the rights of universal political enfranchisement, but differed sharply from other groups (such as the Socialists and others) who felt that this aim also included “liberating” Swedish citizens from religion altogether. At times his position left him politically with some strange companions, or, more frequently, as the target of abuse and retribution from many parts of the political spectrum.

One of the later countries in western Europe to undergo these religious and political transformations, Sweden is often known for its so-called “Middle Way,” a political and economic path that defined a course between capitalism and socialism, one led for decades by the Social Democratic party. The religious aspects of this transformation have long been neglected or minimized by Swedish historians, many of whom could only see religion as a reactionary force in Swedish society. Safstrom’s study shows the strong influence of religious leaders, especially those from the Free Churches (Covenant, Baptist, Methodist, etc.) in the formation of modern Swedish society, even if that society has become, by now, utterly secularized.

Waldenström fought hard for three causes. He thought that Sweden should be a Christian nation in an expansive and pluralistic sense, free from the control of the Lutheran State Church. He argued that Sweden should be a political democracy in which all should participate, but strongly opposed the Socialist version of this, which he found strangely dogmatic and authoritarian. His third cause was the Temperance movement, which brought him into conflict with powerful Swedish interests, as it ran against the long-standing grain of Swedish society. A forceful and intelligent man, he became an important and controversial figure in public life.

Because he stood between many groups, he ultimately did not become the favored figure of any of them, except perhaps among the Free Church denominations, and thus his influence has been historically understated. Yet Safstrom persuasively argues that Waldenström influenced even those he did not represent. He was significant in the development of modern Swedish Lutheranism, although he always had an ambivalent relation to the Church of Sweden (in which he...