Awakening (religious movement)

The Awakening (Finnish: herännäisyys or körttiläisyys) is a Lutheran religious movement in Finland which has found followers in the provinces of Savo and Ostrobothnia. The origins of the movement are in the 18th century. It has functioned inside the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland throughout its existence. Formerly very pietist, the movement is currently considered within mainstream Finnish Lutheranism.

Theologically, the Awakening emphasized the greatness of God, the sinfulness of man, and the insignificance of human efforts towards salvation (see monergism).

Today, the Awakening movement is widely known in Finland through an annual religious summer festival called Herättäjäjuhlat. The festival, held in July, attracts around 30,000 visitors and remains the second largest annual religious event in Finland.

The Awakening brought with it a form of the conventicle known as the seurat which consists of singing of hymns as prayer interrupted with short speeches as commentary to the prevailing mood.

It is nowadays widely assumed that the roots of Herännäisyys lay in several 18th century popular religious revival movements e.g. in Savo province. There were occasions when groups of people had trance-like religious experiences, for instance in the fields when collecting hay. The most famous of these occurred on Telppäsniitty in 1796. The original leader of the movement was Juhana Lustig. Gradually, in the 1820s, Paavo Ruotsalainen rose as the leader figure in the movement. Simultaneously a religious revival started in Kalajoki. The movement was encouraged by pastors Jonas Lagus and Nils Gustav Malmberg. In the 1830s the two revivals got in touch and united. The movement has always been strongest in Savo, Ostrobothnia and in Kainuu. Through Lutheran clergy, its influence has expanded beyond the region of origin.

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