High Church Lutheran sermon

Bo Giertz himself

"Kristi Kyrka" is a book by Bo Giertz, first published in 1939. My edition of the work is from 1991, which may tell us something about the work´s perceived importance in certain circles. The author, who died in 1998, had been the bishop of Gothenburg and is often considered to have been one of the most important Swedish Church leaders of the 20th century. Or *was* so considered, since I doubt the present ultra-liberal dominion in the Church of Sweden has much liking for this guy! Giertz was conservative, and one of the spokesmen for the "High Church" current within the Swedish Lutheran Church. "Kristi Kyrka" is his theological defense of the High Church position. The book is somewhat tedious to read. That Giertz was a priest does show - his tome frequently sounds like a transcript of a sermon rather than as a theological tract sensu stricto. The timeless character of High Church exposition shows too, since the book was reprinted virtually unchanged over a period of 50 years! Even a polemic against female clergy was present in the original version. 

While Giertz is clearly a Lutheran, he argues from a kind of "moderate" Protestant perspective, according to which the real purpose of the Reformation was simply to do away with certain deviations within the Roman Catholic Church, not to split it or question its legitimacy overall. The Church of Sweden, even in its Lutheran form, has apostolic succession through the Catholic Church all the way back to Ansgar, the first Christian missionary in Sweden during the Early Middle Ages. Of course, from a Roman Catholic perspective, even Giertz is too radical, since he counts the papacy as one of the Roman deviations, alongside the mass sacrifice, communion under one kind, and (perhaps) the cult of saints. Giertz is probably closer to High Church Anglicans and Anglo-Catholics, and frequently sounds positive towards the Orthodox Churches (although he at one point accuses them of being too stagnant). And while Giertz never mentions maverick 16th century Swedish king Johan III (often accused of pro-Catholic tendencies), it´s difficult not to see the similarity. Like Johan, Giertz project, vision or perhaps dream is to reunite the Christian Churches around the Church Fathers, here interpreted as pre-papalist. The Church of Sweden may be independent, but its still a branch of the one and only "Catholic" Church (in the original sense of the term "Catholic" = universal). 

Giertz argues that there are three or perhaps four sacraments in the Church of Sweden, not just two as held by many Protestants (baptism and communion). In addition to these, confession is a sacrament, and maybe even the ordination of priests. Giertz argues for infant baptism, since baptism should be seen as an unearned grace administered by God (or God´s Church), rather than as a "work", which it looks like if its only administered to adults. He also argues that even small children are sinners!

Giertz believes that the Church isn´t just a collection of individuals (however regenerate they might be) or an ordinary organization, but a kind of theocratic or perhaps theomorphic organism. Christ founded the Church, he is its head, and somehow the Church is his "body" and the Church members his "limbs", something made possible by the resurrection. Paul´s letter to the Ephesians is important here. Giertz believes that the original Greek term for Church, "ekklesia" (which in itself just means assembly), denotes a theocratic organization set apart. In the Septuagint, the original Greek translation of the so-called Old Testament, made by the Jews themselves, "ekklesia" is used for the Hebrew word "qahal", denoting the people of Israel in their capacity as God´s chosen and holy people. When talking about an assembly in general, the Septuagint translators used a different word, "synagoge". For this reason, any split in the Church is tantamount to tearing apart the body of Christ, and is therefore a tragedy and a sin. 

Another important concept for the High Church is that of apostolic succesion. An apostle is a fully empowered representative of somebody, not just a "disciple". Jesus had many disciples, but only a smaller group were duly ordained apostles. With the exception of Paul, they were all set apart during Jesus´ earthly ministry. These, in their turn, ordained bishops and priests. Giertz concedes that the rest of Church organization in apostolic and sub-apostolic times was improvised or simply unknown, but this doesn´t really matter, since the apostles and their bishops were there as the living continuity back to Christ. He also admits that there were prophets in the early Church, but believes strongly that their messages must be tested against those of the apostles, and that too much prophetism is a danger, early Gnosticism being an example of this. (There are passages in the Pauline epistles that can be used as proof-texts for this.) The only gurantee for the true Word being preached is the priesthood, not just any self-proclaimed visionary. As for female clergy, that´s simply impossible, period, since all the apostles and bishops were male (actually, Paul mentions a female apostle named Junia). 

Giertz says relatively little about liturgy, but here and there, the typically High Church emphasis on rituals does show itself. While the Swedish churches were stripped of many sacred objects and artwork during the Reformation, much was also allowed to remain. Giertz considers this a positive thing, and instead blames 18th century rationalism and enlightenment thinking for destroying church art, turning the church services into public "education", doing away with communion and confession, etc. (Others apparently blame the Low Church for this.) The author wants a return to the original Swedish Lutheran spirit, which he identifies with a more pro-liturgical position, and above all wants people to celebrate the Lord´s supper more often, perhaps as often as once a week. The book was apparently written during a "eucharistic revival" in the Church, when many rediscovered the spiritual blessings of weekly communion services. 

Although I can´t say "Kristi Kyrka" moved me enough to partake of that unearned grace, I suppose it could work as a good introduction to Lutheran High Church theology, provided you know Swedish, and is ready for the author´s sermonizing style of writing.