Protestantism
A main goal of the research group is to analyze and interpret Protestant tradition from the Reformation period through the 19th and 20th centuries to the current multi-religious context within a Nordic and an international context, bringing research on Norway and the Nordic countries out of isolation due to a tendency to publish results in native languages and into a broader international comparative discourse on religion, culture and society.
Ferdinand Pauwels [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
About the group
The group takes as its point of departure the fact that Norwegian society has been deeply influenced by Protestant religion in several respects. This influence not only is relevant for analyzing religious life but also for understanding broader sets of values, ethical standards, cultural traditions and political systems in Norway/Nordic societies. Contrary to most of traditional Norwegian research in this field, the group presupposes that Nordic Protestantism has to be investigated within an interdisciplinary and international context in order to be properly interpreted. On this basis, our research efforts have been directed toward two main periods of Nordic and European Protestantism: The Reformation period and developments since the late 19th century.
Projects
Projects financed by the Norwegian Research Council:
- The ambiguous memory of Nordic Protestantism (MEMORY)
- Good Protestant, Bad Religion? Formatting Religion in Modern Society (GOBA)
- Death in Early Protestant Tradition (completed)
Project financed by HERA (Humanities in the European Research Area):
- Protestant Legacies in Nordic Law: Uses of the Past in the Construction of the Secularity of Law (Research group leader is the Norwegian PI)
Cooperation
The research group is engaged in a broad spectrum of international and national research cooperation.
The group leader is a board member of the Refo Research Consortium.
The group members are active participants in the annual conferences of the American Sixteenth Century Society and the American Academy of Religion.