The religion of the country is Episcopal Lutheran. Until lately no places of worship of other denominations were permitted to exist. But in the Parliament of 1845 an act of general toleration w-as passed, which gave re- ligious liberty to all Christians. No Mormons, how- ever, were then allowed to reside in the countrv. They must emigrate to some more tolerant country, as the United States. Since the separation of Norway from Denmark and its aimexation to Sweden, the Norwegian Church is subject to the constitution of the Danish Lutheran Church, as settled by Christian Y in 1G83, and also to the Danish ritual, as laid down in 1G85. But efforts have been put forth from time to time to have some alterations brought about. As recently as 1857 there was a proposal made in the Storthing for the establishment of a parish council, consisting of the clergymen of the parish and a certain number of lay- men chosen from the communicants or members of the Church. The ecclesiastical hold on the civil relations of Norway seems almost incredible to outsiders. Everj-- thing is conditioned in the state by one's relation to the State Church. Indeed, it almost defies our credu- lity when we are told that such laws as the following still stand on the Norwegian statute books, and, what is worse still, are rigidly enforced. It is enacted that no one can fill a civil office who is not a member of the Lutheran Church, and has partaken of the communion in it ; that any one thus holding office immediately loses it on uniting Avith any other than the Lutheran Clnirch ; that every citizen must be confirmed between the ages of fourteen and nineteen; that within one week of his confirmation he must partake of the Lord's Supper, ac- cording to the Lutheran form ; that if one fail in this until nineteen years old he is imprisoned; and that marriages are only regarded as fully legitimate when performed under the auspices of the Lutheran Church. The people, however, have the matter in hand, and in 1873 an immense mass meeting was held in Christiania, the capital of Norway, where resolutions were adopted in favor of the repeal of all the oppressive religious laws. And it was a meeting that had national force and im- portance. Its members consisted of regularly chosen
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delegates from all parts of the country, and while the great aiulLence was from the masses, the decisions were regarded as of incalculable bearing on the future life of the nation. The king attended the sessions, and listen- ed very earnestly to the proceedings. The delegates declared that the members of a Church have a full right to express their opinions; that they should enjoy per- fect liberty of conscience ; that in case of being wrong- ed, they have the right to appeal to the civil authori- ties; and that if their appeal does not meet with favor, they have the right to organize themselves into an in- dependent Church. There is every prospect that this convention will have the final effect of changing the old laws of Norway, and, among other benefits resulting therefrom, of removing the barriers that have been set up persistently against missions from non-Scandinavian or non-Lutheran churches. Two missions are supported in Norway by American Protestants, but they are more or less watched by the Swedish authorities. The Bap- tists liave been measurably successful ; the Methodists are increasing in numbers, and acquiring much prop- erty. Their headquarters are at Christiania, under the superintendence of a regularlj- ajipointed pastor.
As the ecclesiastical organization has hitherto exist- ed, the whole management of ecclesiastical matters has belonged to the government, .and, in certain cases, to the bishop or to the pt-obst (q. v.). The proposed alter- ations will in all probability yet become the law of the land, thus admitting the lay element into the govern- tnent of the Church, and give general and broad religious liberty. The election of clergymen, under the present regime, is vested, in the first instance, in the ecclesias- tical minister of state, who, with the advice of the bish- op, selects three candidates, from whom the king ap- points one to the vacant parish. A bishop is elected by the probsts in the vacant bishopric, and the choice made must receive the royal sanction. The clergy con- sists of three orders — bishops, probsts, and priests — dif- fering from each other not in rank, but in official duty. The priest is required to preach, to administer the sac- raments, to dispense confirmation, and to preside at the board which in every parish manages the poor-fund. The probst, who is also a priest or clergyman of a par- ish, is bound, in addition to the discharge of his ordi- nary clerical duties, to make an annual visitation of the different parishes within his circuit, to examine the children in the different schools, and also the candidates for confirmation, to inspect the Church records, and all the ecclesiastical affiiirs of the parish. Of all these things the probst must render a regular report every year to the bishop. The bishops, of whom there are six in Norway, are required to visit their bishoprics with the utmost regularity ; but from the large number of parishes under the superintendence of each bishop, he can only visit the whole in the course of three j'ears. At the invitation of the bishop, all the children attend- ing school assemble in the church to be examined, along with the candidates for confirmation, and those young people who have been confirmed since the last visita- tion. The ceremony of confirmation is perftirmed in the Norwegian Church by the minister of the parish once or twice a year. The ordination of a clergyman belongs exclusively to the bishop, but it is not con- sidered as communicating any special gifts or graces. The induction of the priest or clergyman is performed by the probst. Students of theology, after attending a university for a certain time, are allowed to preach, al- though they may not have completed their studies.