An email devotion sent to members of Grace Lutheran Church in Thornville, Ohio on March 29, 2022.
Reflection on Hans Nielsen Hauge
Each year, I look forward to the end of the month of March, as it gives me an opportunity to talk about one of my favorite historical figures: Hans Nielsen Hauge. He is commemorated on March 29, the day of his death in the year 1824 A.D. I think his life is especially appropriate to reflect upon in this Lenten season, so I share here some information about this man who is unfortunately known but little.
Hans Nielsen Hauge is one of the most significant figures in Norwegian and Lutheran history, and his work is widely considered to have launched Norway as a modern democratic society. From humble beginnings, he became in some ways the Norwegian version of John Wesley, the great English preacher and revivalist, who gave rise to the modern Methodist movement.
Hauge was born in 1771 on a farm south of the capital city of Christiania (Oslo). In accordance with Norwegian naming customs, the child Hans was named as the son of his father, Niels. He was also given a second surname, Hauge, as that was the name of the farm on which he was born. His home life was devout, rooted in the Norwegian Lutheran tradition of Pietism. Growing up, he developed many manual skills and became a talented farmer, carpenter, and repairman. Though he lacked formal education like most people of his time, he nonetheless showed himself to be highly intelligent and creative.
He had lingering doubts about his salvation, however. He feared the judgement of God. While plowing his father’s farm in April of 1796 and singing a familiar hymn, he had a mystical experience that assured him that God had taken away his sins. Thenceforth, even though he was a layperson, he felt called to preach and encourage others in repentance and faith. He viewed plowing fields as a good analogy to God’s work in human life: God wants to plow our lives, uprooting sinful habits, just like weeds and tree stumps, so that his love might grow in us and produce good fruit.
At the time, Norwegian Lutheran church life needed revitalization. With his new focus, Hauge saw that the church had neglected its main task of preaching Jesus Christ. The intellectual movement of Enlightenment Rationalism had impacted the church to the point where “salt had lost its taste” (Matthew 5:13). The calendar of commemorations in our hymnal lists Hauge as a “renewer of the church,” and that he was.
As an effort to restrain fanatical religious movements of the past, an outdated Norwegian law prohibited the convening of religious meetings without the presence of an ordained minister. When Hauge convened prayer and preaching meetings, he was often arrested and jailed, even though he never encouraged anyone to separate from the Church of Norway. He simply viewed his work as a supplement to the established church. The pattern of his arrest and release continued as Hauge traversed Norway. Many people experienced spiritual renewal because of Hauge’s preaching.
But Hauge did more than preach. The example of his life revealed his emphasis: God calls us to live our faith in our daily life and work. Wherever he went, he assisted with farm chores at places where he stayed. He knitted as he walked across Norway to avoid idleness. He also encouraged the development of small businesses, such as paper mills, bone mills, sawmills, fishing operations, tanneries, and other endeavors. Because this work threatened the power of large monopolies, the secular authorities also despised him. He was accused of violating vagrancy laws. In 1804, he was arrested and imprisoned for ten years, charged with a list of offenses, notably convening illegal religious meetings and establishing businesses without the proper licenses.
Though Hauge languished in prison, his work continued to transform Norwegian society in his absence. His influence by then had reached every corner of Norway. Even some of his opponents recognized his value. At the time, the kingdom of Denmark-Norway was an ally of France in the Napoleonic Wars. As a result of the British blockade of Norway, basic necessities were in short supply. There was not enough salt to preserve food, and so Hauge was released from prison to establish a system to extract salt from the ocean on the Norwegian coast.
Hauge’s case was finally resolved, and he was found guilty of the two offenses listed above. His followers paid his fine, but even though he was released, his health was ruined from his imprisonment. He returned to his farm and was married. He was remarried upon his first wife’s death. One of his sons would also go on to be a significant figure in Norwegian life. He died on his farm in 1824 at the age of fifty-three. Coincidentally, the following year was the beginning of Norwegian immigration to North America. Many immigrants to North America from Norway drew their courage from Hauge’s example, and Haugean influence on American Lutheranism has been considerable.
Not everyone shares my appreciation for Hans Nielsen Hauge. His followers tended to dislike liturgical worship in favor of “free prayer” with more spontaneity. Moreover, some claim that his followers left a legacy of harsh legalism in Lutheran churches that many have reacted against. Yet Hauge is also remembered by many as a hero of the Norwegian people, perhaps the first modern Norwegian. One biographer considers him “Norway’s greatest man,” and to this day areas of Norway more heavily impacted by the Haugean movement have larger percentages of active Christians than other areas. Some of his views and the views of his followers might be worthy of critique, but that the Haugean revival produced a living and active Lutheran laity in its time and after is difficult to deny.
Perhaps the best way to remember Hauge is to remember his faith and his example. God is constantly at work plowing the fields of our lives, uprooting our sin and changing our focus. God plants within us the good news of Jesus Christ, and we are called to carry that good news with us as we go about our life and work. God needs faithful people in all vocations, and may our life and work be to His glory.
Pr. Tom Jacobson
Reflection on Hans Nielsen Hauge
Each year, I look forward to the end of the month of March, as it gives me an opportunity to talk about one of my favorite historical figures: Hans Nielsen Hauge. He is commemorated on March 29, the day of his death in the year 1824 A.D. I think his life is especially appropriate to reflect upon in this Lenten season, so I share here some information about this man who is unfortunately known but little.
Hans Nielsen Hauge is one of the most significant figures in Norwegian and Lutheran history, and his work is widely considered to have launched Norway as a modern democratic society. From humble beginnings, he became in some ways the Norwegian version of John Wesley, the great English preacher and revivalist, who gave rise to the modern Methodist movement.
Hauge was born in 1771 on a farm south of the capital city of Christiania (Oslo). In accordance with Norwegian naming customs, the child Hans was named as the son of his father, Niels. He was also given a second surname, Hauge, as that was the name of the farm on which he was born. His home life was devout, rooted in the Norwegian Lutheran tradition of Pietism. Growing up, he developed many manual skills and became a talented farmer, carpenter, and repairman. Though he lacked formal education like most people of his time, he nonetheless showed himself to be highly intelligent and creative.
He had lingering doubts about his salvation, however. He feared the judgement of God. While plowing his father’s farm in April of 1796 and singing a familiar hymn, he had a mystical experience that assured him that God had taken away his sins. Thenceforth, even though he was a layperson, he felt called to preach and encourage others in repentance and faith. He viewed plowing fields as a good analogy to God’s work in human life: God wants to plow our lives, uprooting sinful habits, just like weeds and tree stumps, so that his love might grow in us and produce good fruit.
At the time, Norwegian Lutheran church life needed revitalization. With his new focus, Hauge saw that the church had neglected its main task of preaching Jesus Christ. The intellectual movement of Enlightenment Rationalism had impacted the church to the point where “salt had lost its taste” (Matthew 5:13). The calendar of commemorations in our hymnal lists Hauge as a “renewer of the church,” and that he was.
As an effort to restrain fanatical religious movements of the past, an outdated Norwegian law prohibited the convening of religious meetings without the presence of an ordained minister. When Hauge convened prayer and preaching meetings, he was often arrested and jailed, even though he never encouraged anyone to separate from the Church of Norway. He simply viewed his work as a supplement to the established church. The pattern of his arrest and release continued as Hauge traversed Norway. Many people experienced spiritual renewal because of Hauge’s preaching.
But Hauge did more than preach. The example of his life revealed his emphasis: God calls us to live our faith in our daily life and work. Wherever he went, he assisted with farm chores at places where he stayed. He knitted as he walked across Norway to avoid idleness. He also encouraged the development of small businesses, such as paper mills, bone mills, sawmills, fishing operations, tanneries, and other endeavors. Because this work threatened the power of large monopolies, the secular authorities also despised him. He was accused of violating vagrancy laws. In 1804, he was arrested and imprisoned for ten years, charged with a list of offenses, notably convening illegal religious meetings and establishing businesses without the proper licenses.
Though Hauge languished in prison, his work continued to transform Norwegian society in his absence. His influence by then had reached every corner of Norway. Even some of his opponents recognized his value. At the time, the kingdom of Denmark-Norway was an ally of France in the Napoleonic Wars. As a result of the British blockade of Norway, basic necessities were in short supply. There was not enough salt to preserve food, and so Hauge was released from prison to establish a system to extract salt from the ocean on the Norwegian coast.
Hauge’s case was finally resolved, and he was found guilty of the two offenses listed above. His followers paid his fine, but even though he was released, his health was ruined from his imprisonment. He returned to his farm and was married. He was remarried upon his first wife’s death. One of his sons would also go on to be a significant figure in Norwegian life. He died on his farm in 1824 at the age of fifty-three. Coincidentally, the following year was the beginning of Norwegian immigration to North America. Many immigrants to North America from Norway drew their courage from Hauge’s example, and Haugean influence on American Lutheranism has been considerable.
Not everyone shares my appreciation for Hans Nielsen Hauge. His followers tended to dislike liturgical worship in favor of “free prayer” with more spontaneity. Moreover, some claim that his followers left a legacy of harsh legalism in Lutheran churches that many have reacted against. Yet Hauge is also remembered by many as a hero of the Norwegian people, perhaps the first modern Norwegian. One biographer considers him “Norway’s greatest man,” and to this day areas of Norway more heavily impacted by the Haugean movement have larger percentages of active Christians than other areas. Some of his views and the views of his followers might be worthy of critique, but that the Haugean revival produced a living and active Lutheran laity in its time and after is difficult to deny.
Perhaps the best way to remember Hauge is to remember his faith and his example. God is constantly at work plowing the fields of our lives, uprooting our sin and changing our focus. God plants within us the good news of Jesus Christ, and we are called to carry that good news with us as we go about our life and work. God needs faithful people in all vocations, and may our life and work be to His glory.
Pr. Tom Jacobson