This month we have a detailed account of our trip to Iceland. Among many interesting things in this beautiful country, we researched the history as well as modern day Christianity and its influence on society.
Christianity was first introduced to Iceland in the year 1000 AD by the Norwegian king, Olaf Tryggvason. At that time, Iceland was a pagan country with its own unique set of religious beliefs and practices, known as the Old Norse religion. Olaf Tryggvason sent a Christian missionary, Thangbrand, to Iceland to convert the Icelanders to Christianity. Thangbrand was not successful in his mission, and it wasn’t until the year 999 AD that the Icelandic chieftains agreed to convert to Christianity. The conversion was not forced upon the people, but rather a decision made by the leaders of the country to gain favor with the Norwegian king.
The conversion to Christianity brought about significant changes in Icelandic society. The Christian church became a powerful institution in Iceland and played a central role in the lives of the people. The church was responsible for educating the population and maintaining law and order. The first bishop of Iceland was Ísleifur Gissurarson, who was appointed by the Norwegian king in 1056. He established the first cathedral in Skálholt, which became the religious center of Iceland. In 1106, a second bishopric was established in Hólar in northern Iceland. During the medieval period, the Icelandic church was closely linked to the Norwegian church, and the Norwegian king had significant influence over the appointment of bishops and the running of the church. However, in the 14th and 15th centuries, the Icelandic church became more independent, and the Icelandic bishops gained greater control over the church. During the Reformation in the 16th century, Iceland became a Protestant country, and the Catholic church was abolished. The Icelandic church became Lutheran, and the Icelandic bishoprics were reorganized. The Skálholt bishopric was abolished, and the Hólar bishopric became the sole bishopric in Iceland.
Today, the Church of Iceland is a Lutheran church, and it is the largest religious organization in the country. The church has played an important role in Icelandic society throughout history, and it continues to be an important institution in modern Iceland.
Love to one another, what is that in our everyday life?
“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” (John 13:34).These words derive impressiveness from having been spoken immediately before the last Supper, and on the eve of the great Sacrifice: the commandment of Love issued appropriately at the time of the Feast of Love, and not long before the great Act of Love. For the love of Christ was no fine saying: it cost Him His life to say these words with meaning, “As I have loved you.”
There is a difficulty in the attempt to grasp the meaning of this command, arising from the fact that words change their meaning. Our Lord affixed a new significance to the word Love: it had been in use, of course, before, but the new sense in which He used it made it a new Word His law is not adequately represented by the word Love: because love is, by conventional usage, appropriated to one species of human affection, which, in the commoner men, is the most selfish of all our feelings: and in the best is too exclusive and individual to represent that Charity which is universal. Nor is Charity a perfect symbol of His meaning: for charity by use is identified with another form of love which is but a portion of it, almsgiving; and too saturated with that meaning to be entirely disengaged from it, even when we use it most accurately.
Benevolence or Philanthropy, in derivation, come nearer to the idea: but yet you feel at once that these words fall short: they are too tame and cool; too merely passive, as states of feeling rather than forms of life.
We have no sufficient word. There is therefore no help for it, but patiently to strive to master the meaning of this mighty word Love, in the only light that is left us, the light of the Savior’s life: “As I have loved you”; that alone expounds it. We will dispossess our minds of all preconceived notions; remove all low associations, all partial and conventional ones. If we would understand this law, it must be ever a “new commandment, ever receiving fresh light and meaning from His life.We have several projects under development that might be interesting to you. Come and download numerous Christian books, listen to our programs, see several video lessons based on Russian Christian art, look at pictures of beautiful Alaska, the home of our first radio station, KNLS.
Thanks for reading and for listening!
Categories: RUSSIAN
