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312 VI. GREAT KINGS AND BISHOPS (A.D. 15931718).
spirit of his famous son, was, however, a severe critic of
the idea that justification by faith alone meant faith without
good works. To him faith was rightly a matter of the will
and the heart, very different from the
"
fides historica
"
which many Swedes of his day regarded as a sufficient sub
stitute for it. Of such persons he wrote:
"
I sigh and
lament at heart, as often as I think of it, how ill most
Lutherans understand Luther s doctrine, how ill
they
understand what faith in our Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ
is." . . . "If
they go to Church, and at certain times in
the year to the Lord s Supper, and at the same time live in
all sorts of sinful works of the flesh it s no matter : sola
fides, strong faith, shall do their business for them. No
one shall say that they are not good Lutherans and
Christians, and shall not be saved without any contradic
tion. My God, who hast called forth and equipped
Luther with Thy spirit of freedom in order that he should
restore the Christian doctrine about faith, raise up another
Luther, who, with like freedom and blessed effect, may
again restore a Christian life!"
67
But, true as this is, it may be doubted if
Svedberg and
others of his generation sufficiently understood the real
meaning of faith, as trust in the person of the Lord and
intimate fellowship with Him. A more intimate and
mystical faith was needed in order to break into the hard
ground of the Swedish character. It was not a reconcilia
tion between faith and works, but the exchange of a hard
faith for a living loving faith that was needed.
The period that follows will show Sweden making many
attempts in this direction, of which I shall endeavour to
give some account in my next lecture.
67 For Whitelocke s conversation with Lenseus, see his
Swedish Ambassy, Vol. i., pp. 410-8, Lond., 1772 ;
for that
with the Prince, ibid., 2, pp. 209-13. From the first it also
appears that the diaconate was then recognized as a degree
leading to the priesthood. Svedberg s own reflections are in
his MS. Lefvernes Beskrifning, p. 137, and are quoted from
H. W. Tottie s :
Li/, pp. 28 foil., and his article in K. H.
Arsskrift, i., p. 90, 1900. Cp. Schuck, /. S. L. H. y i., 416-7.
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