
I was recently in my local Ikea and noticed a display describing Swedish bath houses. The article printed on the wall said the bath house that was pictured showed the “simplicity” and dislike of “unnecessary decoration” that is common to Scandinavian architecture. This got me to thinking about how severity of climate and geography play a huge role in how a people express their religion. The Scandinavian countries produced Pietism while the English and to a greater and lasting degree, the Scots, produced Puritanism.
Both of these movements, Puritanism and Pietism, share much in how they are expressed and came into being. Both are movements of reaction against state churches. Both are movements of individual holiness. Both work themselves out through a philosophy of simplicity that rejects “unnecessary” decoration whether it is liturgical, architectural, or musical. But both also originate in harsh climates where the land yields its bounty only grudgingly. The farther south you go the more moderated (and dare I say relaxed and joyful) religion becomes: Lutherans to south of the Pietists and Anglicans and the Continental Reformed for the Puritans. How much geography and climate plays a role in how these movements came into being is an interesting question with fairly obvious answers. The implications of this, of course, are larger.