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The laws of the country in the 1850’s prescribed penalties for any religious movement which the Lutheran priests regarded as hostile to the Lutheran creed. The Lutheran Priesthood, with the civil authorities on their side, were strict in enforcing the laws prohibiting religious liberty in Sweden although many of the middle and lower classes were desiring freedom. <br> | The laws of the country in the 1850’s prescribed penalties for any religious movement which the Lutheran priests regarded as hostile to the Lutheran creed. The Lutheran Priesthood, with the civil authorities on their side, were strict in enforcing the laws prohibiting religious liberty in Sweden although many of the middle and lower classes were desiring freedom. <br> | ||
Also the Swedish laws and customs prevented travelers (native and foreign) from going to place to place without a passport. A traveler who was found without a passport (or moving certificate) in Sweden was treated with suspicion. Civil authorities would retain missionaries’(of non-Lutheran faiths) passports thus preventing them from going into any other town. If they were found without passports or without employment they were taken up as loafers and idlers and transported to their respective homes.To counteract this problem, a converted native Swede was often called as a missionary and | Also the Swedish laws and customs prevented travelers (native and foreign) from going to place to place without a passport. A traveler who was found without a passport (or moving certificate) in Sweden was treated with suspicion. Civil authorities would retain missionaries’(of non-Lutheran faiths) passports thus preventing them from going into any other town. If they were found without passports or without employment they were taken up as loafers and idlers and transported to their respective homes.To counteract this problem, a converted native Swede was often called as a missionary and was sent to Stockholm and other places to secure their residence by taking labor or hiring out to some kind of business as circumstances allowed. The written word would be spread and as well as teaching of individuals and small groups.<br> | ||
Non Lutheran missionaries were often arrested, transported in chains, fed coarse bread and water, suffered exposure and insult and often banished from Sweden and had neither been tried nor condemned by any judicial court. All this for having baptized citizens at their own request. <br> | Non Lutheran missionaries were often arrested, transported in chains, fed coarse bread and water, suffered exposure and insult and often banished from Sweden and had neither been tried nor condemned by any judicial court. All this for having baptized citizens at their own request. <br> | ||