Update on the Trial of Christians in Finland

February 28, 2022 By Gene Veith

We’ve been blogging about the trial in Finland of Member of Parliament Dr. Päivi Räsänen and Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola for “hate crimes,” due to their teaching what the Bible says about homosexuality. The trial is over, and the court plans to issue its ruling on March 30.

Joy Pullman of the Federalist has been covering the case and interviewing the defendants. She reports on where things stand right now, including some aspects I didn’t realize, in her article How A Trial In Finland Could Have Worldwide Effects On Government Persecution Of Religion.

Dr. Räsänen, the former Minister of the Interior, first got in trouble when she tweeted pictures of Bible verses, sparking an investigation that uncovered other talks and writings that offered a Christian perspective on the LGBT cause. Those included a pamphlet she wrote for the Luther Foundation. Rev. Pohjola–now the bishop of the Mission Diocese of the Lutheran Evangelical Church, which is in fellowship with the LCMS–was in charge of that foundation, so he was prosecuted too.

The two, who are being tried together, could be sentenced to up to two years of prison. Prosecutors are seeking a fine for Dr. Räsänen of one-third of her annual income, erasing the documents and audiotapes she made on the subject, and a financial penalty against the Luther Foundation.

The Federalist article points out that the charge against Bishop Pohjola and one of the three charges against Dr. Räsänen were for statements made years before the law they are accused of violating was passed! Pullman quotes Lorcan Price, an attorney involved with the case:

“The fact that Bishop Juhana is even in this trial is Kafkaesque, it’s insane,” Price said. “He’s being charged with something he did as the head of a charitable foundation, the Luther Foundation, that publishes theological documents, for a document he didn’t write that expresses mainstream, orthodox Christian teaching.

The stakes, though, are high, with the potential of reaching far beyond Finland. Whatever the court decides, the case is likely to be appealed.

We Americans often take for granted just how free we are, even compared to other democracies. Our legal system forbids “double jeopardy”; that is to say, someone acquitted of a crime cannot be tried again for the same crime. A “not guilty” verdict is final. Prosecutors cannot appeal the verdict, though a defendant can appeal a “guilty” verdict. In the words of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution “nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.”

But in Finland, if a court finds a defendant “not guilty,” the prosecutors can appeal. So whether Dr. Räsänen and Bishop Pohjola are found innocent or guilty, their case will likely be appealed to the Finnish Supreme Court, and then, if they lose, to the European Court of Human Rights. Pullman points out that a decision there could set a precedent for all European nations, most of which have similar laws to Finland, determining whether religious freedom must be curtailed in the name of LGBT affirmation.

In fact, the legal decisions may well have an impact in the United States, which is also trying to work out those issues.

And yet, some good things are coming from the case.

Before this case, Rasanen and Pohjola’s theological booklet was printed years ago in a few hundred copies and mostly used within tiny Lutheran churches. Their prosecution has caused it to be distributed around the world and translated into several other languages, Price said.

“This obscure little pamphlet has made its way around the world thanks to the efforts of the prosecutor to shut it down,” he noted.

Being targeted for their faith has given Rasanen and Pohjola a global platform for preaching the Christian message of forgiveness for all sins and the deep importance to Christians of the Bible as the very Word of God. Rasanen told The Federalist that because of her case, European media are quoting Bible verses and people are debating their meaning. She says she’s received emails from people saying her case has prompted them to start reading the Bible, which the pastor’s wife and grandmother of nine says she’s read repeatedly since age 16. . . .

“Many people and journalists around the world regularly ask me: ‘What keeps you going, from where do you find the courage to speak up?’” Rasanen told The Federalist. “My motivation comes from the Bible and from my will to have an impact on the society. A conviction based on the Christian faith is more than a [superficial] opinion. The early Christians did not renounce their faith in lions’ caves, why should I then renounce my faith in a court room? I believe it is my calling and honor to defend the foundational rights and freedoms at this point of my life.”

Photo: The Supreme Court of Finland, Helsinki by Tomisti – work by uploader, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2120699

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Finland Explicitly Puts the Bible on Trial

January 26, 2022 By Gene Veith

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On Monday the trial began in Finland for Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola and Member of Parliament Dr. Päivi Räsänen, charged with hate crimes for teaching what the Bible says about homosexuality.

I have blogged about these two Christians and the charges against them (here, here, here, and here). Way back in 2004, long before Finland legalized same sex marriage in 2017, Dr. Räsänen, a medical doctor and former Minister of the Interior, wrote a 24-page booklet on the Bible’s teachings about sexuality, including a section on homosexuality. Bishop Pohjola’s church, now in fellowship with the LCMS, published it. Dr. Räsänen was also charged for tweeting a Bible verse in response to the liberal state church being a sponsor of an LGBTQ parade and for participating in a 2019 debate on the subject. Three years ago, over a decade and a half after the publication of the booklet, the two were charged for inciting hatred against homosexuals. Finally, their case has been brought to trial.

Joy Pullman of the Federalist has been covering the case and the trial. She reports that the hearing on Monday took a strange twist. Instead of focusing on the two defendants, who could be sentenced to a fine of 10,000 euros and two years in prison, the prosecutors, in effect, put on trial the Bible itself. From her article, Finnish Government Puts Christianity On Trial, Calls The Bible ‘Hate Speech’:

In the trial’s opening arguments, which will resume on Feb. 14, Finnish prosecutors described quotations from the Bible as “hate speech.” Finland’s top prosecutor’s office essentially put the Bible on trial, an unprecedented move for a secular court, said Paul Coleman, a human rights lawyer with Alliance Defending Freedom International who is assisting in the Finns’ legal defense and was present during Monday’s trial.

“The prosecutor began the day by trying to explain that this case was not about beliefs and the Bible. She then, and I’m not kidding, she then proceeded to quote Old Testament Bible verses,” Coleman said in a phone interview with The Federalist after the trial concluded for the day. “Trial attorneys, Finnish trial attorneys who have been in and out of court every day for years, said they didn’t think the Bible had ever been read out like that in a prosecution.”

Never before has a Finnish court had to decide whether quoting the Bible is a crime.

The prosecutors then interrogated the two about their theology, which became an occasion for them both to proclaim the Gospel!

“The booklet stands on the Christian understanding of human being,” Pohjola said in court, according to an on-site Finnish reporter, Danielle Miettinen. “Sin affects every human being to the core. But the grace of God is also universal. He wants to forgive the sins of every human being.”. . .

The booklet Rasanen wrote, called “Male and Female God Created,” also affirms Christian teachings about the preciousness of every single human life to God. Christians also believe in complete human equality in both the sinfulness of every human, and God’s forgiveness of every sin. Rasanen and Pohjola have repeatedly publicly affirmed that they are not motivated by hate, but by love in stating the historic, orthodox Christian faith.

“The saving gospel of Jesus Christ has been given to us in the Bible,” Rasanen told reporters outside court Monday, according to Miettinen. “The cross of Christ shows the greatest love for both heterosexuals and homosexuals.”

The trial will resume on February 14, appropriately enough, St. Valentine’s Day, named after a martyr who was also a defender of marriage. The word “martyr” means “witness.”

Photos:

Päivi Räsänen by Eurooppalainen Suomi ry, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Bishop Dr. Juhana Pohjola, via The Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland

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The immigrant converts in Finland

May 10, 2017 By Gene Veith

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I have been blogging quite a bit about the Muslim immigrants in Europe who are converting to Christianity. (See here and here and here.) It’s happening also in Finland, and this time I got to see this phenomenon first hand. Not only that, I was able to interact with some of these new Christians and worship with them.

The Finnish Lutheran Mission has been sending missionaries to Afghanistan for decades. In 1980, two of them were killed. In 2014, two more were killed.

Now Afghan refugees are making their way to Finland. And many of them are converting to Christianity, with stories similar to the Iranians in Denmark and the Iraqis in Germany: They have dreamed of Jesus, had visions directing them to a Bible-believing church or mission, read Bibles in the course of their journeys, reacted against the brutal religion they were fleeing to find a God of grace, etc., etc.

Conservative Christians in Europe are evangelizing, catechizing, and baptizing them. Though some officials and others suspect these refugees of feigning conversion in an effort to gain permanent resident status—which seldom even works in the secularist bureaucracies—these new Christians are going to church and revitalizing what were once moribund and ill-attended congregations, reminding long-time members of the power of the Gospel of Christ.

Finnish Lutheran Mission, one of the “mission” organizations where conservative Christianity still flourishes, operates a Bible College in Ryttylä. The institution offers programs that teach the Bible, Apologetics, Theology, and other subjects. Young Christians often study here for several months before heading out to the university. The institution also offers camp-like experiences for children and families, as well as other activities for adults, such as the Apologetics Seminar at which I was speaking.

After the conference, my wife and I continued to stay at the college as a base of operations for the other things I was doing.

Also staying with us were 26 young Afghan men who were here to study the Bible, as well as the Finnish language. (more…)

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Confessional Lutheranism in Finland

April 25, 2017 By Gene Veith

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Imagine that the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod suddenly went liberal. Pastors of every gender and sexual identity, seminaries that ignored the Bible, the gospel replaced by leftwing politics–the whole way. Also imagine that there were no other church bodies that you could go to instead–no Wisconsin Synod, no Evangelical Lutheran Synod, and, even though this might not be an option for you, hardly any Catholics, Orthodox, Reformed, or Baptists.

There were still some faithful pastors and congregations, carrying on with great courage despite an often hostile church bureaucracy. But there aren’t any of these near where you live.

The Synod’s Recognized Service Organizations (RSOs), however, are still faithful and confessional. These RSOs have been officially authorized by the church body to carry out specialized ministries. They have the right to call pastors.

So these RSOs start holding worship services. The pastors preside at the Divine Service and offer the Sacraments. Though you keep your membership in your old congregation with its feminist pastor, you stop attending there on Sunday mornings and instead drive thirty miles each Sunday afternoon to worship with your fellow area conservatives at the offices of the Lutheran Heritage Foundation.

This is basically the situation of confessional Lutherans in Finland. (more…)

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Dispatch from Finland

April 21, 2017 By Gene Veith

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We are in Finland, safe and sound. We are having a good and fascinating time. The church situation here is complicated, but don’t believe what you hear about the utter secularism of Scandinavia. We are meeting some very vibrant and very solid Lutheran Christians who are true inspirations. And, yes, they are reaping lots of Muslim converts to Christianity. But I’ll tell you more when I get back.

Thanks for sticking with the blog while I’m gone. I may be able to post more than I thought I could.

Photo of Luther Church, a confessional congregation attended by over 200 people each Sunday by Abc10 – Oma teos, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49178504

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I’m off to Finland

April 18, 2017 By Gene Veith

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Today my wife and I fly off to Finland. I will be giving lectures at an apologetics conference and speaking at two universities. I’ll also be meeting with the confessional Lutherans there, including Rev. Jujana Puhjola.

Earlier, I was in Denmark and Norway, and then Denmark again. As I said then, the image of the secularist Scandinavians is not completely true. I have been meeting lots of very devoted Christians. My book Spirituality of the Cross has been translated into the Scandinavian languages and it’s getting some readers. I am touched at the thought that I might be used in some measure to be part of a revival of Christianity–indeed, Lutheran Christianity–among the delightful people in these fascinating countries.

So what does this mean for the blog? I am not going to take away from my Scandinavian moments by constantly monitoring the internet and blogging all the time. I am not sure of my internet connections, seeing as how at least part of the time I’ll be in the deep woods. But I’ll post when I can. I probably won’t be able to post as many items every day. There may be days when I don’t post any at all. But I’ve got some very interesting posts scheduled to come up through the week. I’ll be back in the states the first of May.

You might say a prayer for us from time to time.

Photograph of Helsinki with Lutheran Cathedral and Finnair Skywheel by Kotivalo (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

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