“Questioned Dean Brusander: ‘Is it true that in your house you conduct meetings with your housefolk and neighbors?’
“Answered Danjel Andreasson: ‘It is true, Mr. Dean.’
“Asked Dean B.: ‘What do you do at these meetings?’
“Answered Danjel A.: ‘I explain the Bible word to my listeners.’
“Asked Dean B.: ‘You admit then that you are practicing the office of the ministry?’
“Answered Danjel A.: ‘I do what the ministers do not: I preach God’s true word.’
“Asked Dean B.: ‘Who has given you power to do this?’
“Answered Danjel A.: ‘God’s Spirit has given me that power in my heart.’
“Said Dean B.: ‘You are seized by an evil spirit. No one is allowed to be minister unless called and ordained according to the church law. In the presence of these honest and trusted men I herewith command you, Danjel Andreasson, to forgo all ministering pretensions in the future!’
“Answered Danjel A.: ‘You, Mr. Dean, have no power to forbid me this.’
“Said Dean B.: ‘God has entrusted your soul to me. I am your spiritual authority. In all spiritual things you must obey me and no one else.’
“Answered Danjel A.: ‘The Bible teaches that I must obey God before man. You are a man, Mr. Dean.’
“Said Dean B.: ‘In Romans, Chapter 13, verse 2, the Bible says, “Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.” Do you not admit that my power is from God?’
“Answered Danjel A.: ‘No, Mr. Dean.’
“Asked Dean B.: ‘Do you refuse to obey law and order?’
“Answered Danjel A.: ‘There is no law over the righteous.’
“Asked Dean B.: ‘Are you obsessed by such religious vanity that you call yourself righteous?’
“Answered Danjel A.: ‘I am possessed by God’s Spirit. The guide for my conduct is the Bible and my conscience.’
“Asked Dean B.: ‘Can you tell me: What is conscience?’
“Answered Danjel A.: ‘He who is reborn will find out what conscience is. I hear that you are not reborn, Mr. Dean.’
“Said Dean B.: ‘The devil, the soul-destroyer, is whispering his answers into your ears! Have you preached that no man has a right to keep possessions for himself alone?’
“Answered Danjel A.: ‘Yes. You, Mr. Dean, should have preached the same, if you had preached God’s true word.’
“Asked Dean B.: ‘Do you accuse me of false teachings?’
“Answered Danjel A.: ‘In Acts 4, verse 32, it is written of Christ’s church: “And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one souclass="underline" neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things in common.” You, Mr. Dean, have never preached Christianity for this parish.’
“Said Dean B.: ‘You lean on some words in the Bible while you tear down others. You also have said that I am a negligent shepherd and lead my flock headlong to hell when they are drunk. Is it true you have said this at your unlawful meetings?’
“Answered Danjel A.: ‘It is true, Mr. Dean.’
“Asked Dean B.: ‘How can you defend this false testimony about your spiritual guide?’
“Answered Danjel A.: ‘Is it not true, Mr. Dean, that you sell brännvin from the parsonage still?’
“Answered Dean B.: ‘I use my possessions as I see fit. What right have you to deny me my income, to which I am lawfully entitled during my tenure of office?’
“Answered Danjel A.: ‘People get drunk from your brännvin, Mr. Dean, and in their drunkenness they commit violence and adultery and other crimes against the Ten Commandments. Doesn’t he who breaks God’s command earn hell, Mr. Dean?’
“Said Dean B.: ‘You are called in for questioning, not I.’
“Said Danjel A.: ‘As long as I served the devil I received praise from you, Mr. Dean. Now when I serve God I am called in for questioning and receive blame and censure.’
“Said Dean B.: ‘Your case is now clear, Danjel Andreasson. You have here admitted — in the presence of unbiased witnesses — that you have broken the law by practicing the ministry. You should now receive your punishment in civil court. But I wish your repentance, not your ruin. If you retract your heresy, and promise no longer to preach or to spread your false and ungodly doctrines, I will grant you grace and forgiveness for what you have done.’
“Answered Danjel A.: ‘The grace belongs to God alone. Accordingly, you, Mr. Dean, have no grace to bestow on me, nor can I receive grace from you.’
“Said Dean B.: ‘In the presence of these witnesses I have forbidden you to preach. If you still pursue your illegal activities you will be sued in civil court and be fined or sentenced to bread and water in prison. On a third offense you are liable to two years’ exile.’
“Answered Danjel A.: ‘Mr. Dean, you cannot exile me from the kingdom of God, not even for one moment.’
“In spite of strong admonishments from Dean Brusander, the interrogated Andreasson adhered to his heresy, and refused obstinately to retract any of his false doctrines. The dean consequently administered his first warning against the spreading of heretical doctrines tending to undermine church unity and threaten the order, welfare, and security of the country. The dean instructed the strayed one to remain at his calling and pursue lawful work. Andreasson was then allowed to leave.”
— 4—
This interrogation by Dean Brusander had extracted the truth from the very mouth of the questioned one himself.
Danjel Andreasson, a simple man of the rough peasantry, was blown up by self-righteousness and vanity, and in his heart was angry and malicious toward church and clergy. In his arguments he showed a certain cunning and shrewdness not uncommon among peasants. He harbored the most insane opinions concerning man’s spiritual and temporal well-being. And his heresy was particularly dangerous because it attacked the bond of unity between authority and subjects; he incited disobedience of the holy church laws. And even foolish thoughts were easily accepted by an ignorant peasantry, as witnessed in the time of Åke Svensson. Danjel had as yet no proselytes besides a few loose and notorious persons; but well-thought-of people might be enticed into his false religious fold.
Brusander felt his high and holy duty: the only true religion must not be besmirched. No blemish must stain it. The evangelical-Lutheran religion — the faith of his fathers — must be preserved untarnished within his parish henceforth as hitherto. During the reign of the devout King Charles XI deviation from the pure religion had been punished by the gauntlet, and sometimes loss of life. Though to a later era this might seem severe, one must keep in mind that it concerned the Augsburg Confession and the purity of evangelical-Lutheran religion. At the present time Sweden had a milder monarch, her inhabitants lived in a tolerant and enlightened century, and milder means must be used against recalcitrant subjects. It would have boded ill for Danjel Andreasson in other times. The dean had thought to bring him to his senses through warnings and kind admonishments alone. He did not wish the poor man’s ruin. He would pray God to enlighten his darkened senses. He wished to force the man to repentance, and free his parish from the abominable contagion of Åkianism, without having to call in the secular authorities.
Dean Brusander duly warned his entrusted flock: three Sundays in succession he read from the pulpit the “wholesome ordinance” which prescribed fines, prison, or exile, for male or female, old or young, few or many, who gathered together in private houses under pretext of devotion. And all parishioners were warned about the farm Kärragärde, which had once more become a forbidden meeting place.