"If the arc does not appear, we shall burn the Bibles" : A Study of Two Tornedalian Revival Movements Over Two Centuries.

This essay aims to study and compare two religious movements in Tornedalen, Sweden, during two centuries. The Laestadian movement was founded by Lars Levi Laestadius during the 1840's in a, according to him, sinful society. Laestadius contributed to end a lot of the alcoholic abuse and also made the population a God-fearing people. Almost a century later, a man named Toivo Korpela stood up against the traditional laestadian norms and decided to preach his faith on his own. After a few years, the movement went in a new direction with the leadership of Sigurd Siikavaara. It turned into a sect, waiting for an arc to come down from heaven and take the chosen ones to the promised land. The purpose of this essay is both to compare the two movements, but also to examine the social, economical and political circumstances during the 1930's. Using the theory sociology of religion, I have discussed how the previously named factors were a contributing reason as to why people decided to join the movement, and also how it could evolve into a millenary movement