Between the Elite and the Masses: Or the Hardships of Being a Revivalist Colporteur in 19th-Century Finland

Finnish society in general, and its religious scene in particular, underwent major changes in the latter part of the 19th century. A shift in power relations took place in which representatives of the revival movements established themselves at the expense of the Lutheran state church. This shift was not always carried out without tension and friction. The current chapter focuses on this tension between the official clergy and emerging revivalist colporteurs - or between the religious high and low culture, represented respectively by the clergy and the lay preachers. It does so by examining the previously unpublished autobiographies or spiritual journals by Gustaf Roos and Johannes Wirén, who were among the first colporteurs within the Lutheran Evangelical Association in Finland. In doing so, it offers a micro-historical account of the self-understanding and self-image of two colporteurs and a first-hand perspective on the loosening of the centuries-long monopoly on the religious field in Finland. It shows how the colporteurs saw themselves and their task, especially in relation to the representatives of the state church and with particular interest in when the contracting parties came into conflict with each other. "If the priest is for us, everything works out well. If the priest is against us, everything works out even better." Gustaf Roos (1846-1918).