För Gud och fosterland : religiöst historiebruk i Anders Svedbergs historieskrivning

Analysing two history schoolbooks by Anders Svedberg (1832–1889), this article enters the relatively unexplored terrain of religious uses of history. While Svedberg's first book demonstrates how God has guided Christians through history, thus urging his pupils to learn from the past, his second book attributes the rise of the Finnish nation to the gradual spread of Christianity, thus identifying Finns as God's chosen people. In both cases, references to the Bible or to the history of the church are at the forefront. When applied in a religious “community of memory”, like the one at hand in Svedberg’s case, such a religious use of history intensifies the message being delivered.