Protestantism in Sweden and Denmark - James Aitken Wylie

inding. It was based upon the Missale Romanum,
the object being to assimilate the Eucharistic
service to the ritual of the Church of Rome. It
contained the following passage: -- "Thy same Son,
the same Sacrifice, which is a pure unspotted and
holy Sacrifice, exhibited for our reconciliation, for
our shield, shelter, and protection against thy wrath
and against the terrors of sin and death, we do with
faith receive, and with our humble prayers offer
before thy glorious majesty." The doctrine of this
passage is unmistakably that of transubstantiation,
but, over and above this, the whole of the new
Missal was pervaded by a Romanizing spirit. The
bishops and many of the clergy were gained over to
the king's measures, but a minority of the pastors
remained faithful, and the resolute opposition
which they offered to the introduction of the new
liturgy, saved the Swedish Church from a complete
relapse into Romanism. Bishop Anjou, the modern
historian of the Swedish Reformation, says -- "The
severity with which King John endeavored to
compel the introduction of his prayer-book, was
the testing fire which purified the Swedish Church
to a clear conviction of the Protestant principles
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