Pastor Lewi Pethrus | |
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 Lewi Pethrus in 1937 | |
| Born | Pethrus Lewi Johansson (1884-03-11)11 March 1884 |
| Died | 4 September 1974(1974-09-04) (aged 90) Stockholm, Sweden |
| Education | Bethel Seminary (Betelseminariet) in Stockholm |
| Spouse | Lydia Danielsen |
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Lewi Pethrus (bornPethrus Lewi Johansson; 11 March 1884 – 4 September 1974) was a SwedishPentecostalminister who played a decisive role in the formation and development of the Pentecostal movement in his country. In 1964, he founded the political party theChristian Democrats.
Pethrus was born in 1884 inVargön,Västergötland. He held manual jobs from the age of ten, beingapprenticed to a shoe factory in 1899. That year, he wasbaptized in theBaptist church inVänersborg. After emigrating toNorway in 1900, he became co-pastor of theArendal Baptist Church in 1902, along withAdolf Mildes. He startedspeaking in tongues, believed by Pentecostals to be evidence of having received thebaptism of the Holy Spirit after a series of meetings in Lillestrand. He claimed that the experience happened to him spontaneously and that he did not understand at the time what was happening to him.
Pethrus became pastor of a small Baptist church inBengtsfors,Dalsland, Sweden, in 1903, but did not seek formal theological training until 1904, when he enrolled at theBethel Seminary (Betelseminariet) inStockholm. He was later to say that his training was detrimental to his faith. Exposure to the writings of liberal philosopherViktor Rydberg temporarily undermined his faith in the divinity of Jesus, but claimed to have regained it after meeting Jesus personally in avision.
After graduating from seminary, Pethrus completed his compulsory military service atAxevalla Hed [sv],Västergötland, in the autumn of 1906. That year, he became pastor of theLidköping Baptist Church.
Pethrus joined the Pentecostal movement in 1907 after meeting the Norwegian Pentecostal ministerThomas Ball Barratt in Oslo. It was then that the doctrine of the baptism in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues became clear to him; he claimed: "From that moment I was part of the Pentecostal Revival".[citation needed]
Pethrus became pastor of the Seventh Baptist Church in Stockholm in 1910 and of theFiladelfia Church in 1911. In 1913, the year in which he married NorwegianLydia Danielsen, his church was expelled from the Swedish Baptist Union due to disagreements about speaking in tongues andholy communion (his church practicedopen communion). This was the beginning of a separate Pentecostal movement in Sweden. During the same phase of his life Pethrus wrote the words and music for hisgospel song "Löftena kunna ej svika" ('The promises cannot fail').[1] The Filadelfia Church started a Bible school in 1915 and a weekly magazine,Evangelii Härold [sv] 'The Gospel Herald', in 1916. In the same year, the church sent its firstmissionaries,Samuel andLina Nyström, to Brazil, helping theAssembleias de Deus.
Pethrus and his Filadelfia Church sent many missionaries to Africa, Latin America and continental Europe, and kept ties with the North American Scandinavian Pentecostals belonging to theFellowship of Christian Assemblies and theIndependent Assemblies of God, International.
Pethrus sponsored the founding of a high school in 1942 andDagen, a daily newspaper, in 1945. A credit fund was established in 1952 and a radio station,IBRA Radio [no;sv] (now IBRA Media) inTangier,Morocco, in 1955. The same year, the Filadelfia Church hosted thePentecostal World Conference.
Pethrus resigned from the pastorate on 7 September 1958. He continued preaching as an itinerant preacher, and established theLewi Pethrus Trust for Philanthropic Endeavours [sv] (Swedish:Lewi Pethrus stiftelse för filantropisk verksamhet) in 1959. In 1964, he spearheaded the founding of Sweden'sChristian Democratic Party. He had moved more into the sphere of politics since the 1940s, after denouncing it wholly during the early years of his ministry. The Christian Democrats were culturally conservative but supported the welfare state.[2] His wife Lydia died on 30 December 1966. A year before his own death, he was made aKnight Commander of theOrder of Vasa. His last sermon was delivered at the annualNyhem Week Pentecostal convention in 1974, shortly before his death on 4 September. His autobiography,Ett sagolikt liv (A storied life) was published in 1976.[3]
In 2001,Per Olov Enquist published a novel,Lewis resa,[4] which is in part about the interactions between Pethrus andSven Lidman.
