Konventikkelplakaten og Hans Nielsen Hauge sitt forhold til den

Abstract

The Conventicle Act of 1741 – a law to regulate religious gatherings – is seldom mentioned in Norwegian history except in connection with Hans Nielsen Hauge. This article presents this law and tries to discuss its impact on the life and work of Hauge through different periods. For an extended period of time Hauge refused to recognize the law as an obstacle to his work as a devoted Christian with a God-given vocation. Hauge did, however, reconsider this. Although he struggled to reconcile this, he could not accept the notion that he had failed during the most active years of his vocation. In his final days Hauge considered Konventikkelplakaten as a drag on his vocation for speaking God’s Word to ordinary people.