Norwegian priests skip Bible verse – criticized for “anxiety”

Bishops in Norway believe that a verse from the New Testament “communicates poorly” and have started to exclude it from funeral services. This has attracted strong criticism in Christian circles in Norway, where it is believed that priests have become increasingly restrained in their faith.

John 3:16 is a mandatory Bible verse at funeral services in Norway, but many priests often choose to omit it. For this reason, the Norwegian bishops have asked the National Board for Worship Life (NFG) to consider whether the Bible verse should be an optional part of the services.

This in turn has drawn strong criticism from Christian Norway, with Vebjørn Selbekk, editor of the Christian newspaper Dagen, among others, pointing out that John 3:16 is “the most central passage in the entire Bible”.

– It seems that the bishops’ council no longer wants to stand for classical Christian theology, he tells Norwegian state broadcaster NRK.

Church perceived as “anxious”

From other quarters, it is pointed out that the proposal is lenient and that the Church appears “anxious”.

– I think this underscores a trend over time where the church seems anxious and restrained in the way it communicates its own faith, says historian and church musician Olav Rune Bastrup.

The Christian daily Vårt Land has also criticized the bishops’ proposal.

In the Church of Norway, funeral services begin with the Bible verse, while the Church of Sweden has replaced it with a milder formulation:

“Let us hear the words of the Bible about finding security in God in life and death”.

Former bishop Tor Berger Jørgensen believes that Norway should follow Sweden’s example and avoid anything that could be associated with the doctrine of damnation.

– This is a less dogmatic and more pastoral introduction. Here we should learn from the Swedes, says Jørgensen.