The Prometheus Society (, ) was a Finnish

student society A student society, student association, university society, student club, university club, or student organization is a society or an organization, operated by students at a university, college, or other educational institution, whose membership t ...

at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...

from 1905 to 1914, whose main purpose was to promote

religious freedom Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice ...

Views

Its program included the abolition of compulsory

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant (religion), covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. The ceremony typically involves laying on o ...

and communion, the abolition of compulsory religious oaths, the abolition of compulsory

religious education In secular usage, religious education is the teaching of a particular religion (although in the United Kingdom the term ''religious instruction'' would refer to the teaching of a particular religion, with ''religious education'' referring to t ...

in schools, the introduction of

civil marriage A civil marriage is a marriage performed, recorded, and recognized by a government official. Such a marriage may be performed by a religious body and recognized by the state, or it may be entirely secular. History Countries maintaining a popul ...

and the introduction of the right to leave the state church without the obligation to join another religious denomination at the same time, as well as the separation of church and state. The society was an early expression of the

anti-clericalism Anti-clericalism is opposition to clergy, religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historically, anti-clericalism in Christian traditions has been opposed to the influence of Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secul ...

that existed among Finnish-Swedish intellectuals. Most of the reforms promoted by the society were achieved during the first few years of Finland's independence.

Members

The chairman of the Prometheus Society, who came under fierce attack from church circles, was

Edvard Westermarck Edvard Alexander Westermarck (20 November 1862 in Helsinki – 3 September 1939 in Tenala) was a Finnish philosopher and sociologist. Among other subjects, he studied exogamy and the incest taboo. Biography Westermarck was born in 1862 in a w ...

; the vice-chairman was Georg Schauman and the longest-serving secretary was historian Svante Dahlström. Other members of the society included

Rafael Karsten Sigfrid Rafael Karsten (16 August 1879 — 21 February 1956) was a Finnish social anthropology, social anthropologist and philosophy of religion, philosopher of religion, known especially for his work among the indigenous people of Southern Amer ...

, , Gunnar Landtman, , , , Hjalmar Magnus Eklund, Harry Federley, Alma Söderhjelm, , K. H. Wiik, Viktor Heikel, and Hermann Friedmann.

History

The society was founded by students of the

, including members of the Euterpe Society, on 20 October 1905, shortly before the beginning of the

general strike A general strike is a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large coalitions ...

. The society was ideologically

secularist Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on naturalistic considerations, uninvolved with religion. It is most commonly thought of as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state and may be broadened ...

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

and liberal. Its principles were rooted in the pan-European revolution in which empiricism, evolution, and liberalism were gaining ground in the scholarly world. The society's adherents were not united in their social positions. Westermarck himself thought that the Prometheus meetings were more popular than those of any other learned society. The Prometheus Society gave lectures not only on humanistic subjects but also on

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

and

theosophy Theosophy is a religious movement established in the United States in the late 19th century. Founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and based largely on her writings, it draws heavily from both older European philosophies such as Neop ...

, with future Archbishop

Erkki Kaila Erkki Kaila, previously Erik Johansson (2 June 1867 – 9 December 1944), was the Archbishop of Turku, and the spiritual head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland between 1935 and 1944. He was a Member of Parliament between 1917 and 1927 ...

, among others. In the mid-1910s, the society's activities waned as the social situation in Finland became more tense. The society was dissolved after the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, when the state authorities found its activities to be propagandistic. Civil marriage was made legal in Finland by a separate law passed in 1917. The Finnish Freedom of Religion Act was passed in 1922 and was enacted at the beginning of 1923. The new law allowed citizens not to belong to religious communities. It was only this law that gave atheists in Finland full civil rights. However, the demand for

separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and Jurisprudence, jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the State (polity), state. Conceptually, the term refers to ...

was not fully met.

References

Notes

Sources

Prometheus
in ''

Uppslagsverket Finland ''Uppslagsverket Finland'' ('Encyclopedia Finland') is a Swedish-language encyclopedia with a focus on Finland and in particular Finland-Swedish subjects. The encyclopedia is published by initiative of an association dedicated to this task, ( ...

'' (web edition, 2012). CC-BY-SA 4.0