Faith Alone

The Heart of Everything

By: Bo Giertz

Narrated by: Erick Sorensen, Bror Erickson

Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

Faith Alone, written in 1943, is a prequel to Bo Giertz's better-known novel, The Hammer of God.

This is Bo Giertz's masterpiece—written with the doctrinal clarity and purpose of G.K. Chesterton and C.S. Lewis, the historical acumen of Bernard Cornwell, and the psychological insight of Kafka. The result is a Scandinavian Noir that cuts open the soul and lays it at the foot of the cross.

The novel begins in 1540 and ends in 1543, during which time the largest peasant revolt in the history of Scandinavia occurred under the leadership of Nils Dacke. The Dacke Rebellion, as it is known, started in the county of Småland but bled over into the Ydre district on ÖstergÖtland's southern border with Småland.

The plot follows the story of two brothers, Anders and Martin. It was the wish of their mother that these two brothers would become priests in the Catholic Church, and so they were both sent to study for the priesthood in the town of LinkÖping, Sweden, when they were quite young.

It was at this time that the Reformation began in Germany, and Sweden fought for independence from Denmark, breaking the Kalmar Union. German mercenaries hired by King Gustav Vasa to fight Danish troops brought Reformation literature with them. So, Martin became a Lutheran and left for Stockholm to work for King Gustav Vasa as a scrivener. His brother Anders continued with his studies and became a Catholic priest.

When the king has to pay his debt to Lubeck for the mercenaries he hired for the war, he confiscates the church's land, bells, silver, and gold to do so. With this he firmly declares his cause with the Reformation doctrine of Martin Luther. However, the people of Småland are fond of Roman Catholicism and chafe at Lubeck's measures. So, they rebelled. Anders takes up with their cause and joins with Nils Dacke and his men. Martin stays with the king, before becoming disillusioned and falling in with a group of Schwärmerei, or pre-Pentecostal legalists. As the war comes to an end both brothers are brought back to the Reformation faith through the patient shepherding of a Lutheran priest named Peder.

©2020 Bo Giertz (P)2024 1517 Publishing

The producers don’t understand audiobooks

Loser Aaron make terrible novelists. We don’t know how to tell a story. There is a lot of potential in this for great storytelling and perhaps a person who knows the history of Sweden and knows lots of esoteric history and even for trying too much. It’s essentially debate finalized.

And the reader is just reading the book aloud not understanding that he’s reading for an audience. Every time he expresses outrage, no matter which character, it sounds like Rick Moranis as the key master in Ghostbusters. I can tell you. ;)

The Heart of Everything

Following the story of two brothers, one a Roman Catholic priest and one whose religion becomes comparable to a modern American evangelical, Giertz can offer sympathetic and diverging views on the history of the Swedish Reformation. Ironically, as those brothers initially think themselves the two opposing sides of conflict in their land, they find they are more alike in their misuse of Christianity. There is a third way, a humble path they initially overlooked, which would restore what both had treasured and sought in their diverging paths.

Though this is a book about the Swedish Reformation, it is more relevant to Americans in 2024 than you would expect. At one level, this is a book about Christian nationalism and how it simultaneously betrays the state, Biblical faith, and our neighbors. But this is hardly a book just against a mistaken path. It is a book for the beauty of faithful Christian practice, showing how peace with God harvests bountiful fields of genuine love for every neighbor.