Finnish Christians face new test as MP faces investigation for biblical tweet
by Jordan Hilger, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – A member of parliament is under investigation in Finland for questioning the Finnish Lutheran church’s pro-homosexuality stance, with Christians in the country fearing it could bode ill for free speech and freedom of faith.
Päivi Räsänen posted Romans 1:24-27 to Twitter last year in a challenge to the national church, which is charged by the Finnish constitution to “proclaim a Bible-based Christian faith.”
“I thought that this couldn’t happen. It was unbelievable. It was a real surprise. And my first thought was, ‘are they really going this far’?” Leif Nummela, editor of a Christian newspaper in Finland, told CBN News.
Other outspoken Christians in the country lamented the lukewarm response of evangelical leaders in defending the MP.
“Finnish Christians have lived in a very homogeneous Christian culture,” said Finnish Christian broadcaster Pasi Turunen. “It’s been very easy because everybody thinks and believes the same way pretty much and now this has become a completely new situation for us when our faith is challenged.”
While 70 percent of Finns are members of the national Lutheran church, only a third of them say they believe in God.
