Faith, reason and emotions
I 1682 Stavanger was relegated from its previous economic status to a less important city. The bishop moved to Kristiansand, and the cathedral became a parish church.
The church was under the King’s commands. The priests were also government representatives. The gathering outside the church after Sunday services was an important community meeting point.
Pietists and puritans in this age strove for sincere beliefs, Christian lives and authentic religious feeling. Rationalists wanted to align faith with current science and philosophy.
The Haugian movement was a strong, religious movement with an important presence in Stavanger. It was the first major popular movement with an organisation strong enough to worry the state. The Haugians established businesses, held private and public meetings and challenged the priests’ monopoly as preachers. Stavanger became a city with Prayer Houses and Mission Movements.