Jason Lavery's meticulous research offers an important access point to an intriguing piece of Reformation history, the legacy of which is still unfolding with new evidence and partners in its interpretation. The twenty-page bibliography is extensive, including archival sources from Finland and Sweden, including precious sources from the first Finnish diocese in Turku/Åbo. Under 10% of the works of secondary scholarship cited come from women, which may or may not reflect the status of scholarship. For linguistic reasons, much of past scholarship has been conducted in Finnish, and to a degree in Swedish, with seemingly uniform conclusions on the salient points Lavery now reconsiders: the role of social factors as a reason or a consequence of the Reformation, the radical or the consensual bent of the Finnish bishops in the process, the interplay between the king-led royal reform versus the stimulus of Lutheran teachings, and the vernacularization under the leadership of the much revered figure Mikael Agricola. Lavery reads his materials as a historian and one with critical distance; with access to the primary sources, he is able to reconsider the evidence.

One could suggest that the Reformation in Finland was the ideal case, especially if they were looking at how Finnish society and the church have collaborated over the post-Reformation centuries in a country that has been voted as one of the “happiest,” “just,” and “egalitarian” places in the world. One could speculate on the evidence on how the best aspects of the sixteenth-century Wittenberg theological impetus were successfully translated into laws that came to uniquely shape the democratically organized Finnish society that legislates equality, making education inclusive and free, and citizens from children to the elderly are cared for. Also, and most importantly, the Finns’ victorious fight to use their own non-Indo-European language rather than surrender to the dominant languages of the neighbors (Swedish or Russian) has its roots in the Reformation agendas to equip new Protestants with Christian literature in their own vernacular languages and with the proper education of the people. In the case of the north-eastern frontier, the written Finnish language actually had to be first invented for any of this to take place. Lavery does not make such contemporary observations, sticking to his guns as a historian, but he does address the vernacularization process and the role of Mikael Agricola, even if surprisingly thinly.

The most famous Finnish reformer, the Wittenberg-trained Mikael Agricola—who has his celebratory day in the Finnish calendar as the father of Finnish Language—comes across in Lavery's interpretation as a moderate reformer with room for improvement in the areas of accounting and finances. His greatest gift to the Finns was in the area of language and literature: with his theological argument that “Kylle se cwle Somen kielen, ioca ymerdä Caikein mielen” (143), in other words, “Certaintly the one who understand all humans’ minds hears also the Finnish language” [transl. mine], Agricola brought the Finns to the theological map, so to speak.

Embodying the Finnish virtues of modesty and fortitude (sisu), as Lavery observes (138), the bishop peacefully navigated between the agendas of the King of Sweden and his royal reform, his episcopal colleagues, and the interests of the Finnish parishes, exemplifying a “deliberate, pragmatic, and flexible approach to reforming the church's beliefs and practices” (193). In Finland, as was characteristic of Nordic lands, reforming practices took precedence over minute theological debate; simplicity of religion and further Christianization of the Finns, who were still in their hearts quite pagan, seemed to be the goal for both the King and the Finnish reformers, rather than pushing exclusively Lutheran agendas (170). In retrospect, Lavery concludes that “Lutheran reform ideas took root because of a widespread tolerance of divergent understanding of reform of the church's teachings and practices” (194). The tolerant approach exercised by the Finnish bishops meant that the Finns experienced no radical break-ups with the medieval Christian roots (for example, the long-standing history of the prestigious Brigittine convent in Naantali is a proof of that), it appears that by and large the Finnish people were content to be able to express their Christian first and secondarily Lutheran faith in ways that left room for the strong vestiges of the older “pagan” religious practices and beliefs. An indicator of this is Agricola's inclusion of first-ever listing of the Finnish gods in his translation of the Psalter.

By placing the Finnish reformation within the framework of the Swedish kingdom's history and focusing first on the sources from the Diocese of Turku/Åbo and then those from the new Diocese of Viipuri/Viborg (an area lost to Russia during World War II), Lavery underscores the role of King Gustav Vasa and his royal state-building agendas as parallel forces for what he calls “Lutheranism”—presuming core Lutheran theological teachings are meant by that. He also exposes how “Finland exploited its position as a frontier to alter Lutheran reform ideas to meet local conditions” (197). Certain freedoms were possible in Finland, which was a healthy distance from inter-German confessional debates. Lavery connects the dots between the dire financial needs of the church, local parishes, and the royal house in Sweden. Less attention is given to the content and impact of the rich religious traditions that shaped the daily lives of Finns; a few valuable pages give examples of the deep roots of folklore and “paganism.” Other important facts to consider would be the (still) notable distinctions—in customs and dialects—between different regional Finnish groups, the diversity of which may have contributed to the seemingly amiable process through which Lutheran faith took over as the major religious force across the social spectrums.

In synopsis, the book proceeds from mapping the church life in medieval Finland and the ethnic cultural and religious idiosyncrasies of the Finns (chapters 1, 2, 7) to the complexities of the rule of King Gustav Vasa and his maneuvering toward his political gains in the midst of ubiquitous financial hardship (chapters 1, 2, 3) and his stated efforts toward in the proclamation of “the pure word of God” (195). The Reformation in Finland is presented as a relatively uneventful and deliberate move toward a simplified religion and streamlined communications without mediators—and this pertaining to both god-human relations as well as the King's lines of access to “his” clergy. Lavery attends to the pathways of Reformation theology to the Finnish-speaking lands and elaborates on the crucial drive to employ the Finnish vernacular (chapter 6), and the long-term consequences of the work of Agricola and the like (chapters 2–5) for both culture and the practice of religion the Finnish way.