The Finnish Society for the Study of Religion 50 Years: Development and Challenges

Abstract

In the first issue of Temenos in 1965 Professor Lauri Honko (1932–2002) writes: ‘it may seem foolhardy that the youngest comparative religion society in the Northern countries should undertake to fill this gap’ – that is, to publish a Nordic journal in comparative religion. It was not only the publishing of Temenos that was initiated from Finland, but also quite a few other new things. This is why I have chosen to call my presentation ‘The Small and Daring Society’. In what follows here let us take a look at how it all started, and at the main features of development over the past 50 years – and also at what are the challenges that the current situation presents the Society with.