In Norway it is normal for even devoted Christians to skip Sunday church in favor of a nature walk or cross-country skiing, as the nation’s spiritual life takes place outdoors in scenic environments rather than inside buildings. The Deep Ecologists were instrumental in giving the Church of Norway the eco-theological focus it has today. How and why environmentalists came to adapt religious language, and how theologians responded, reflected deep seated pietist traditions. For the Church, environmentalism represented an opportunity to revive the Church’s pietist Lutheran doctrine among the young and thereby mobilize a new audience.

John Dickinson (1732–1809) was a Founder of the United States whose jurisprudence was greatly influenced by Quakerism. Although he never joined the Religious Society of Friends, Dickinson adopted the basic tenets of their religion, particularly the belief in the Light of Christ in the conscience, which caused them to consider all people spiritually equal, regardless of gender, race, or socio-economic status. The strong and outspoken Quaker women in Dickinson’s life—his mother, wife, daughters, and a range of other female friends and relatives—influenced him to advocate for women in his legal practice and in his work to found the nation. Among the leading Founders, Dickinson was the only one to press for women’s rights, making him an early feminist.