{{Short description|Finnish theological magazine}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}} {{Infobox magazine | image_file = | image_size = | image_caption = | editor = | editor_title = | frequency = Quarterly | circulation = | category = Theological magazine | founder = Elis Bergroth <br> Karl August Hildén <br> Aleksander Auvinen | publisher = | founded = 1888 | firstdate = | country = Finland | based = Helsinki | language = Finnish | finaldate = 2017 (print) | issn = 0782-033X | oclc = 499490082 }} '''''Vartija''''' ({{langx|fi|Guardian}}) is a quarterly theological magazine based in Helsinki, Finland.<ref name=stewart>{{cite book|editor=Jon Stewart|title=Kierkegaard's International Reception|publisher=Ashgate|volume=8|year=2009|isbn=978-0-7546-6496-3|location=Surrey; Burlington, VT|author=Janne Kylliäinen|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IywC2SxS7mcC&pg=PA201|page=201|chapter=The Reception of Kierkegaard in Finland}}</ref> It was a print publication between 1888 and 2017 and became an online-only periodical in 2017.<ref name=kjak>{{cite news|title=Aikakauslehti Vartija ilmestyy nyt ilmaiseksi verkossa|language=fi|url=https://www.kirkkojakaupunki.fi/-/aikakauslehti-vartija-ilmestyy-nyt-ilmaiseksi-verkossa|access-date=20 August 2021|work=Kirkko ja Kaupunki|date=3 August 2018}}</ref> The magazine is not attached to any church in Finland<ref name=liro>{{cite thesis|author1=Liro Summanen|title=Vartija-lehti suomalaisen kristillisyyden seuraajana talvi- ja jatkosodan aikana|url=https://helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10138/160941?show=full|year=2016|location=University of Helsinki|language=fi |degree=MA}}</ref> and supports both conservatism and radicalism since its establishment.<ref name=kjak/>
==History and profile== ''Vartija'' was founded in 1888 by a group of young priests who had left the Finnish Lutheran Church, including Elis Bergroth, Karl August Hildén and Aleksander Auvinen.<ref name=han/> The founding editor was Elis Bergroth who served in the post from 1888 to 1906, and he was succeeded by Lauri Ingman.<ref name=han/> One of the topics covered in the magazine between 1888 and 1910 was the Finnish-American ecclesiastical conditions.<ref name=han>{{cite thesis|author=Hanna Gaskin|title=Finnish-American ecclesiastical conditions according to the Vartija-magazine in 1888-1910|url=https://erepo.uef.fi/handle/123456789/15008|location=University of Eastern Finland |degree=MA|year=2015|language=fi}}</ref>
In 1907 ''Vartija'' published many articles about the relationship between early Christianity and communism and socialism.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Jani Marjanen|author2=Jussi Kurunmäki|author3=Lidia Pivovarova|author4=Elaine Zosa|title=The expansion of isms, 1820-1917: Data-driven analysis of political language in digitized newspaper collections|journal=Journal of Data Mining and Digital Humanities|date=December 2020|doi=10.46298/jdmdh.6159|page=15|doi-access=free|hdl=10138/326081|hdl-access=free}}</ref> In 1911 and 1913 Antti J. Pulkkinen and Aukusti Oravala published articles in the magazine on the work by Danish philosopher and theologian Søren Kierkegaard.<ref name=stewart/> Antti Filemon Puukko, a scholar of Old Testament Exegetics, harshly criticized the 1910 book, ''Hedendom och Kristendom'' ({{langx|sv|Paganism and Christianity}}), by Rafael Karsten in the magazine in 1912 arguing that it devalued the meaning and significance of the Bible.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Simo Muir|title=Anti-Semitism in the Finnish Academe: rejection of Israel-Jakob Schur's PhD dissertation at the University of Helsinki (1937) and Åbo Akademi University (1938)|journal=Scandinavian Journal of History|volume=34|issue=2|year=2009|pages=144–145| doi=10.1080/03468750902860468}}</ref>
During World War II ''Vartija'' became a church discussion forum<ref name=liro/> and also, featured articles on family issues and the welfare state.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Pirjo Markkola|title=Focusing on the Family: The Lutheran Church and the Making of the Nordic Welfare State in Finland, 1940s to 1960s|journal=Journal of Church and State|volume=56|issue=1|year=2014|jstor=23922924|doi=10.1093/jcs/cst135|page=62}}</ref> Psychiatrist Martti Siirala and his theologist brother Aarne Siirala were among the frequent contributors of the magazine in the 1950s.<ref>{{cite thesis|author=Eve-Riina Hyrkäs|url=https://oula.finna.fi/Record/oy.9917773045906252?lng=en-gb|degree=PhD |title=Psychosomatic connections: Mind-body histories in Finnish medicine, ca. 1945-2000|location=University of Oulu|page=57|year=2022}}</ref> In 1965 Vicar Mauno Mäkinen published an article in the magazine suggesting that Finnish Christians should read the work by Richard W. Solberg.<ref>{{cite journal|year=2006|author=Suvi Kyrö|title=Communism in Christian Literature Published in Finland |journal=Kirchliche Zeitgeschichte|volume=19|issue=1|page=40|jstor=43751744}}</ref>
Irja Askola was the first female editor-in-chief of ''Vartija'' who appointed to the post in 1982 along with Simo Knuuttila.<ref name=kjak/> As of 2018 the editors-in-chief were Matti Myllykoski and Mikko Ketola.<ref name=kjak/> The magazine publishes articles on a wide variety of topics such as religion, theology, philosophy, psychology, culture and society.<ref name=kjak/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Official website|http://www.vartija-lehti.fi/}}
{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Vartija}} Category:1888 establishments in Finland Category:2017 disestablishments in Finland Category:Christian magazines Category:Defunct magazines published in Finland Category:Finnish-language magazines Category:Independent magazines Category:Magazines established in 1888 Category:Magazines disestablished in 2017 Category:Magazines published in Helsinki Category:Online magazines with defunct print editions Category:Quarterly magazines published in Finland