Bengt Vilhelm Hägglund (22 November 1920 – 8 March 2015) was a

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theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

. Hägglund, who is

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

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intellectual history Intellectual history (also the history of ideas) is the study of the history of human thought and of intellectuals, people who conceptualize, discuss, write about, and concern themselves with ideas. The investigative premise of intellectual histor ...

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion English: ''History of Theology'') is his most widely known work. The book, translated, ''inter alia'', to English,

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and Russian language, was first published in 1956.

Biography

Upon graduation from secondary school in 1938, Hägglund enrolled at Lund University, writing his dissertation in 1951. From 1951 until 1958 he was associate dogmatics professor. In the 1958-59 term he was acting professor of dogmatics. In 1958 he was a guest lecturer at Germany's

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

before returning to

Lund Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, across the Øresund, Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipali ...

as a ''forskardocent'' (research fellow, 1960–69). In 1966-67 he was again a guest lecturer, this time in

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...

and

Greifswald Greifswald (), officially the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald (german: Universitäts- und Hansestadt Greifswald, Low German: ''Griepswoold'') is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostoc ...

.In 1980 he was a short time guest lecturer in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He was professor of

Christian history The history of Christianity concerns the Christian religion, Christian countries, and the Christians with their various denominations, from the 1st century to the present. Christianity originated with the ministry of Jesus, a Jewish teache ...

(1969–1987) at

. In 1971

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Mississip ...

, a private

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institution, awarded Hägglund an honorary

doctorate of divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ra ...

, and in 1981 he received an honorary

doctorate of theology Doctor of Theology ( la, Doctor Theologiae, abbreviated DTh, ThD, DTheol, or Dr. theol.) is a terminal degree in the academic discipline of theology. The ThD, like the ecclesiastical Doctor of Sacred Theology, is an advanced research degree equiva ...

from

Ruhr University Bochum The Ruhr University Bochum (, ) is a public research university located in the southern hills of the central Ruhr area, Bochum, Germany. It was founded in 1962 as the first new public university in Germany after World War II. Instruction began in ...

. From 1975 to 1995 he was vice-president of the north German Luther-Akademie in

Ratzeburg Ratzeburg (; Low German: ''Ratzborg'') is a town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is surrounded by four lakes—the resulting isthmuses between the lakes form the access lanes to the town. Ratzeburg is the capital of the district Herzogtum Lau ...

. On 10 November 2007 the

Oberursel Oberursel (Taunus) () is a town in Germany and part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. It is located to the north west of Frankfurt, in the Hochtaunuskreis county. It is the 13th largest town in Hesse. In 2011, the town hosted the 51st Hes ...

Lutheran theological seminary (''Lutherische Theologische Hochschule'') bestowed on Hägglund its Hermann Sasse Prize for theological literature.Michael Schätzel,
Hermann-Sasse-Preis verliehen
("Herman Sasse Prize awarded"), in ''Lutherische Kirche'', Selbständigen Evangelisch-Lutherischen Kirche, Vol. 39, No. 1 (2008), page 3. The denomination awards the €1,500 prize every two years.

Selected works

* 1951: ''Die Heilige Schrift und Ihre Deutung in der Theologie Johann Gerhard: eine Untersuchung über das altlutherische Schriftverständnis'' ("Holy scripture and its interpretation in the theology of

Johann Gerhard Johannes Gerhard (17 October 1582 – 17 August 1637) was a Lutheran church leader and Lutheran Scholastic theologian during the period of Orthodoxy. Biography He was born in the German city of Quedlinburg. During a dangerous illness, at the ...

: a study of Conservative Lutheran understanding of scripture", Thesis) * 1955: ''Theologie und Philosophie bei Luther und in der occamistischen Tradition. Luther's Stellung zur Theorie von der Wahrheit doppelten'' ("Theology and philosophy in

Luther Luther may refer to: People * Martin Luther (1483–1546), German monk credited with initiating the Protestant Reformation * Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), American minister and leader in the American civil rights movement * Luther (give ...

and the Ockhamist tradition. Luther's position on the doctrine of double truth") * 1956: ''Teologins historia: En dogmhistorisk översikt'' ("History of theology: a historical overview of dogmatics", , translated into English by Gene J. Lund as ''History of theology'', * 1959: ''De homine: Människouppfattningen i äldre luthersk tradition'' ("Of man: Conception of human nature in the Conservative Lutheran tradition), * 1969: ''Semantik och traditionsforskning: ett kompendium i metodfrågor'' ("Semantics and the research of tradition: a compendium of methodological issues"). * 1971: ''The background of Luther's Doctrine of Justification in Late Medieval Theology'', * 1982: ''Trons mönster: en handledning i dogmatik'' ("Patterns of faith: a tutorial in dogmatics"), * 2000: ''Traktat om liturgin i den svenska kyrkan'' ("Treatise on the

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

of the

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sw ...

"), * 2002: ''Arvet från reformationen: teologihistoriska studier'' ("Legacy of the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

: studies in theological history, * 2003: ''Sanningens regel = Regula veritatis: trosregeln och den kristna traditionens struktur'' ("The rule of truth = ''Regula veritatis:'' the rule of belief and the structure of the Christian tradition") * 2003: ''Chemnitz-Gerhard-Arndt-Rudbeckius. Aufsätze zum Studium der Theologie altlutherischen'' ("

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and Rudbeckius. Essays on the study of Conservative Lutheran theology"). Texts and studies on Protestantism of the 16th to 18th centuries, Volume 1, * 2007: ''Tro och verklighet'' ("Belief and reality"), * 2011: ''Kunskapsteori och metafysik i teologin'' ("

Epistemology Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Episte ...

and

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

in theology"),

Sources

* 1985: ''Tro och tradition: festskrift till Bengt Hägglund på hans 65-årsdag'' ("Belief and tradition: In honour of Bengt Hagglund on his 65th birthday"),

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hagglund, Bengt Swedish theologians Systematic theologians Academic staff of Lund University 1920 births 2015 deaths 20th-century Protestant theologians 20th-century Lutherans