Bernt Andreas Støylen (17 February 1858–18 November 1937) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

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 ...

psalmist The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived f ...

, and

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

in the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...

Personal life

Støylen was born in Sande in

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; en, Møre and Romsdal) is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the town of Molde, while Ålesund is the ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

on 17 February 1858. He was the son of farmer and fisherman Andreas Olsen Støylen and Margrete Helgesdatter Bringsvor. He was married in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

in 1890 to Kamilla Karoline Heiberg. His son was

Kaare Støylen Kaare Støylen (3 October 1909 – 22 August 1989) was a Norwegian theologian and priest. He served as the Bishop of the Diocese of Agder from 1957-1973. Personal life Kaare Støylen was born in Aker, Norway, Aker, Norway on 3 October 1909. ...

, a future bishop, and his brother-in-law was

Georg Sverdrup Georg Sverdrup (born Jørgen Sverdrup; 25 April 1770 – 8 December 1850) was a Norwegian statesman, best known as one of the presidents of the Norwegian Constituent Assembly in Eidsvoll in 1814. He was a member of the Norwegian Parliament and ...

, the Norwegian-American theologian. He died in

Bærum Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Norway that forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a population of 128,760 (2021). It is part of the electoral ...

in 1937.

Career

Støylen graduated from a teaching school in

Volda Volda is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre region. The administrative centre is the village of Volda. Other villages in the municipality include Dravlaus, Fyrde, Straumshamn, Leira, Bjørke, and Gro ...

in 1875. After some time as a teacher, he took his

examen artium Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1 ...

in 1879. He then went on to study theology at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

, receiving his

Cand.theol. Candidatus theologiæ (male), Candidata theologiæ (female), abbreviated cand. theol. is an academic degree with a long tradition, awarded after a six-year higher education in theology in Iceland, Denmark, and Norway. In Norway, the title has re ...

degree in 1885. He began his career as a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

in the Johannes Church parish in

from 1887-1890. After that, he served as a priest of the

Norwegian Church Abroad The Norwegian Church Abroad or ''The Norwegian Seamen’s Church'' ( no, Sjømannskirken) is a religious organisation serving Norwegians and other Scandinavians travelling abroad. Founded in 1864, The Norwegian Seamen’s Mission – Sjømannsmisjo ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. He worked there from 1890 until 1895. After returning to Norway, he was hired to teach at a new seminary in

Notodden Notodden () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city and List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold og Telemark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Øst-Telemark. ...

from 1895-1902. After that, starting in 1902, he taught at the Theological Seminary at the

, first as a teacher, and in 1909 he was named a professor. In 1914, Støylen was appointed to be the bishop of the

Diocese of Kristiansand In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

. In 1925, when he was Bishop of Kristiansand, the government approved the division of the diocese with all of

Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Vestfold og Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. In 2020, it had a population of 47 ...

county breaking off from the diocese to form the new

Diocese of Stavanger The Diocese of Stavanger ( no, Stavanger bispedømme) is a diocese in the Church of Norway. It covers all of Rogaland county in western Norway. The cathedral city is Stavanger, where the Stavanger Cathedral is located. The bishop is Anne Li ...

. Støylen continued on as bishop of the newly-renamed Diocese of

Agder Agder is a county (''fylke'') and traditional region in the southern part of Norway. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder counties were merged. Since the early 1900s, the term Sørlandet ("south ...

until his retirement in 1930.

Selected works

He published a series of readers for primary school, ''Lesebok for folkeskulen'', from 1908 to 1911. In 1925, he was co-editor of the hymnal ''

Nynorsk salmebok ''Nynorsk salmebok'' ('Nynorsk Hymnal'; full title: Nynorsk salmebok for kyrkja og heim og møte 'Nynorsk Hymnal for Church and Home and Meetings') is a Nynorsk hymnal that was edited by Bernt Støylen, Peter Hognestad, and Anders Hovden, and f ...

'' together with

Peter Hognestad Peter Hognestad (12 November 1866 – 1 September 1931) was a Norwegian Lutheran bishop, theologian, writer, and translator. Hognestad was from Jæren in Norway and he served as the Bishop of the Diocese of Bjørgvin from 1916 until his deat ...

and

Anders Hovden Anders Hovden (April 6, 1860 – November 26, 1943) was a Norwegian Lutheran clergyman, hymnwriter poet and author. Education and career Anders Karlsen Hovden was born at Ørsta in Møre og Romsdal, Norway. His parents were Karl Rasmussen Hovde ...

. This hymnal was written in the

Nynorsk Nynorsk () () is one of the two written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language ( no, Landsmål) parallel to the Dano-Nor ...

written language, one of the two main written forms of Norwegian.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stoylen, Bernt 1858 births 1937 deaths People from Sande, Møre og Romsdal University of Oslo alumni 19th-century Norwegian Lutheran clergy Bishops of Agder og Telemark Norwegian non-fiction writers Norwegian textbook writers 20th-century Norwegian Lutheran clergy