Bernt Theodor Anker (7 March 1867 – 21 August 1943) was a Norwegian linguist, priest and author. Anker was one of the first priests to use

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 ...

from the pulpit, and was a strong proponent of Nynorsk in the church and in society. He was born in Vestre Aker and grew up 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 ...

and in Risor, where his father was the customs inspector from 1877. He attended the Latin school in Drammen during 1884. Anker finished 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 ...

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 ...

in 1890, where he had studied

theology 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 ...

, comparative studies, and politics. Anker worked as a priest and teacher throughout his professional life. He first served as a sexton in

Arendal Arendal () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county in southeastern Norway. Arendal belongs to the Districts of Norway, region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the munici ...

from 1890-93 followed be assignments as

parish priest A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

in Søndeled, Kviteseid and

Lårdal Lårdal is a village in Tokke Municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The village is located on the north shore of the lake Bandak and about south of the village of Høydalsmo and the European route E134 highway. The village is ...

. He finished his career as provost of

Hardanger og Voss prosti Hardanger is a traditional district in the western part of Norway, dominated by the Hardangerfjord and its inner branches of the Sørfjorden and the Eid Fjord. It consists of the municipalities of Ullensvang, Eidfjord, Ulvik and Kvam, and is l ...

Hordaland Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Municipal ...

. Theologically, he was strongly influenced by the writing of

N. F. S. Grundtvig Nikolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig (; 8 September 1783 – 2 September 1872), most often referred to as N. F. S. Grundtvig, was a Danish pastor, author, poet, philosopher, historian, teacher and politician. He was one of the most influential peo ...

and became involved in Grundtvigianism. He was also active in

youth work Youth work is community support activity aimed at older children and adolescents. Depending upon the culture and the community, different services and institutions may exist for this purpose. In the United Kingdom youth work is the process of cre ...

throughout his life. He translated four historical books and four prophetical books of the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

for the first

translation Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

of the

Holy Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

into

in 1921. One of his hymns appears in '' Norsk Salmebok'', the hymnal of 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 ...

.''Anker, Bernt Theodor (1867-1943), theologian, Norway'' (runeberg.org)
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Selected works

* ''Elskhug og giftarmaal. Ungdomsforedrag'', Voss 1907 * ''Aandsmagti i Blix-salmarne. Ungdoms-foredrag'', 1909 * ''Den rike ungguten. Ungdomspreika'', Kongsberg 1911 * ''Kristendomskunnskapen i det tjugande aarhundradet. Eit foredrag for lærarar'', 1911 * ''Ljos og varme i kristendomen. Sju preikor for norsk ungdom'', 1913 * ''Kva krev vaar tid av ungdomen? Foredrag'', Risør 1913 * ''Martin Luther'', Norske Folkeskrifter nr. 66, 1917 * ''Bibelen for barn. Barnepreiker'', 3 bind., 1938–40 * ''Frå kristenliv i Risør i 70- og 80-åri'', Risør 1938 * ''Nokre ungdoms-minne frå 80- og 90-åri'', 1939 * ''Ungdomsprest og ungdomslærar. Minne frå flytt og flakk i tjuge år 1893–1914'', 1942 * ''Morosame småstubbar med ålvor iblandt, frå eldre og nyare tider'', Lofthus 1943 * ''Prest og prost i Hardanger. Minne frå tri og tjuge år 1914–1937'', 1945

References

External links

''The Grundtvig Study Centre'' (Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies)
University of Oslo alumni 20th-century Norwegian Lutheran clergy Norwegian male writers Norwegian hymnwriters 1867 births 1943 deaths Norwegian Lutheran hymnwriters 19th-century Norwegian Lutheran clergy {{Norway-reli-bio-stub