Bernt Torvild Oftestad (born 18 February 1942) is a Norwegian historian. Oftestad graduated from the

MF Norwegian School of Theology MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society ( no, MF vitenskapelig høyskole for teologi, religion og samfunn), formerly the Free Faculty of Theology ( no, Det teologiske menighetsfakultet) and MF Norwegian School of Theology, is an accr ...

in 1968 with the degree

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 ...

, and in 1979 with the degree dr.theol. His doctoral work was on the Norwegian author

Ronald Fangen Ronald Fangen (29 April 1895 – 22 May 1946) was a Norwegian novelist, essayist, playwright, psalmist, journalist and literary critic. Biography Ronald August Fangen was born at Kragerø in Telemark, Norway. His parents were Sten August Fan ...

. He became a professor of church history at the MF Norwegian School of Theology in 1983 and in European cultural history in 2005. Oftestad has published books and articles within the fields of

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...

, Reformation history and the Modern Era. He has also written on the Norwegian author and Nobel laureate

Sigrid Undset Sigrid Undset () (20 May 1882 – 10 June 1949) was a Norwegian-Danish novelist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928. Undset was born in Kalundborg, Denmark, but her family moved to Norway when she was two years old. In 1924, ...

. He converted to Roman Catholicism in 2000.

Bibliography

*''Historie, tro og forståelse'' (History, Faith and Understanding, 1973) *''Kristentro og kulturansvar hos Ronald Fangen'' (Christian Faith and Cultural Responsibility in the Authorship of Ronald Fangen, 1981) *''Lære, Tro og Fornuft. Kirkene i nytiden'' (Doctrine, Faith and Reason. The Church in the Age of Modernity, 1988) *''Den norske statsreligionen. Fra øvrighetskirke til demokratisk statskirke'' (The Norwegian Religion of State, 1998) *''Tro og politikk. En reformasjonshistorie'' (Faith and Politics. A History of the Reformation Period, 2001) *''Sigrid Undset. Modernitet og katolisisme'' (Sigrid Undset. Modernity and Catholicism, 2003) ;With other authors *''Norsk kirkehistorie'' (Introduction to Norwegian Church History, 1991/2005) (with

Tarald Rasmussen Tarald is a given name. Notable people with the given name include: * Tarald Brautaset (born 1946), Norwegian diplomat * Tarald Weisteen (1916–2010), Norwegian military officer * Knut Tarald Taraldsen (born 1948), Norwegian linguist {{given name ...

and

Jan Schumacher Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numb ...

) *''Quo vaditis: the state churches of Northern Europe'' (1996) *''Tro: 13 essays om tro'' (Faith: 13 Essay on Faith, 2006)

References

1942 births Living people 20th-century Norwegian historians Norwegian theologians Converts to Roman Catholicism Norwegian Roman Catholics Academic staff of the MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society alumni 21st-century Norwegian historians {{Norway-academic-bio-stub