Erling Gudmann Utnem (7 February 1920–11 November 2006) was a Norwegian

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 ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

, and

Bible translator The Bible has been translated into many languages from the biblical languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. all of the Bible has been translated into 724 languages, the New Testament has been translated into an additional 1,617 languages, and ...

. He was the

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 ...

of the

Diocese of Agder The Diocese of Agder og Telemark ( no, Agder og Telemark bispedømme) is a diocese of the Church of Norway, covering all of Agder county and most of Vestfold og Telemark county in Norway. The cathedral city is Kristiansand, Norway's fifth larges ...

from 1973 until his retirement in 1983. Utnem was one of the founders of the international

Lausanne Movement The Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, more commonly known as the Lausanne Movement, is a global movement that mobilizes evangelical leaders to collaborate for world evangelization. The stated vision is "the whole church taking the whole ...

. He was Bible translator and he wrote several books. He was also known for his combination of an evangelical line with a clear social commitment.

Personal life

Utnem was born on 7 February 1920 in

Hedrum Hedrum is a parish and the site of a historic church in Vestfold county, Norway. Hedrum was annexed by Larvik on January 1, 1988. History The parish of Hedrum was established as a municipality on January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Small ...

(in present-day

Larvik Larvik () is a List of cities in Norway, town and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Larvik. The municipality ...

municipality) in

Vestfold Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered th ...

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 ...

. He died on 11 November 2006 at the

Sørlandet Hospital Kristiansand Sørlandet Hospital Kristiansand (Norwegian:Sørlandet Sykehus Kristiansand) is located in Kristiansand, Vest-Agder County in Norway, and is one of the three public hospitals within the Hospital of Southern Norway and is a regional hospital. It ...

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation ...

. His funeral was at

Kristiansand Cathedral Kristiansand Cathedral ( no, Kristiansand domkirke) is a cathedral of the Church of Norway in Kristiansand Municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the Kvadraturen area in the central part of the city of Kristiansand. It is the ch ...

on 16 November 2006 and he was buried there too.

Education and career

Utnem received 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 1947. His first job was as a travel secretary for the

Norwegian Christian Student and School Association The Norwegian Christian Student and School Association (Norwegian: ''Norges Kristelige Student- og Skoleungdomslag'' or NKSS), is a Christian youth organization in Norway. Members refer to NKSS as "The team" (Norwegian: Laget). NKSS was founded ...

from 1948-1953. Then he became a teacher; first at the Inner Mission Society Bible School in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

(1953–1955) and then at the Missionary School in

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

(1955–1967). In 1967, he was called to his first job as a priest. He was the resident chaplain in

Sarpsborg Sarpsborg ( or ), historically Borg, is a city and municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sarpsborg. Sarpsborg is part of the fifth largest urban area in Norway when paired with neigh ...

from 1967 until 1970. He was called to be

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the practical theology seminary at 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 1970. Just three years later, in 1973, he was appointed to be the

of the

, based at the

. He held the job of bishop for ten years. He resigned in 1983 after having had two major heart attacks.

Works

*' (1987)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Utnem, Erling 1920 births 2006 deaths People from Larvik Bishops of Agder og Telemark 20th-century Lutheran bishops Bible translators 20th-century translators