Erik Benzelius (the Elder) (16 December 1632 – 17 February 1709) was a Swedish

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 ...

and Archbishop of Uppsala. Benzelius was born at the Bentseby farm in the parish of Luleå in northern Sweden, son of the farmer and lay assessor (''nämndeman'') Henrik Jakobsson. He took a family name derived from his birthplace, rather than using the

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...

as was common in the Swedish peasantry. He was raised by a relative who was a merchant in

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Located north of the c ...

, and studied at

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...

, where he completed his ''

filosofie magister A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

'' degree in 1661. He was hired by Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie as a tutor for his sons in 1660 and accompanied one of them on a foreign journey stretching from 1663 to 1665, visiting

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, the most important universities of Germany, and continuing to Paris, London,

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, and

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...

. Returning to Uppsala, he was appointed professor extraordinary of history and moral philosophy in 1665, of theology in 1666, and 1670 ordinary professor of theology. He became bishop of Strängnäs in 1687, and succeeded

Olov Svebilius Olaus (Olov) Svebilius (1 January 1624 – 29 June 1700) was a Swedish priest and professor. He was Bishop of the Diocese of Linköping and Archbishop of Uppsala. His most notable work was ''Martin Luthers Lilla katekes med Katekesförklaring'', ...

in 1700 as Archbishop of Uppsala. He took an important part in the various ecclesiastical committees active during the reigns of Charles XI and

Charles XII Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII ( sv, Karl XII) or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 O.S.), was King of Sweden (including current Finland) from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of ...

, such as that concerning the new Church Law of 1686, the new hymn book of 1695 and the new Bible translation. In the Bible translation committee, created on the initiative of

Jesper Swedberg Jesper Swedberg (28 August 1653 (O.S)–26 July 1735 (N.S)) was a bishop of Skara, Sweden. He was one of Sweden's most notable churchmen. He published the first edition ever of a Swedish book of hymns in 1694, and was the father of scientist and ...

, Benzelius was a conservative force, and is largely responsible for the fact that the so-called Charles XII's Bible ended up as nothing more than a revision of the Swedish Reformation Bible. Benzelius was a typical representative of 17th-century Swedish

Lutheran orthodoxy Lutheran orthodoxy was an era in the history of Lutheranism, which began in 1580 from the writing of the ''Book of Concord'' and ended at the Age of Enlightenment. Lutheran orthodoxy was paralleled by similar eras in Calvinism and tridentine Ro ...

, was careful not to deviate from established theological principles, and lacked originality in his writing. Nevertheless, he was a productive author of works in theology, and his work on church history was used as a textbook for the following century. Of the seven sons of Benzelius, three later were appointed archbishops of Uppsala, one after the other: Erik (1675–1743, appointed 1742, but died before taking office), Jakob (1683–1747, archbishop from 1744), and

Henrik Henrik is a male given name of Germanic origin, primarily used in Scandinavia, Estonia, Hungary and Slovenia. In Poland, the name is spelt Henryk but pronounced similarly. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Heiki (Estonian), Heik ...

(1689–1758, archbishop from 1747).

References

*R. Holm, "Benzelius, Eric d.ä.", in '' Svenskt biografiskt lexikon, vol. 3.'' *'' Nordisk familjebok, 2nd ed., Vol. 2 (1904)
col. 1387–1388
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Benzelius, Erik 1 1632 births 1709 deaths People from Luleå Lutheran archbishops of Uppsala 17th-century Lutheran bishops 18th-century Lutheran archbishops Lutheran bishops of Strängnäs 17th-century Swedish people

See also

References