Gunnar Rosendal (4 April 1897 – 26 December 1988) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

Lutheran priest,

Doctor of Theology Doctor of Theology ( la, Doctor Theologiae, abbreviated DTh, ThD, DTheol, or Dr. theol.) is a terminal degree in the academic discipline of theology. The ThD, like the ecclesiastical Doctor of Sacred Theology, is an advanced research degree equiva ...

, and parish priest of Osby. Through his books promoting High Church Lutheran theology and spirituality, especially '' Kyrklig förnyelse'' (1935), he became a leading and disputed figure of the Catholic movement in the Church of Sweden.

Early life

Rosendal was born in Grevie parish, Scania, Sweden, the son of Andreas and Teolinda Rosendal. His mother died early and his father moved to the United States so he and his sister were raised by an aunt. After graduating from Lunds Privata Elementarskola he began his theological studies at Lund University in 1918. He was ordained on 25 May 1922 by bishop Gottfrid Billing and moved to Väsby to begin his work as a priest.Kilström p. 95

International contacts

Rosendal had many contacts to the liturgical movement in the Roman Catholic church, especially in Benedictine monasteries, and personally knew many theologians of the liturgical and ecumenical movement, such as

Pius Parsch Pius Parsch, born John Bruno Parsch (May 18, 1884 – March 11, 1954) was a priest of the Roman Catholic Church. Parsch was born in Neustift near Olmutz, Moravia, in what is now the Czech Republic. He was given the name ''Pius'' when he entered the ...

and Paul Couturier. He also had plenty of contacts with Anglo-Catholicism in the Church of England, e.g. Dom

Gregory Dix George Eglinton Alston Dix (4 October 1901 – 12 May 1952), known as Gregory Dix, was a British monk and priest of Nashdom Abbey, an Anglican Benedictine community. He was a noted liturgical scholar whose work had particular influence on the r ...

, and was member of Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius. Rosendal often liked to portray himself as Catholic as possible, but was also rooted in the theology of 17th-century Lutheran orthodoxy, which he knew well. On the recommendation of

Bo Giertz Bo Harald Giertz (; 31 August 1905 – 12 July 1998) was a Swedish Lutheran theologian, novelist and bishop of the Gothenburg Lutheran Diocese from 1949 to 1970. By the time he became bishop, he was already quite well known in Sweden and elsewh ...

he began to read books by Carl Olof Rosenius, which made a lasting impression. Rosendal himself used the

neo-Thomistic Neo-scholasticism (also known as neo-scholastic Thomism Accessed 27 March 2013 or neo-Thomism because of the great influence of the writings of Thomas Aquinas on the movement) is a revival and development of medieval scholasticism in Catholic the ...

paradigm In science and philosophy, a paradigm () is a distinct set of concepts or thought patterns, including theories, research methods, postulates, and standards for what constitute legitimate contributions to a field. Etymology ''Paradigm'' comes f ...

and resisted all kinds of liberal theology as well as the

dialectical theology In Christianity, Neo-orthodoxy or Neoorthodoxy, also known as theology of crisis and dialectical theology, was a theological movement developed in the aftermath of the First World War. The movement was largely a reaction against doctrines ...

Karl Barth Karl Barth (; ; – ) was a Swiss Calvinist theologian. Barth is best known for his commentary '' The Epistle to the Romans'', his involvement in the Confessing Church, including his authorship (except for a single phrase) of the Barmen Declara ...

. Rosendal was one of the theologians that worked for the foundation of the International League for Apostolic Faith and Order (ILAFO).

Legacy

Rosendal died in Kristianstad in 1988. In Sweden his influence can be seen in the foundation of the high-church organization ''

arbetsgemenskapen Kyrklig Förnyelse Arbetsgemenskapen Kyrklig Förnyelse (aKF), ''The Church Union'' in Church of Sweden, is the umbrella organisation for the Lutheran High Church movement in the Church of Sweden. The organisation's beginnings were originally inspired by the book ...

'' (aKF), which was inspired by his book, '' Kyrklig förnyelse''.

References

Notes

Sources

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External links

"The Catholic Movement in the Swedish Church"
by Gunnar Rosendal, 1950 {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosendal, Gunnar 1897 births 1988 deaths People from Båstad Municipality 20th-century Swedish Lutheran priests Swedish theologians 20th-century Protestant theologians