Jacob Stephan Jervell (21 May 1925 – 2 March 2014) was a Norwegian theologian, professor emeritus, author and priest.

Biography

Jervell was born at

Fauske or is a municipality located in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Fauske. Some of the villages in Fauske include Nystad, Venset, Straumsn ...

in Nordland county, Norway. He was the son of Sverre Jervell (1882-1955) and Thora Mejdell (1889-1988). His father was a parish priest. Jervell grew up in Bergen, Stavanger and Hamar. He graduated artium at

Hamar Cathedral School Hamar katedralskole ( en, Hamar Cathedral School) is an upper secondary school in Hamar, Norway. History Founded in 1153 as Schola cathedralis hamarensis, it is the second oldest school in Norway together with Bergen katedralskole and Oslo katedra ...

in 1944. After a year as a teacher at Andøya, he began studying theology at the University of Oslo in 1945, where he became

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 ...

in 1951. He studied in Germany from 1953–55. He was awarded his D.Theol. in 1959. He was a professor of theology at the University of Oslo a position he held until 1988. He was dean of the Faculty of Theology and chairman of the Theology Seminar 1975–76. He was a prorector at the University of Oslo from 1977 to 1980. He held positions at several foreign universities: Lund University, 1963–64, Yale University, 1970 and

Aarhus University Aarhus University ( da, Aarhus Universitet, abbreviated AU) is a public research university with its main campus located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Gr ...

, 1973. He was Professor at the University of Tromsø from 1997–2000. Jervell held a number of positions in Christian and nonprofit organizations. He served as chairman of the Norwegian Christian Student Movement 1958-65 and was a member of the central government in the Norwegian Bible Society 1966–75. Jervell was also a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. In 2000, he was appointed a knight of the 1st grade of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav ( no, Den Kongelige Norske Sankt Olavs Orden; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II ...

. He died on 2 March 2014 from

natural causes In many legal jurisdictions, the manner of death is a determination, typically made by the coroner, medical examiner, police, or similar officials, and recorded as a vital statistic. Within the United States and the United Kingdom, a distinct ...

. His wife died only four weeks later.

Selected works

*''Den historiske Jesus'', 1962 *''Da fremtiden begynte. Om urkristendommens tro og tenkning'', 1967 *''Luke and the people of God. A new look at Luke-Acts'', 1972 *''Gud og hans fiender. Forsøk på å tolke Romerbrevet'', 1973 *''The Unknown Paul. Essays on Luke-Acts and Early Christian History'', 1984 *''Det moralske Norge. Om samfunnsmoral'', 1991 *''The Theology of the Acts of the Apostles'', 1996 *''Die Apostelgeschichte'', 1998

References

1925 births 2014 deaths People from Fauske University of Oslo alumni Norwegian theologians Translators of the Bible into Norwegian 20th-century Norwegian Lutheran clergy Academic staff of the University of Oslo Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters 20th-century Protestant theologians 20th-century translators Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal {{theologian-stub