Jens Matthias Pram Kaurin (25 November 1804 – 6 July 1863) was a Norwegian professor of

theology 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 ...

, biblical translator, and

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

priest. He served as 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 Bjørgvin The Diocese of Bjørgvin ( no, Bjørgvin bispedømme) is one of the 11 dioceses that make up the Church of Norway. It includes all of the churches located in the county of Vestland in Western Norway. The cathedral city is Bergen, Norway's second ...

from 1858 until 1861.

Life and family

Jens Kaurin was born in Laurdal in

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

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 studied theology at Christiania University and graduated with a

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 1826. On 22 December 1827, he married Petronelle Louise Hanna Thomasine Magelssen, and together, they had six children: Eiler Rosenvinge, Anne Marie, Christian, Wilhelm Andreas, Edvard, and Susanna Kristence Pram.

Career

In 1837, Kaurin was hired as a lecturer at Christiania University and he served in that capacity until 1843 when he was appointed as a professor of theology. In 1853, he resigned his job at the university to begin working as a priest at Lier in Buskerud county. He worked in Lier until 1858 when he was appointed

of the

, based in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

. He served as bishop from 1858 to 1861 when he was forced to resign due to poor health. Among Kaurin's works were significant contribution to a new and controversial edition of '' Pontoppidans forklaring'', and participation in a new translation of the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

into the

Norwegian language Norwegian ( no, norsk, links=no ) is a North Germanic language spoken mainly in Norway, where it is an official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regio ...

. After resigning as bishop, Kaurin moved to Vestre Aker, just outside Christiania and lived for two more years there before his death on 6 July 1863.

References

1804 births 1863 deaths People from Tokke Bishops of Bjørgvin University of Oslo faculty Norwegian translators Translators of the Bible into Norwegian 19th-century translators 19th-century Norwegian writers {{Norway-translator-stub