Taito A. Kantonen (24 April 1900Otavan Iso tietosanakirja, Otava 1968, osa 4, p. 430 – 26 April 1993) was an American academic and

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 ...

Early life and education

Kantonen was born in

Karstula Karstula is a municipality of Finland founded in 1867. It is located in the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipalities are Ka ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, the son of David and Elli Kantonen. At the age of three, he moved to the United States, where he later attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and received a degree in theology.

Career

Kantonen was a professor of systematic theology in

Hamma Divinity School Wittenberg University is a private liberal arts college in Springfield, Ohio. It has 1,326 full-time students representing 33 states and 9 foreign countries. Wittenberg University is associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Americ ...

(now

Trinity Lutheran Seminary Trinity Lutheran Seminary at Capital University is an Evangelical Lutheran seminary in Columbus, Ohio. History In 1830, the German Theological Seminary of the Ohio Synod, later known as the Evangelical Lutheran Theological Seminary (ELTS), was f ...

) from 1932 to 1968. He received an honorary doctorate in theology from the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

in 1955. Kantonen wrote many books, including ''Man in the Eyes of God''.

Death

Kantonen died in

Springfield, Ohio Springfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Clark County, Ohio, Clark County. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio and is situated on the Mad River (Ohio), Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, approxim ...

on 26 April 1993, two days after his 93rd birthday.

References

;Notes * The back Cover Sheet of his book "The Christian Hope" says he was "the American member of the Lutheran World Federation's Commission on Theology." It lists other books he wrote as: "Theology of Evangelism" – "Lutheran Theology in the Contemporary Scene" and "Resurgence of the Gospel." 1900 births 1993 deaths American non-fiction writers American theologians Emigrants from the Grand Duchy of Finland to the United States Finnish writers Harvard Divinity School alumni Writers from Springfield, Ohio Finnish emigrants to the United States 20th-century American writers {{US-theologian-stub