Dag Øistein Endsjø (born 11 November 1968) is a Norwegian

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

religious studies Religious studies, also known as religiology or the study of religion, is the study of religion from a historical or scientific perspective. There is no consensus on what qualifies as ''religion'' and definition of religion, its definition is h ...

and expert in

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. He is the most translated Norwegian scholar in religion, published in thirteen languages.

Career

Endsjø's research focuses on the continuity between traditional Greek religion and early Christian beliefs,

sexuality and religion The views of the various different religions and religious believers regarding human sexuality range widely among and within them, from giving sex and sexuality a rather negative connotation to believing that sex is the highest expression of th ...

, immortality beliefs, religion and human rights, and religion and popular culture. In his book ''Greek Resurrection Beliefs and the Success of Christianity'' (2009), he demonstrates how Christian

resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions involving the same person or deity returning to another body. The disappearance of a body is anothe ...

beliefs also connect to ancient Greek beliefs in

and physical immortality and may have contributed to the early success of Christianity in the Hellenistic Mediterranean. The book ''Primordial Landscapes, Incorruptible Bodies'' (2008) deals with the continuity of geography, asceticism, immortality between traditional Greek and early Christian worldviews. His book ''Flesh and Bones Forever: A History of Immortality'' examines the history of immortality beliefs in the Western tradition, and is published in English, Latvian, and Norwegian. His book ''Sex and Religion: Teachings and Taboos in the History of World Faiths'' has been published in twelve languages: English, Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese, Italian, Macedonian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Serbian, Swedish, and Ukrainian. As an expert on

, Endsjø has published several texts and also contributed to changing Norwegian equal rights legislation to be more in accordance with international human rights, as well as changing the national debate on equal rights into a general discussion of human rights. In a 2023 formal report to the

United Nations Human Rights Council The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a United Nations Regional Gro ...

, the United Nations Independent Expert on sexual orientation and gender identity used Endsjø’s article “The Other Way around? How Freedom of Religion May Protect LGBT Rights” as the basis for pointing out that

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice ...

also protects pro-LGBT beliefs. Endsjø has published various texts on religion and

popular culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of cultural practice, practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art

f. pop art F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 (number), 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distributi ...

or mass art, sometimes contraste ...

, and on ancient Greek religion. He writes frequently on a variety of political and popularized subjects in Norwegian media. Endsjø is also the designer of the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

Fjord Municipality Fjord is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sunnmøre. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Stordal. Other villages in the municipality include Valldal, E ...

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in the northernmost part of Western Norway, Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the Molde (town), town of M ...

.
Fjord kommune. Kommunevåpen
'. 12 June 2020. He participated in the Norwegian selection for the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest as a lyricist and as part of the band SubDiva.

Books

*
Flesh and Bones Forever: A History of Immortality
'. . Hannacroix: Apocryphile Press 2023. Also published in Latvian and Norwegian.
''Religion og menneskerettigheter. Konflikt, balanse og idealer.''
(''Religion and Human Rights. Conflict, Balance and Ideals''). Oslo: Universitetsforlaget 2022. . *
Sex and Religion: Teachings and Taboos in the History of World Faiths
'. London: Reaktion Books 2011. . Also published in Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese, Italian, Macedonian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Serbian, Swedish and Ukrainian. * ''Det folk vil ha. Religion og populærkultur'' (''What People Want. Religion and Popular Culture'') (written together with Liv Ingeborg Lied). Oslo: Universitetsforlaget 2011. *
Greek Resurrection Beliefs and the Success of Christianity
'. New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2009. . *
Primordial Landscapes, Incorruptible Bodies
'. New York: Peter Lang 2008. . * ''Naturlig sex. Seksualitet og kjønn i den kristne antikken'' (co-editor with Halvor Moxnes and

Jostein Børtnes Jostein Børtnes (born 16 April 1937) is a Norwegian literary historian and Slavist with emphasis on Russian. He was born in Hovin, Telemark. He took the Russian training in the Norwegian Armed Forces, then graduated with the cand.philol. degree ...

). Oslo: Gyldendal Akademisk 2002. * ''Lei av kjønn? Nær-kjønn-opplevelser og andre beretninger fra virkeligheten'' (co-editor with Helge Svare). Oslo: Cappelen Akademisk Forlag 2001.

Other publications (selection)

“The Return of Alexander the Great in the Third Century A.D.: A Question of Daimones and Physical Immortality”
''Classica et Mediaevalia'' 70, 2022: 149-79.
“The Other Way around? How Freedom of Religion May Protect LGBT Rights”
''The International Journal of Human Rights'' 24:10, 2020: 1681–1700.
“Immortal Bodies, Before Christ. Bodily Continuity in Ancient Greece and 1 Corinthians”
''Journal for the Study of the New Testament'', vol. 30, 2008: 417–36.
“Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights and the Religious Relativism of Human Rights”
''Human Rights Review'', vol. 6:2, 2005: 102–10.
“To Control Death. Sacrifice and Space in Classical Greece”
''Religion'', vol. 33/4, 2003: 323–340.
“To Lock up Eleusis. A Question of Liminal Space”
''Numen'', vol. 47, 2000: 351–86. *�
Placing the Unplaceable. The Making of Apollonius’s Argonautic Geography”
''Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies'', vol 38. 1997: 373–85.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Endsjo, Dag Oistein 1968 births Religion academics Living people