Lars Olof Jonathan Söderblom (; 15 January 1866 – 12 July 1931) was a Swedish clergyman. He was the

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sw ...

Archbishop of Uppsala The Archbishop of Uppsala (spelled Upsala until the early 20th century) has been the primate (bishop), primate of Sweden in an unbroken succession since 1164, first during the Roman Catholic Church, Catholic era, and from the 1530s and onward un ...

between 1914 and 1931, and recipient of the 1930

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolo ...

. He is commemorated in the

Calendar of Saints The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context do ...

of the

Lutheran Church 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 ...

on 12 July.

Biography

Söderblom was born in the village of Trönö in Söderhamn Municipality,

Gävleborg County Gävleborg County ( sv, Gävleborgs län) is a county or '' län'' on the Baltic Sea coast of Sweden. It borders the counties of Uppsala, Västmanland, Dalarna, Jämtland and Västernorrland. The capital is Gävle. Provinces Gävleborg Cou ...

. His father was a parish priest. He enrolled at

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...

in 1883. Although not initially convinced what he wanted to study, he eventually decided to follow in his father's footsteps. On returning from a journey to the U.S., he was ordained priest in 1893. During the years 1892 and 1893, Söderblom was first vice president and then president of the

Uppsala Student Union Uppsala Student Union (''Uppsala studentkår'') is one of four students' unions at Uppsala University in Uppsala, Sweden. According to Swedish law, university students are no longer required to be members of a students' union since 2010. Uppsal ...

. From 1894 until 1901, he held a ministry at the Swedish Embassy in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, where his congregation included both

Alfred Nobel Alfred Bernhard Nobel ( , ; 21 October 1833 – 10 December 1896) was a Swedish chemist, engineer, inventor, businessman, and philanthropist. He is best known for having bequeathed his fortune to establish the Nobel Prize, though he al ...

(1833–1896) and

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...

(1849–1912). In 1897, he conducted the memorial service following the death of Alfred Nobel. From 1901 to 1914, Söderblom held a chair in the School of Theology at

and from 1912 to 1914 was also a professor of Religious studies at

Leipzig University Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December ...

. In 1914, he was elected as

, the head of the Lutheran church in Sweden. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, he called on all Christian leaders to work for peace and justice while working to alleviate the conditions of prisoners of war and refugees. He believed that church unity had the specific purpose of presenting the gospel to the world and that the messages of Jesus were relevant to social life. His leadership of the Christian " Life and Work" movement in the 1920s has led him to be recognised as one of the principal founders of the

ecumenical movement Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

. He had begun the movement toward intercommunion between the

and the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

and was a close associate of the English ecumenist George Bell (1883–1958), Dean of Canterbury, Bishop of Chichester. He was instrumental in chairing the

World Conference of Life and Work The World Conference of Life and Work ( sv, Stora ekumeniska mötet) was held on the initiative of Church of Sweden archbishop Nathan Söderblom in Stockholm, Sweden 1925 to discuss social cooperation. Attending the meeting were most major Christia ...

in Stockholm, in 1925. In 1930 he was awarded the

Selected works

*''Den enskilde och kyrkan : föredrag'' (1909) *''Helighet och kultur'' (1913) *''Gudstrons uppkomst'' (1914)
9 Works by Nathan Söderblom
at The Documentation of Chinese Christianity program, Hong Kong Baptist University Library

References

Other sources

*Andrae, Tor J.E. (1931) ''Nathan Söderblom'' (Uppsala University) *Curtis, Charles J. (1967) ''Söderblom: Ecumenical Pioneer'' (Minneapolis, Augsburg Publishing House) *Jonson, Jonas (2016) ''Nathan Söderblom: Called to Serve'' (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company) *Katz, Peter (1949) ''Nathan Söderblom: A Prophet of Christian Unity'' (London, James Clarke) *Sundkler, Beng (1968) ''Nathan Söderblom: His Life and Work'' (Lutterworth Press)

External links

*
The Content of Christian Faith, a reflection by Nathan Söderblom
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Soderblom, Nathan 1866 births 1931 deaths People from Söderhamn Municipality Uppsala University alumni Leipzig University faculty Lutheran archbishops of Uppsala 20th-century Lutheran archbishops Swedish historians of religion Members of the Swedish Academy Nobel Peace Prize laureates Swedish Nobel laureates People celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendar Burials at Uppsala Cathedral People in Christian ecumenism

Biography

Selected works

See also

References

Other sources

Further reading

External links