Jens Jonas Elstrand Jansen (8 March 1844 – 1 August 1912) was a Norwegian priest, teacher, and columnist.

Biography

He was born in

Hobøl Municipality Hobøl was a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Elvestad. Hobøl is situated about southeast of Oslo. The parish of ''Haabøl'' was established as a municipality on 1 Janua ...

as a son of priest David Middelthon Jansen and his wife Eleonore Cathrine Elstrand. In May 1883 he married twenty-year-old Jenny Therese Schroeter from

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and villages such ...

, a sister of professor

Jens Fredrik Schroeter Jens Fredrik Wilhelm Schroeter (21 May 1857 – 27 April 1927) was a Norwegian astronomer. He was born in Drammen as a son of sea captain Fredrik Julius Bech Schroeter and his wife Julie Schroeter. His paternal family had migrated into Norway fr ...

. Their son

Einar Jansen Einar Jansen (27 March 1893 – 13 December 1960) was a Norwegian historian, genealogist and archivist. He was born in Røyken as the son of priest Jens Jonas Jansen (1844–1912) and Jenny Therese Schroeter (1863–1942). He was a nephew of Je ...

became a notable historian, genealogist and archivist. He became a student at Nissens Latin- og Realskole, finished his secondary education in 1861 and graduated with the

cand.theol. Candidate ( or ) is the name of various academic degrees, which are today mainly awarded in Scandinavia. The degree title was phased out in much of Europe through the 1999 Bologna Process, which has re-formatted academic degrees in Europe. The de ...

degree in 1869. He first worked as a teacher, at the same time editing the magazines ''Børnenes Blad'' and ''Hjemmet'', but was hired as a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

Skjeberg Municipality Skjeberg is a district of Sarpsborg, Østfold County, Norway. Skjeberg was formerly a municipality in Østfold County. The last administrative centre was at Borgenhaugen. As of 2018, Skjeberg has a population of 1,397. The parish of Skjeberg was ...

in 1873. He became

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

in Varteig Municipality in 1883 and in

Røyken Municipality Røyken is a district and village (''bygd'') and a former municipality in Buskerud in Viken County, Norway. In 2020 Røyken was merged with the municipalities of Hurum and Asker to form the new Asker Municipality (informally called "Greater Asker ...

in 1890, and retired due to bad health in January 1898. Bishop

Eivind Berggrav Eivind Josef Berggrav (25 October 1884 – 14 January 1959) was a Norwegian Lutheran bishop. As primate of the Church of Norway (Norwegian: ''Preses i Bispemøtet i Den norske kirke''), Berggrav became known for his unyielding resistance agains ...

described his effort for the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

, on which he had a "qualitative influence", as "unusual". He was especially known for his sermons, as well as the lectures ''Kristendom og Videnskab'' (1882) and ''Hvor meget tror vi?'' (1887), which were both printed in 1903. Several of his sermons were later printed, as well as the memoirs ''Oplevet og tænkt'' (1909). He was also a columnist and literary critic in ''

Morgenbladet is Norway's oldest daily newspaper, covering politics, culture and science, now a weekly news magazine primarily directed at well-educated readers. The magazine is notable for its opinion section featuring contributions exclusively from Norweg ...

''. His aim was to induce a personal and rational

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

faith. He saw the influence of Orthodox theologian

Gisle Johnson Gisle Christian Johnson (10 September 1822 – 17 July 1894) was a leading 19th-century Norwegian theologian, revivalist, and educator. Biography Gisle Christian Johnson was born at Fredrikshald (now Halden) in Østfold, Norway. He grew up at ...

as unpassable, under a certain influence from free-thinkers

Søren Kierkegaard Søren Aabye Kierkegaard ( , ; ; 5 May 1813 – 11 November 1855) was a Danes, Danish theologian, philosopher, poet, social critic, and religious author who is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. He wrote critical tex ...

and

Georg Brandes Georg Morris Cohen Brandes (4 February 1842 – 19 February 1927) was a Danish critic and scholar who greatly influenced Scandinavian and European literature from the 1870s through the turn of the 20th century. He is seen as the theorist behind ...

. Johnson disciple and bishop

Johan Christian Heuch Johan Christian Heuch or J. C. Heuch (23 March 1838–13 February 1904) was a Norwegian bishop in the Church of Norway and politician for the Conservative Party of Norway, Conservative Party. Personal life He was born in Kragerø, Norway a ...

in 1902 declared Jansen as a "dangerous" man, citing that his liberal tendencies could open Christendom for "Muhammedans and pagans". Jansen died while vacationing in

Ringebu Municipality is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vålebru (the village is also known as ''Ringebu''). The municipality ...

in 1912.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jansen, Jens Jonas 1844 births 1912 deaths 20th-century Norwegian Lutheran clergy Norwegian male writers Norwegian memoirists Norwegian columnists People from Hobøl 19th-century Norwegian Lutheran clergy