Michael Johan Færden (24 December 1836 – 17 June 1912) was a Norwegian priest and author. He was born in

Norderhov Norderhov is a former municipality located within Ringerike (municipality), Ringerike in Buskerud county, Norway. Municipality Norderhov municipality was established on January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). According to the 1835 census the ...

Buskerud Buskerud () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Innlandet, Vestland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardanger ...

as a son of farmer and bank treasurer Thor A. Færden (1804–1879) and Ellen M. Vager (1811–1886). He was a first cousin once removed of Anders Færden and Wilhelm Hansen Færden, and first cousin of politician Olaus Færden. In May 1866 he married physician's daughter Hermine Alida Georgine Wisbech (1837–1918). Their son Alf Georg Færden, a physician, was married to pianist

Elisabeth Reiss Aasta Elisabeth Reiss (June 14, 1902 – March 8, 1970) was a Norwegian pianist and cabaret performer. She was the daughter of the lawyer, composer, and musicologist Georg Reiss and the sister of the actor Thorleif Reiss. Classical pianist El ...

for fifteen years, a daughter of Georg Reiss. Another son named Christian Wisbech was an engineer, and married a daughter of August Kallevig—and sister of Waldemar C. Kallevig. Færden finished his secondary education in 1855 and graduated from the

Royal Frederick University The University of Oslo (; ) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick University, the university was established in 1811 as the de facto Norwegian conti ...

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 1861. Færden was a teacher at Hartvig Nissens skole from 1858. He was chaplain at Vang Church in

Hedmark Hedmark () was a Counties of Norway, county in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar. Hedmar ...

in 1867. From 1875, he served as a priest in Christiana (now Oslo) at a work institution for the poor (''fattigvesenets anstalt''). 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 Røyken Church in Buskerud in 1881, and vicar at Norderhov Church (in his hometown) from 1891 to his death in 1912. He was known as a prolific public debater on religion and theology. He also issued a number of books. Færden was the editor of the journal ''Folkevennen'' from 1866 to 1867 and ''Hjemmet'' from 1876 to 1880. He was also coeditor of the '' Luthersk Ugeskrift'' from 1881 to 1893 and ''Kirkelig Litteraturtidene for de Skandinaviske Lande'' in 1894.

Selected works

* ''Det gamle testamente i lyset af den nyere bibelforskning'' (1902) * ''Kampen om det gamle trestamente'' (1904) * ''Aandsbrytningene indenfor Israel'' (1908) *''Kampene paa Hadeland og i Norderhov'' (1910) * ''Aandsbrytningene indenfor urkristendommen'' (1912)

References

External links

''Michael Johan Faerden'' (HathiTrust’s digital library)Parish Priests at Norderhov
{{DEFAULTSORT:Faerden, Michael 1836 births 1912 deaths People from Ringerike (municipality) 20th-century Norwegian Lutheran clergy Norwegian magazine editors University of Oslo alumni 19th-century Norwegian Lutheran clergy