Jacob Jervell

Jacob Stephan Jervell (21 May 1925 – 2 March 2014) was a Norwegian theologian, professor emeritus, author and priest.

Biography

Jervell was born at Fauske in Nordland county, Norway. He was the son of Sverre Jervell (1882-1955) and Thora Mejdell (1889-1988). His father was a parish priest. Jervell grew up in Bergen, Stavanger and Hamar. He graduated artium at Hamar Cathedral School in 1944. After a year as a teacher at Andøya, he began studying theology at the University of Oslo in 1945, where he became Cand.theol. in 1951. He studied in Germany from 1953-55. He was awarded his D.Theol. in 1959.

He was a professor of theology at the University of Oslo a position he held until 1988. He was dean of the Faculty of Theology and chairman of the Theology Seminar 1975-76. He was a prorector at the University of Oslo from 1977 to 1980. He held positions at several foreign universities: Lund University, 1963-64, Yale University, 1970 and Aarhus University, 1973. He was Professor at the University of Tromsø from 1997-2000.

Jervell held a number of positions in Christian and nonprofit organizations. He served as chairman of the Norwegian Christian Student Movement 1958-65 and was a member of the central government in the Norwegian Bible Society 1966-75. Jervell was also a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. In 2000, he was appointed a knight of the 1st grade of the Order of St. Olav.

He died on 2 March 2014 from natural causes. His wife died only four weeks later.

Selected Works

• Den historiske Jesus, 1962
• Da fremtiden begynte. Om urkristendommens tro og tenkning, 1967
• Luke and the people of God. A new look at Luke-Acts, 1972
• Gud og hans fiender. Forsøk på å tolke Romerbrevet, 1973
• The Unknown Paul. Essays on Luke-Acts and Early Christian History, 1984
• Det moralske Norge. Om samfunnsmoral 1991
• The Theology of the Acts of the Apostles, 1996
• Die Apostelgeschichte,1998