Per Lønning

Per Lønning ( born February 24, 1928 in Fana, Hordaland ) is a Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran theologian and Conservative politician.

Life

Lønning studied at the University of Oslo in 1951 and ordained in the Church of Norway. While working as a lecturer at the Teachers College in Oslo in 1955 he became a Dr. theol. and in 1959 Dr. phil. doctorate. Since 1964 provost in Bergen, he was appointed bishop of the newly erected Diocese of Borg in 1969. In 1975, he put in protest against the liberalization of the right to abortion resign. After a year as a visiting professor at the University of Aarhus in 1977 he was a lecturer (later professor ) for the history of theology at the University of Oslo. From 1981 to 1987, he took advantage of a research professor at the Ecumenical Institute of the Lutheran World Federation in Strasbourg. In 1987 Lønning (Bergen ) was elected by a large majority to the bishop of the diocese Bjørgvin. The confidence of the electorate gave him the appointment by the Government to accept, although the abortion law was unchanged. He held office until his retirement in 1994.

Even in retirement Lønning took intensive part in public debates. He supported the opposition to the Norwegian Act on Equality of same-sex marriage in 2008 and sought jointly with others appealed to the European Court of Human Rights. In addition, wrote poetry, and he composed many hymns.

As a member of the Conservative Party Høyre Lønning was from 1958 to 1965 Member of the Norwegian Parliament.

Since 1978 Lønning is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and since 1987 a member of the Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskab. He was appointed Commander of the Order of St. Olav in 2001.

His brother is the theologian Inge Lønning, his sons, the oncologist Per Eystein Lønning and the mathematician Jan Tore Lønning.

Writings (selection )

• " Samtidighedens situation." En Søren Kierkegaard study i kristendomsforståelse, 1954 ( Diss theol. )
• Hva he kristendom? , 1955 ( and other editions)
• Tro og efter tanke Blaise Pascal. En idéhistorisk study, 1958 ( Diss phil. )
• The dilemma of contemporary theology. Pre- figured in Luther, Pascal, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Oslo 1962
• Vandring gjennom fast, 1963 ( 4th edition 2000, English: Pathways of the Passion; daily meditations for the Lenten season, Minneapolis 1965)
• Off the beaten path, New York 1966
• Til Borg fra Bergen, 1971 ( autobiography)
• Abortion: a test case of social ethics, casting 1976
• Cet effrayant pari - une " pensée " pascalienne et ses critiques, Paris 1980
• The understandable Unergreifbare. "His God" and modern theological thought structures, Göttingen 1986
• Creation - An Ecumenical Challenge, Macon (USA) / Louvain 1989
• Kristen tro - tradisjon above oppbrudd, 1989
• Fundamentalisme - Ord til fordømmelse, ord til fordummelse? En begrepshistorisk undersøkelse, Bergen 1997
• Guds hus he ince under. 16 Salmer med melodier, 1999
• Virkelig fri. Kristen tro livsorientering above date, Kristiansand 2000
• Is Christian a Christian? On interreligious Dialogue and intrareligious Horizon, Göttingen 2002
• Sursum corda. 15 og tekster melodier, 2002
• Deo Gratias. Salmer 20, 2006