{{Short description|Norwegian priest (1904–1963)}} {{Infobox theologian|name=Olav Valen-Sendstad|birth_date={{Birth date|1904|06|30|df=y}}|birth_place=Notodden, Norway|death_date={{Death date and age|1963|05|05|1904|06|30|df=y}}|death_place=Oslo, Norway|education=Free Faculty of Theology|main_interests=Lutheran orthodoxy|occupation=Theologian, philosopher, priest}} '''Olav Valen-Sendstad''' (30 June 1904 – 5 May 1963) was a Norwegian theologian, priest, and philosopher.
== Biography == Valen-Sendstad was born in Notodden, Norway, to agricultural school teacher Aksel Sendstad (1872–1922) and Magnhild Valen, and grew up in Kristiania (today Oslo), where he took his examen artium in 1923 and received his cand. theol. degree from the Free Faculty of Theology in 1928. From 1931 to 1941 he was the vicar of Jelsa, and from 1941 to 1955 resident chaplain of St. Johannes Church in Stavanger. I 1948 he received his doctorate; his thesis was ''Reality and understanding of reality'', and from 1948 to 1949 he substituted for professor Arne Næss in teaching philosophy at the University of Oslo. From 1958 on he taught at {{Ill|Fjellhaug School|no|Fjellhaug utdanningssenter}}, part of the Norwegian Lutheran Mission. Valen-Sendstad died in Oslo in 1963.<ref>{{Citation |last=Skottene |first=Ragnar |title=Olav Valen-Sendstad |date=2023-01-27 |url=https://nbl.snl.no/Olav_Valen-Sendstad |work=Norsk biografisk leksikon |access-date=2023-03-07 |language=no |archive-date=2023-03-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307121305/https://nbl.snl.no/Olav_Valen-Sendstad |url-status=live }}</ref>
Theologically, Valen-Sendstad championed Lutheran orthodoxy, and was opposed to modern Protestant theology and Catholicism. He described himself as a "theological and ecclesiastical ''enfant terrible''".<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/38167735 |title=Studentene fra 1923; biografiske opplysninger m.v., samlet til 25-års jubileet 1948 |publisher=Aas & Wahl |year=1950 |editor-last=Amundsen |editor-first=Otto Delphin |location=Oslo |language=no |oclc=38167735 |access-date=2023-03-07 |archive-date=2022-05-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520080119/http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/38167735 |url-status=live }}</ref> He strongly opposed the repeal of the Jesuit clause and published {{Lang|no|Åpent brev til Norges storting 1954 : vil stortinget gi jesuitt-fascismen sin moralske anerkjennelse?}} ('Open letter to the 1954 Norwegian Parliament: will the parliament give Jesuit fascism its moral endorsement?')<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://www.bokhylla.no/ |title=Åpent brev til Norges storting 1954 : vil stortinget gi jesuitt-fascismen sin moralske anerkjennelse? |access-date=2014-03-22 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2021-12-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211204171659/https://www.bokhylla.no/ }}</ref>
== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book |title=Karl Barths panteistiske teologi og den norske kirke |publisher=Lutherstiftelsens forlag |year=1935 |location=Oslo |language=no |oclc=468121538}} * {{Cite book |title=Forsonet med Gud |publisher=Lutherstiftelsen |year=1936 |location=Oslo |language=no |oclc=62305520}} * {{Cite book |title=Tornen i kjødet |publisher=Lutherstiftelsen |year=1937 |location=Oslo |language=no |oclc=477897592}} * {{Cite book |title=Rettferdiggjort av tro |publisher=Lutherstiftelsen |year=1938 |location=Oslo |language=no |oclc=31344335}} * {{Cite book |title=Drømmen om den frie vilje |publisher=Lutherstiftelsens forlag |year=1939 |location=Oslo |language=no |oclc=173244564}} * {{Cite book |title=Tusenårsriket og Jesu gjenkomst |publisher=Arne Gimnes |year=1941 |location=Oslo |language=no}} * {{Cite book |title=Ordet og troen |publisher=Land og kirke |year=1946 |location=Oslo |language=no |oclc=463125573}} * {{Cite book |title=Guds allmakt og det sataniske |publisher=Indremisjonens forlag |year=1946 |location=Stavanger |language=no}} * {{Cite book |title=Ordet som aldri kan dø: Til selvbesinnelse, særlig for Nordens kirker |publisher=Lunde |year=1949 |location=Bergen |language=no |oclc=467755993}} * {{Cite book |title=Fra troens slagmark: kristendom og ateisme |publisher=Lunde |year=1950 |location=Bergen |language=no |oclc=53353986}} * {{Cite book |title=Norske radioprekener: en årgang norske radioprekener i søkelyset |publisher=Lunde |year=1950 |location=Bergen |language=no |oclc=6364873}} * {{Cite book |title=Velsignelsen i Kristus Jesus |publisher=Lunde |year=1953 |location=Bergen |language=no}} * {{Cite book |title=Oppgjør om den lutherske dåpslære: en rekke dokumentasjoner |publisher=Lunde |year=1954 |location=Bergen |language=no |oclc=55758199}} * {{Cite book |title=Når er jeg en kristen?: frelsesvisshet i lys av lov og evangelium |publisher=Lunde |year=1958 |location=Bergen |language=no}}
== References == {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valen-Sendstad, Olav}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:1904 births Category:1963 deaths Category:People from Notodden Category:20th-century Lutheran theologians Category:Norwegian Lutheran theologians Category:20th-century Norwegian philosophers Category:20th-century Norwegian Lutheran clergy