Paul Petter Waldenström

Paul Petter Waldenström (alternately spelled "Paul Peter") (20 July 1838 – 14 July 1917) was a Swedish lecturer, priest in the Church of Sweden and theologian, member of the Riksdag, and writer, who became the most prominent leader of the free church movement in late 19th-century Sweden.

Biography

Upbringing and education Waldenström was born in Luleå in northern Sweden, son of district physician and Margareta Magdalena Govenius. His siblings include physician , jurist and mayor .

He moved to Uppsala in 1855, beginning his academic studies at Uppsala University two years later; he received his Ph.D. there in 1863, and was ordained a priest the following year. He had been employed as an adjunct in the (the secondary school in Växjö) already in 1862 and in 1864; when his doctorate qualified him for this, he received a lecturership in Christianity, Greek and Hebrew at the secondary school in Umeå. From 1874 until 1905 he was lecturer in the same subjects at the secondary school in Gävle. He was awarded a Doctor of Theology degree from Yale University in 1889 and was awarded the laurel for a second time as a jubeldoktor ('jubilee doctor') in Uppsala in 1913.

Work in the free church movement Although he worked as a school teacher his whole life, Waldenström's notability comes from his work as a theologian, editor of Christian periodicals, and a preacher. In 1857 he underwent a religious crisis, joining the Nyevangelism ('new evangelism') and Läsare ('reader') movements. In the early 1860s he was invited by the Swedish-American Augustana Lutheran Synod to work at its college, but declined. On the death of revivalist and founder of the Swedish Evangelical Mission [] Carl Olof Rosenius in 1868, Waldenström became editor of Pietisten, a publication founded by Rosenius and Methodist George Scott and associated with the free church movement. This proved to be very influential both in Sweden and abroad; Waldenström "emerged as the foremost leader of Mission Friends in Sweden" at this time and had a strong influence among American Mission Friends – some of whom would later become the Evangelical Covenant Church.

Political career Waldenström had liberal political leanings but remained nonpartisan. He served as mayor of Gävle and county governor in the 1880s.

Family Waldenström married Matilda Fredrika Teodora Hallgren (born 1848 in Låssa, Uppsala County). Waldenström was the father of jurist , lawyer and lawyer , as well as the grandfather of business leader and the great-grandfather of television host .

Death Waldenström died at his home at the seminary in Lidingö on 14 July 1917. He was buried with great ceremony on 20 July 1917 by former colleague, rector , who performed the first lay burial, which was immediately followed by a traditional burial. later translated as Squire Adamsson.

Hymns

"", composed 1862, no. 419 in the Swedish Mission Covenant's , after a 1950 adaptation "", composed 1862, no. 149 in the Swedish Mission Covenant's "", composed 1866, no. 423 in the Swedish Mission Covenant's

Selected works

. Pietistens expedition, Centraltryckeriet, 1886. 2 volumes. 2nd revised ed. 1892 . Pietistens expedition. 3 volumes 1882. 54 reflections. . With C. O. Rosenius. Vol. 1, 2nd ed. 1874. . With C. O. Rosenius. Vol. 2, 2nd ed. 1879. . Chicago, Illinois, The Mission Friends Publishing Co. 1890, viii, 615, 3 p., respectively Stockholm: Pietisten, 1890, viii, 615, (1) p., ill. Illustrated by Jenny Nyström. Pietistens expedition, 5 ed. 1891. . Stockholm: Nornan, 1895–1896, 800, viii s, respective 1900–1901, 800 p. . Pietistens expedition. 1898 . Part 1. 1900. . Stockholm: Nornan, 1902–1903, 540 p. . Stockholm: Nornan, 1905, 99 p. . Stockholm: Nornan, 1907–1908, 356 p. . Pietistens expedition. 1876 . Pietistens expedition. New revised and partly adapted ed. 1915. . Pietistens expedition. New revised and partly adapted ed. 1918.