Bengt Kristensson Uggla

""This brilliant and judicious book is a hermeneutically based analysis of the very significant theology of Gustaf Wingren. Uggla makes Wingren's theology--in all its conflictual glory--come alive again through both an analysis of Wingren's major works and a moving narrative of his singular eventful life: a major work on a major theologian."" --David W. Tracy, University of Chicago ""Uggla takes the genre of intellectual biography to new heights. 'What Theology Is and What It Ought to Be' is the subtitle of Gustaf Wingren's debate book The Silent Interpreter; it also works as a subtitle for what this eloquent interpreter, Bengt Kristensson Uggla, achieves as he navigates the seas of academic and public theology with scholarly rigor and hermeneutical elegance. We are given a powerful testimony of why and how the church needs theology."" --Antje Jackelen, Archbishop of Uppsala ""This is probably the definitive biography of the great Swedish theologian Gustaf Wingren. Uggla writes with scope and theological nerve, and with a sense of wit and detail."" --Niels Henrik Gregersen, University of Copenhagen REVIEWS OF THE SWEDISH EDITION OF THE BOOK (FOR FRONT MATTER) ""It is a rich, stylistically brilliant and exciting work [...] Bengt Kristensson Uggla has created an intellectual masterpiece about a complex theological personality. When reading the book, it becomes clear how much we risk losing if we let Gustaf Wingren remain in oblivion. A reading experience of large dimensions."" --KG Hammar, former Archbishop of Uppsala, Sydsvenska Dagbladet ""This is a large and impressive work. Bengt Kristensson Uggla has the advantage that he writes extremely well / ... / The book is a shocking and highly interesting reading about a constantly struggling person."" --Mary Schottenius, cultural journalist, Dagens Nyheter ""An extremely readable book, initiated, well-informed and committed."" --Svante Nordin, Professor of History of Ideas at Lund University, Svenska Dagbladet ""An important book on an important theologian / ... / also if you belong to Wingren's critics, as I do, Kristensson Uggla's book is rewarding and thought provoking. For me, it meant that I had to re-examine some of my criticism. / ... / Gustaf Wingren continues to amaze even after his hundredth birthday."" --Anders Jeffner, Professor of Theology at Uppsala University, Kyrkans Tidning ""A magnificent and fascinating biography"" --Dr. and Reverend Arne Fritzon, Sandaren ""When Bengt Kristensson Uggla takes on the task of writing about Gustaf Wingren, it immediately becomes exciting / ... / it deserves its place among standard works of our business and for future Swedish theologians."" --Dr. and Reverend Hans Andreasson, Tro & Liv Bengt Kristensson Uggla is Amos Anderson Professor of Philosophy, Culture, and Management at the Swedish-speaking Abo Akademi University in Finland, and Associate Professor at Stockholm School of Theology. His publications include Ricoeur, Hermeneutics, and Globalization (2010) and Trust and Organizations: Confidence across Borders (2013).

The Theological Life of Gustaf Wingren

Becoming Human Again

Ricoeur, Hermeneutics and Globalization explores the philosophical resources provided by Paul Ricoeur's hermeneutics in dealing with the challenges of a world framed by globalization. Bengt Kristensson Uggla's reflections start from an understanding of globalization as an 'age of hermeneutics', linking the seldom related problematic of globalization with hermeneutics through Ricoeur's concept of interpretation. The book proceeds to embrace lifelong learning as the emerging new life script of the globalized knowledge economy, the post-national 'memory wars' generated by the celebration of national anniversaries, and the need for orientation in a post-modern world order. The author argues that Ricoeur's hermeneutics provide intellectual resources of extraordinary importance in coping with some of the most important challenges in the contemporary world.

Ricoeur, Hermeneutics, and Globalization

One of the most influential Swedish theologians of the twentieth century, Gustaf Wingren's career spanned more than forty years of upheaval both in his field and around the globe. Provocative and challenging, Wingren revelled in a good argument and this attitude set the tone for much of his scholarship. A Swedish Lutheran, he made his name through his research into the theology of Martin Luther, breaking away from both traditional interpretations of Luther and the theology of his famous teachers, Karl Barth and Anders Nygren, before shifting his focus onto systematic theology. In a fresh take, Bengt Kristensson Uggla delves into the influence of Wingren's second wife, Greta Hofsten, on the direction of his theology. Hofsten, a left-wing political activist who was searching for a new language of faith, wove Wingren's work together with her own political philosophy to create an unusual kind of Christian socialism. Her thinking had a profound effect on Wingren, causing him to recontextualise his older work entirely. In Becoming Human Again, Uggla examines how Wingren's combative nature often served him well as a theologian, driving him to engage with innovations in the field and re-examine his older views.

Niels Henrik Gregersen

Trygve Wyller

The movement of Scandinavian Creation Theology was shaped by its three founding figures: the philosopher K.E Løgstrup, and the systematic theologians Regin Prenter, and Gustaf Wingren. In their appeal to Martin Luther, all three of them were deeply inspired by the Danish theologian N.F.S. Grundtvig (1783-1872), seing him as a creative mediator between Luther and contemporary Christianity. The program of Scandinavian creation theology is not a naive call for an additive theology, as if to merely say: “we need more creation.” Nor does it represent a creation theology linked to a traditional theology of the orders of creation. Rather, Scandinavian Creation Theology claims that a theological interpretation of the shared conditions of humanity is to be considered a prerequisite for any interpretation of the Christian faith in the present religious situation. This volume aims to reformulate the potentials of Scandinavian creation theology for the 21st century, arguing that Scandinavian creation theology adds significantly to the body of theological reflection on the future shape of Reformation theology. The reader will find fresh interpretations of the sources, critical elaborations, and sustained attempts to reconfigure Reformation theology for a post-secular age.

Reformation Theology for a Post-Secular Age: Løgstrup, Prenter, Wingren, and the Future of Scandinavian Creation Theology

"This brilliant and judicious book is a hermeneutically based analysis of the very significant theology of Gustaf Wingren. Uggla makes Wingren's theology--in all its conflictual glory--come alive again through both an analysis of Wingren's major works and a moving narrative of his singular eventful life: a major work on a major theologian." --David W. Tracy, University of Chicago "Uggla takes the genre of intellectual biography to new heights. 'What Theology Is and What It Ought to Be' is the subtitle of Gustaf Wingren's debate book The Silent Interpreter; it also works as a subtitle for what this eloquent interpreter, Bengt Kristensson Uggla, achieves as he navigates the seas of academic and public theology with scholarly rigor and hermeneutical elegance. We are given a powerful testimony of why and how the church needs theology." --Antje Jackelen, Archbishop of Uppsala "This is probably the definitive biography of the great Swedish theologian Gustaf Wingren. Uggla writes with scope and theological nerve, and with a sense of wit and detail." --Niels Henrik Gregersen, University of Copenhagen REVIEWS OF THE SWEDISH EDITION OF THE BOOK (FOR FRONT MATTER) "It is a rich, stylistically brilliant and exciting work [...] Bengt Kristensson Uggla has created an intellectual masterpiece about a complex theological personality. When reading the book, it becomes clear how much we risk losing if we let Gustaf Wingren remain in oblivion. A reading experience of large dimensions." --KG Hammar, former Archbishop of Uppsala, Sydsvenska Dagbladet "This is a large and impressive work. Bengt Kristensson Uggla has the advantage that he writes extremely well / ... / The book is a shocking and highly interesting reading about a constantly struggling person." --Mary Schottenius, cultural journalist, Dagens Nyheter "An extremely readable book, initiated, well-informed and committed." --Svante Nordin, Professor of History of Ideas at Lund University, Svenska Dagbladet "An important book on an important theologian / ... / also if you belong to Wingren's critics, as I do, Kristensson Uggla's book is rewarding and thought provoking. For me, it meant that I had to re-examine some of my criticism. / ... / Gustaf Wingren continues to amaze even after his hundredth birthday." --Anders Jeffner, Professor of Theology at Uppsala University, Kyrkans Tidning "A magnificent and fascinating biography" --Dr. and Reverend Arne Fritzon, Sandaren "When Bengt Kristensson Uggla takes on the task of writing about Gustaf Wingren, it immediately becomes exciting / ... / it deserves its place among standard works of our business and for future Swedish theologians." --Dr. and Reverend Hans Andreasson, Tro & Liv

Bengt Kristensson Uggla

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