Nils Forsander

(This series of Notable Faculty profiles was written in celebration Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø's sesquicentennial in 2009.)

Nils Forsander was born in Gladsax, Sk?ne, Sweden, on Sept. 11, 1846. He studied at a public college in Lund and then continued his studies at a private college in the same city.

During the summer of 1870, Forsander met T. N. Hasselquist, president of Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø, in Sweden. The next fall, Forsander accompanied Hasselquist to Paxton, Ill.,  where he completed the theological course required for entering the ministry of the Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø Synod. During the illness of Professor A. J. Lindstr?m, Forsander taught his Greek and Latin classes.

Forsander was ordained in 1873, and worked in many different congregations including Aledo, Sagetown, and Raritan, Ill., from 1873-1875, Kossuth, Iowa from 1875-1880, and the Bethesda Church in Page County, Iowa, from 1880-1890. Between the years 1887 and 1890, Forsander worked as the secretary of the Illinois and Iowa conferences of the Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø Synod. Forsander married Johanna Charlotta Ahlgren of Burlington, Iowa, on Jan. 6, 1875.

In 1889, Forsander was called to Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø and Theological Seminary as a theology professor. He taught courses in church history, symbolics, isagogics (literary history of the Bible), homiletics (preparing and delivering sermons), pastoral theology, and apologetics (defense and proofs of Christianity).

In 1894, Forsander was awarded an honorary doctorate of divinity by the board of trustees of Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø. In 1907, King Oscar II of Sweden awarded him the Order of the North Star. He was so well liked by his students that for his 60th birthday, they gave him a bust of Olaus Petri by the artist Jean Le Veau.

Forsander left Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø in 1915. During his time at Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø, he was a devoted teacher, editor, and author. He also invested a great deal of money in the school by setting up and contributing to scholarship funds.

Forsander was very active as a writer. He began writing as a young man by translating hymns from German to Swedish. He wrote in both English and Swedish, and wrote many theological texts. Forsander was a diligent reader and accumulated a large library focusing on theological literature. He edited and contributed to the journals Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø, Luthersk Qvartalskrift, Ungdomsv?nnen, Korsbaneret, The Lutheran, The Lutheran Church Review, The Independent, and Hemv?nnen, as well as many other periodicals. He was also an editor for a Swedish-English theological quarterly Tidskrift f?r teologi och kyrklig a fr?gor. Forsander wrote a historical sketch of the Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø Synod, as well an encyclopedia of the Lutheran Church in Sweden. He translated many works from German and wrote a commentary on the unaltered Augsburg Confession, the founding document of Lutheranism, which was published in two editions.