MF Norwegian School of Theology

Norwegian School of Theology (MF)
Det teologiske Menighetsfakultet
Motto In Principio Erat Verbum
Established 1907
Type Private
Rector Prof. dr. theol. Vidar L. Haanes
Administrative staff
 100
Students 1100
Location Oslo, Norway
Affiliations The Norwegian Association of Higher Education Institutions; IMHE; the Nordic University Association
Website www.mf.no

The Norwegian School of Theology (formerly the Free Faculty of Theology) (Norwegian: Det teologiske Menighetsfakultet) (MF), is a private, independent, accredited Norwegian specialised university. The school is located at Majorstuen, Oslo.

The main goal of the institution is to educate and train ministers, pastors, Christian educators (catechists), deacons, teachers and researchers for Church, School and Society.

The school offers degrees on an undergraduate level, on a postgraduate level and on a postgraduate research (PhD) level.

History

The campus

MF was founded in 1907 by a body of people (Norwegian academics, politicians, clergy and lay people) wanting to build the education and research on the Holy Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions.

The main reason for the establishing of the School was an appointment to a professoriate at the Faculty of Theology at University of Oslo. The Chair of Systematic Theology was vacant after the death of Professor Fredrik Petersen in 1903, and in 1906 the liberal theologian Johannes Ording was appointed to the Chair. Ording was appointed after a lengthy debate which almost led to a crisis in the Government of Norway. It was not supported by the other leading professors at the faculty, and Professor Sigurd Odland at the Faculty of Theology and the Minister of Church Affairs Christian Knudsen in the Government left their positions following the appointment.

Notable people in the society and the Church gathering around Professor Odland then took steps to found an independent institution training the clergy. The founding charter was signed October 16, 1907, and the School was opened in the autumn of 1908 with only 8 students (a number that increased to 14 before the end of the first term). The earliest teachers were Sigurd Odland (New Testament), Edvard Sverdrup (Church history), Peter Hognestad (Old Testament), Ole Hallesby (Systematic theology). From 1919 the members of academic staff was granted the right to call themselves professors.

The School grew steadily, and in 1913 MF was given the right to offer degrees in Theology, and also in Practical Theology from 1925. The School expanded in 1967 and an institute of Christian Studies was founded giving a minor, major and a masters degree in Christian Studies. 1977 the school started to train Christian Educators (catechists).

A major step was the right to award the doctoral degree in 1990. The School was the first private school given the right to do this, and in 2005 the school was accredited as a specialized university institution by the Norwegian authorities.

Beginning in 1907 as a confessional school,today it is an ecumenical inclusive school offering education specific to a number of denominations (Lutheran, Methodist, Catholic, Salvation Army and Pentecostal).

Academics

MF is Norway’s largest school of theology, religion and social sciences, and enrolls approximately 1200 students from both Norway and other countries.

MF Norwegian School of Theology awards the following degrees: bachelor, master, candidatus/a theologiae and Ph.D.

It offers the following programmes of study that results in the mentioned degrees:

Notable alumni and faculty staff

Alumni

Politicians

Kjell Magne Bondevik, Valgerd Svarstad Haugland, Torild Skogsholm, Helen Bjørnøy.

Musicians

Bjørn Eidsvåg, Morten Harket

Authors

Jan Kjærstad, Ole Hallesby

Clergy


Faculty Staff

Old Testament Theology

New Testament Theology

Church History

Systematic Theology

Religious Studies

Social Sciences and Religious Education

Practical Theology and Missiology

Coordinates: 59°55′57.99″N 10°42′48.67″E / 59.9327750°N 10.7135194°E