Inget är skapat utanför : Teologi och kontext i Anders Frostensons författarskap

• Main Author: Ekström, Alva
• Format: Doctoral Thesis
• Language: Swedish
• Published: Karlstads universitet, Estetisk-filosofiska fakulteten 2006
• Subjects: Swedish hymn-writing; The 1937 and 1986 Hymnal; Curch songs for children; Anders Frostenson; Religion/Theology; Religionsvetenskap/Teologi
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-1339; http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:isbn:91-7063-047-X

To the general public, Anders Frostenson clergyman and poet, is primarily known for his many contributions to the Swedish hymn treasure. He was born on 23 April 1906. The present thesis examines and defines the theology embodied in his works, especially in his hymns, showing that Frostenson occupies a central and unique position in the Swedish 20th Century Christian tradition. The study charts Frostenson´s life and work from poetry to hymn, and draws attention to the growth of a long-standing, significant authorship, that has served to make the Christian gospel accessible, relevant, and down-to-earth. Much has happened in the last century. The 1900s have been characterised by enormous changes, social, cultural and public, involving both individuals and nations. Matters of opinion and aims, union and dissension, have in a special way been put at the centre of things. This is also reflected in Anders Frostenson´s work. Frostenson´s autorship can be understood in terms of four concepts, which reflect the epiphanic mode of his works: the Word, the Testament, the Confirmation, and the Inheritance. These concepts can to a great extent be chronologically ordered, and taken together they function as the cornerstones on which Frostenson´s theology is built. The relationship between the four cornerstones and different periods is defined against the background of Frostenson´s existential situation and the socio-cultural context. The theological analysis shows how central Christian themes and the Christian philosophy of life are shaped in the meeting of tradition and actuality. Frostenson conveys the idea that God reveals himself in the here and now. Human suffering is God´s injunction to the world to act with love in daily service. The sense of belonging and continuity makes life meaningful and excludes no one from the earthly and heavenly “endless home”. In true Lutheran spirit Frostenson places his creative will and words in the service of God. The 1986 Hymnal is the cultural treasure through which Frostenson chiefly brought Word and Tradition into the everyday world. The cultural concept has been expanded with his help, through, among other things, spiritual song, where trust and tradition are obviously linked together with contemporary Christian culture. In 1935, Anders Frostenson wrote ´Let my life also be a working day, in Your vast Kingdom!` On 4 February 2006, that long day´s work finally came to a close.