{"id":9857,"date":"2011-10-26T06:00:50","date_gmt":"2011-10-26T10:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.geneveith.com\/?p=9857"},"modified":"2011-10-26T06:00:50","modified_gmt":"2011-10-26T10:00:50","slug":"more-discoveries-of-bo-giertz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2011\/10\/more-discoveries-of-bo-giertz\/","title":{"rendered":"More discoveries of Bo Giertz"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Justin Taylor, editor at Crossway Books, has a great post\u2013entitled \u201cThe Best\u00a0Christian\u00a0Novel You Have Never Heard Of\u201d\u2013\u00a0on the Swedish Lutheran novelist Bo Giertz.\u00a0 He quotes Leland Ryken, a Wheaton professor I have known for a long time who is one of the top evangelical literary critics:<\/p>\n

Bo Giertz\u2019s fictional work The Hammer of God is one of the best literary \u201cfinds\u201d I have ever made.<\/p>\n

I discovered this novel-length series of three novellas while co-authoring a soon-to-be-released, co-authored (with Philip Ryken and Todd Wilson) book entitled Pastors in the Classics: Timeless Lessons on Life and Ministry from World Literature<\/em>. Initially Giertz\u2019s book came onto my radar screen as a candidate for the handbook section of our book on the portrayal of pastors in the literary classics, but once I started to read the book I could hardly put it down. My son quickly agreed that The Hammer of God<\/em> merited a full-scale chapter and not just an entry in our handbook section.<\/p>\n

\nThe story of the author is nearly as interesting as the masterpiece of clerical fiction that he composed in a span of six weeks while serving as a rural pastor in Sweden. At the age of only 43, Giertz became a bishop in the Swedish Lutheran church. The best-known biography of Giertz calls him \u201can atheist who became a bishop.\u201d The publication of The Hammer of God<\/em> in 1941 brought Giertz immediate fame.\n

The design of this trilogy of novellas is ingenious.<\/p>\n

Each of the three stories follows a young Lutheran pastor over approximately a two-year span at the beginning of his ministerial career, all in the\u00a0 same rural parish. The overall time span for the work as a whole is 130 years.<\/p>\n

Each of the three pastors arrives fresh from theological training and decidedly immature (and perhaps a nominal rather than true believer).<\/p>\n

Each of the three attains true Christian faith through encounters with (1) parishioners, (2) fellow pastors, and (3) assorted religious movements that were in fact prominent in Sweden during the historical eras covered.<\/p>\n

There are thus two plot lines in the book: one recounts the \u201ccoming of age\u201d spiritual pilgrimages of the three young ministers, and the other is an episodic fictional story of a rural Swedish parish.<\/p>\n

No other work covered in Pastors in the Classics<\/em><\/a> covers more issues in ministry than this one, and it has the added advantage of being packaged in three manageable units.<\/p>\n

via The Best Christian Novel You\u2019ve Never Heard Of \u2013 Justin Taylor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read Justin\u2019s whole post.\u00a0 He also quotes ME, drawing on an article I wrote\u00a0 on Giertz\u2019s literary qualities as compared to what we see in conventional Christian novels.<\/p>\n

(That article was based on a presentation I made at a conference on Giertz at Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne.\u00a0 It was published, along with the other presentations\u2013including one by this blog\u2019s commenter Bror Erickson\u2013in one of the few books on Giertz in English, one that all Giertz fans will want to have: A Hammer for God: Bo Giertz<\/a>.)<\/p><\/div>\n<\/blockquote><\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Justin Taylor, editor at Crossway Books, has a great post\u2013entitled \u201cThe Best\u00a0Christian\u00a0Novel You Have Never Heard Of\u201d\u2013\u00a0on the Swedish Lutheran novelist Bo Giertz.\u00a0 He quotes Leland Ryken, a Wheaton professor I have known for a long time who is one of the top evangelical literary critics: Bo Giertz\u2019s fictional work The Hammer of God is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,28],"tags":[321,458],"class_list":["post-9857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church","category-literature","tag-bo-giertz","tag-christianity-and-the-arts"],"yoast_head":"\nMore discoveries of Bo Giertz<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Justin Taylor, editor at Crossway Books, has a great post--entitled "The Best\u00a0Christian\u00a0Novel You Have Never Heard Of"--\u00a0on the Swedish Lutheran novelist\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2011\/10\/more-discoveries-of-bo-giertz\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"More discoveries of Bo Giertz\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Justin Taylor, editor at Crossway Books, has a great post--entitled "The Best\u00a0Christian\u00a0Novel You Have Never Heard Of"--\u00a0on the Swedish Lutheran novelist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2011\/10\/more-discoveries-of-bo-giertz\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cranach\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-10-26T10:00:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gene Veith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gene Veith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2011\/10\/more-discoveries-of-bo-giertz\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2011\/10\/more-discoveries-of-bo-giertz\/\",\"name\":\"More discoveries of Bo Giertz\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-10-26T10:00:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-10-26T10:00:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1\"},\"description\":\"Justin Taylor, editor at Crossway Books, has a great post--entitled \\\"The Best\u00a0Christian\u00a0Novel You Have Never Heard Of\\\"--\u00a0on the Swedish Lutheran novelist\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2011\/10\/more-discoveries-of-bo-giertz\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2011\/10\/more-discoveries-of-bo-giertz\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2011\/10\/more-discoveries-of-bo-giertz\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"More discoveries of Bo Giertz\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/\",\"name\":\"Cranach\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1\",\"name\":\"Gene Veith\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gene Veith\"},\"description\":\"Gene Edward Veith, Jr. is a writer and retired literature professor, serving as Provost Emeritus at Patrick Henry College. He has authored over 25 books on Christianity and culture, literature, classical education, and theology. Dr. Veith previously held academic and editorial roles at Concordia University Wisconsin and WORLD Magazine. A respected voice in Lutheran and classical education circles, he holds a Ph.D. in English and several honorary doctorates. He and his wife, Jackquelyn, live in St. Louis and have three children and twelve grandchildren.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gene_Edward_Veith\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/author\/geneveith\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"More discoveries of Bo Giertz","description":"Justin Taylor, editor at Crossway Books, has a great post--entitled \"The Best\u00a0Christian\u00a0Novel You Have Never Heard Of\"--\u00a0on the Swedish Lutheran novelist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2011\/10\/more-discoveries-of-bo-giertz\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"More discoveries of Bo Giertz","og_description":"Justin Taylor, editor at Crossway Books, has a great post--entitled \"The Best\u00a0Christian\u00a0Novel You Have Never Heard Of\"--\u00a0on the Swedish Lutheran novelist","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2011\/10\/more-discoveries-of-bo-giertz\/","og_site_name":"Cranach","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/","article_published_time":"2011-10-26T10:00:50+00:00","author":"Gene Veith","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gene Veith","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2011\/10\/more-discoveries-of-bo-giertz\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2011\/10\/more-discoveries-of-bo-giertz\/","name":"More discoveries of Bo Giertz","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-10-26T10:00:50+00:00","dateModified":"2011-10-26T10:00:50+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1"},"description":"Justin Taylor, editor at Crossway Books, has a great post--entitled \"The Best\u00a0Christian\u00a0Novel You Have Never Heard Of\"--\u00a0on the Swedish Lutheran novelist","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2011\/10\/more-discoveries-of-bo-giertz\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2011\/10\/more-discoveries-of-bo-giertz\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2011\/10\/more-discoveries-of-bo-giertz\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"More discoveries of Bo Giertz"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/","name":"Cranach","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1","name":"Gene Veith","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Gene Veith"},"description":"Gene Edward Veith, Jr. is a writer and retired literature professor, serving as Provost Emeritus at Patrick Henry College. He has authored over 25 books on Christianity and culture, literature, classical education, and theology. Dr. Veith previously held academic and editorial roles at Concordia University Wisconsin and WORLD Magazine. A respected voice in Lutheran and classical education circles, he holds a Ph.D. in English and several honorary doctorates. He and his wife, Jackquelyn, live in St. Louis and have three children and twelve grandchildren.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gene_Edward_Veith"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/author\/geneveith\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1281"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9857\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}