Olaf M. Norlie
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Olaf Morgan Norlie (January 11, 1876–June 22, 1962), also referred to as “O.M. Norlie”, is most remembered as the translator of Simplified New Testament. He was a scholar in Lutheran and Norwegian circles, much of his work touching both areas.
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[edit] Life
He was born to Norwegian speaking parents in Sioux City, Iowa. He went on to graduate from St. Olaf College in 1898, completed his Master’s degree at the University of Wisconsin in 1901, married Anna Louise Bonhus in 1902, then earned his doctorate at the University of Minnesota in 1908. His dissertation was titled “The Principles of Expressive Reading, a Study of the Human Voice." He also attended the United Norwegian Lutheran church Seminary (though it is unclear if he graduated).
He served for eight years as a pastor in the United Norwegian Lutheran Church of America in Minnesota for 8 years. Then he went into teaching, first teaching Greek and psychology at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. He then went on to serve as Dean and professor of Religion at Hartwick College and Seminary. He went on to serve as librarian at St. Olaf College until his retirement. The library at St. Olaf has archival materials from his life and a large collection of his writings.
Due to his interest in statistics, in 1932 he was elected as a member of the American Mathematical Society [1]. He was a member of the American Philological Association and a poet.
[edit] Works
Norlie’s best known work was his translation of the New Testament titled “Simplified New Testament”. He originally had John’s Gospel published in 1943 as The Gospel of St. John: translated into modern English (published in Texas). Though he completed the entire New Testamemt in 1951, he could not find a publisher willing to print it. Finally, in 1961, Zondervan published it. It was so positively received that there was a second printing in that same year. It was bound together with The Psalms For Today A New Translation in Current English, translated by R. K. Harrison.
The following is a sample from his Simplified New Testament, Romans 1:21-23:
"And although men knew that God exists, yet they did not acknowledge Him as such, nor did they give Him thanks. Rather, they busied themselves with silly speculations about Him, and their stupid minds groped about in the dark. To be sure, they claimed to be wise, but they were fools. So they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for images in the likeness of corruptible man, and of birds, four-footed beasts and reptiles."
He also authored a large number of books, including:
- A guide to literary study : for the teacher, student, and general reader (1901)
- United Church Home Mission (1909)
- Ness Jubelskrift (1911)
- Den forenede norsk lutherske kirke i Amerika (1914)
- The Academy for Princes (1917)
- Prominent Personalities: WCAL Radio Talks (1942)
- An elementary Christian psychology (1924)
- Norwegian-American Papers (1847-1946) (1946)
- History of the Norwegian People in America (1925)
- Creeds or chaos (1956)
- Six generations of Gunder A. Bonhus (1958)
- It pays to go to school; seen in attendance statistics at Norwegian-American higher schools (1956)
- Names of Jesus in the Bible, stated and implied (1955)
- Poems to people (1953)
- Norlie-Bonhus family tree (1949)
- The outlined Bible, for the preacher, Bible student, Sunday school teacher, and lay reader (1928)
- Eielsen Was First; a Bibliography (1942)
- Elling Eielsen, a Brief History, Written for the Elling Eielsen Centennial (1940)
- Psychology of sin (1956)
- Lars Lillehei (1944)
- He Made Good; a Centennial Sketch of Ole Halvorson Norlie, 1845-1896, A Norwegian-American Pioneer (1945)
- Ho ga te me (She Gave to Me); a Centennial Sketch of Martha Karolina (Juel) Norlie, 1846-1918, a Norwegian-American Pioneer - a biography of his mother (1946)
- A Guide to Literary Study (1901)
- Principles of expressive reading, impression before expression (1918)
- The Academy for Princes (1917)
- Norsk Lutherske Menigheter i Amerika (1918)
In addition to the books he wrote by himself, he was also editor and/or translator for a number of other volumes.
Norlie wrote dozens of articles, both religious and secular. For example, a list of his writings for 1935 alone includes over 30 articles and scholarly book reviews, many in Norwegian [2].
[edit] Sources
[edit] References
- Hamre, James S. 1985. “Three Spokesmen for Norwegian Lutheran Academies: Schools for Church, Heritage, Society.” Norwegian-American Studies Volume 30: 221-246.
- Hamre, James S. 1985. “The views of Herman Amberg Preus (1825-1894), D. G. Ristad (1863-1938), and Olaf M. Norlie (1876-1962).” Norwegian-American Studies’’' Volume 31.
