{"id":68,"date":"2021-12-29T19:52:28","date_gmt":"2021-12-29T19:52:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thomaskazen.se\/?page_id=68"},"modified":"2026-07-06T21:31:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T21:31:09","slug":"bio","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thomaskazen.se\/index.php\/bio\/","title":{"rendered":"Bio"},"content":{"rendered":"

I live in M\u00e4rsta between Stockholm and Uppsala, but spend as much time in the cottage in Skinnskatteberg, Westmannia, where the soil provides potatoes, tomatoes, beans, and many other vegetables, if you just give it a bit of love. When possible, I slip away to Cambridge to hide in a library. My closest family consists of my wife and two adult children, one daughter in law and the grandchild Petrus.<\/p>\n

Normally I do research and teach at University College Stockholm (Stockholm School of Theology), where I’m employed as professor of Biblical Studies. I’m also an ordained minister in the Uniting Church in Sweden and an active member in my home town congregation, S\u00e4tunakyrkan, which according to my pastor is a liberal church with a social perspecive.<\/p>\n

Before getting involved in the academy I worked as a minister in the Swedish Covenant Church, one of the co-founders of the Uniting Church in Sweden. I have been a pastor both in suburban and more rural congregations, been engaged in scouting, church and children, and the renewal of worship and liturgy. There is more of this (in Swedish) under Kyrka<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Between 1997 and 2002 I did my PhD in Uppsala, where I defended a thesis about the historical Jesus and ritual purity practices. After that I got a job as lecturer in the New Testament at the Stockholm School of Theology, and since 2010 I’m professor of Biblical Studies. You can read more about what I do there on the page Academia<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Today I’m chairperson of S\u00e4tunakyrkan and also part of the theological council of the Uniting Church. I preach now and then and lecture occasionally outsite of my institution about various biblical, historical and theological issues. I carry somewhat of a passion for issues of interpretation and hermeneutics and would like to share tools which make it easier to get at the contents of the biblical texts. I’m happy when I can help bridging the gap between old, historical texts and our time and world, to make the texts accessible, living and relevant today. <\/p>\n

During the 1980’s I was active in the Swedish branch of the Fellowship of Reconciliation and since then I take an interest in social issues, especially questions of justice and relationships. I consider faith and life political, by necessity, in the sense that both try to counteract and change every structure which prevents human welfare and community. When you think about it, this also becomes a task of the academy, since knowledge and analysis reveal reality and open our eyes to it.<\/p>\n

I sometimes engage in music and it happens occasionally that I write a song or hymn. In early 2020 I completed a mass with my own texts and songs: M\u00e4ssa f\u00f6r m\u00e4nskor och v\u00e4rld <\/em>(Mass for humans and world). You can download it on the page Musik<\/em>. When I’m free in the summer I grow food in the garden in Westmannia together with my wife and pick as many berries as I manage in forest.<\/p>\n

Jag bor i M\u00e4rsta, mellan Stockholm och Uppsala, men tillbringar minst lika mycket tid i stugan i Skinnskatteberg, V\u00e4stmanland, d\u00e4r jorden ger potatis, tomater, b\u00f6nor och allt m\u00f6jligt, bara man tar hand om den lite. N\u00e4r jag kan smiter jag till Cambridge och sitter p\u00e5 bibliotek. Min n\u00e4rmaste familj best\u00e5r av min fru och tv\u00e5 vuxna barn, en sv\u00e4rdotter och barnbarnet Petrus. <\/p>\n

Till vardags forskar och undervisar jag vid Enskilda H\u00f6gskolan Stockholm (Teologiska H\u00f6gskolan Stockholm), d\u00e4r jag \u00e4r professor i bibelvetenskap. Jag \u00e4r ocks\u00e5 pastor i Equmeniakyrkan och aktiv i S\u00e4tunakyrkan, en liberal f\u00f6rsamling, som min pastor s\u00e4ger, med ett diakonalt perspektiv.<\/p>\n

Innan min akademiska bana jobbade jag som pastor i Svenska Missionsf\u00f6rbundet\/Svenska Missionskyrkan, som sedermera var med och bildade Equmeniakyrkan. Jag har arbetat b\u00e5de i glesbygd-bruksbygd och i Stockholmsf\u00f6rort och \u00e4gnat mig mycket \u00e5t scouting, barns och ungdomars plats i f\u00f6rsamlingen, samt gudstj\u00e4nstutveckling. Du finner mer om det och en del material under Kyrka. <\/em><\/p>\n

Under 1997-2002 var jag aktiv doktorand i Uppsala och disputerade p\u00e5 en avhandling om den historiske Jesus och rituella renhetspraktiker. Efter det fick jag tj\u00e4nst som lektor i Nya testamentet vid Teologiska H\u00f6gskolan Stockholm och sedan 2010 som professor i bibelvetenskap. Mer om vad jag g\u00f6r d\u00e4r kan du l\u00e4sa p\u00e5 sidan Academia<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Idag \u00e4r jag ordf\u00f6rande i S\u00e4tunakyrkan och med i Equmeniakyrkans teologiska r\u00e5d. Jag predikar nu och d\u00e5 och f\u00f6rel\u00e4ser ibland utanf\u00f6r EHS om olika bibelvetenskapliga fr\u00e5gest\u00e4llningar. Jag har en passion f\u00f6r tolkningsfr\u00e5gor och vill g\u00e4rna f\u00f6rmedla verktyg som g\u00f6r det l\u00e4ttare att komma \u00e5t de bibliska texternas inneh\u00e5ll. Jag vill g\u00e4rna hj\u00e4lpa till att \u00f6verbrygga gapet mellan gamla historiska texter och v\u00e5r tid och v\u00e4rld s\u00e5 att de blir tillg\u00e4ngliga, levande och relevanta i dag.<\/p>\n

Efter en aktiv period i Kristna Fredsr\u00f6relsen p\u00e5 1980-talet b\u00e4r jag med mig ett intresse f\u00f6r samh\u00e4llsfr\u00e5gor, inte minst fr\u00e5gor om r\u00e4ttvisa och relationer. Jag menar att b\u00e5de tron och livet alltid m\u00e5ste vara politiska, i den meningen att de f\u00f6rs\u00f6ker motverka och f\u00f6r\u00e4ndra alla strukturer som f\u00f6rsv\u00e5rar och f\u00f6rhindrar m\u00e4nskligt v\u00e4lbefinnande och gemenskap. Detta blir i f\u00f6rl\u00e4ngningen ocks\u00e5 akademins uppgift, eftersom kunskap och analys avsl\u00f6jar verkligheten och \u00f6ppnar v\u00e5ra \u00f6gon.<\/p>\n

Jag \u00e4gnar mig \u00e5t musik ibland och det h\u00e4nder att jag skriver n\u00e5gon s\u00e5ng eller psalm. I b\u00f6rjan av 2020 gjorde jag en m\u00e4ssa av egna texter och s\u00e5nger: M\u00e4ssa f\u00f6r m\u00e4nskor och v\u00e4rld<\/em>. Den g\u00e5r bra att ladda ner f\u00f6r den som vill p\u00e5 sidan Musik<\/em>. N\u00e4r jag \u00e4r ledig p\u00e5 somrarna odlar jag gr\u00f6nsaker i tr\u00e4dg\u00e5rden i V\u00e4stmanland tillsammans med min fru och plockar s\u00e5 mycket b\u00e4r jag orkar i skogen.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span>\"\"<\/span>\"\"<\/span>\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I live in M\u00e4rsta between Stockholm and Uppsala, but spend as much time in the cottage in Skinnskatteberg, Westmannia, where the soil provides potatoes, tomatoes, beans, and many other vegetables, if you just give it a bit of love. When possible, I slip away to Cambridge to hide in a library. My closest family consists […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":174,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-68","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","post-wrapper","thrv_wrapper"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomaskazen.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/68","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomaskazen.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomaskazen.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomaskazen.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomaskazen.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/thomaskazen.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/68\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":459,"href":"https:\/\/thomaskazen.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/68\/revisions\/459"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomaskazen.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomaskazen.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}