Background
He was the son of a merchant Gustaf Sundkler and Lilly Bergman. His father was the son of Carl Gustaf Sinclair (1849-1919), the last member of the Swedish Counts dynasty Sinclair.
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Bengt Sundkler
Edit Profileprofessor vice president Church historian
Career
After studying at the universities of Uppsala, Strasbourg and Paris, Bengt Sundkler became doctor of divinity (teoldr)1937 with a thesis on the breakthrough of missionary thinking in Sweden by the Swedish Lutheran Mission 1835-1875. Between 1949-1974 he was chair professor of Church History and history of Christian missions at Uppsala University. When the Haya Church 1961 introduced the episcopate, he was called back there as the first holder and was Bishop of Bukoba in Tanzania 1961-1964.
In 1959-1961, he was vice president of the International Mission Council.
He was an honorary doctorate in theology at the universities of Aberdeen, Tübingen, Oslo and Helsinki. He wrote several books on the subject, including Bantu Prophets in South Africa in 1945, which was translated into several languages.
The book Christian Ministry in Africa were published in 1960. As a university teacher in Sweden he published Missionens värld in 1963 and a Swedish missionary atlas 1957.
He wrote of the Swedish Tanzania Mission"s history in the books Young Church in Tanganyika (1948) ‘Bara Bukoba’’ 1974.
His most comprehensive work is the 1200-page African church history A History of the Church in Africa, published posthumously in 2000. Sundkler published several works on the subject of Nathan Söderblom, including in 1968 the biography Nathan Soderblom his Life and Work.
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Born
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Died
April 5, 1995 (aged 86) -
Nationality
Sweden -
Religion
Christian