Gustaf Aulén
Gustaf Emanuel Hildebrand Aulén (15 May 1879 – 16 December 1977) was the Bishop of Strängnäs in the Church of Sweden, a Lutheran theologian, and the author of Christus Victor, a work which still exerts considerable influence on contemporary theological thinking on the atonement. Life

Aulén was born in 1879 in Ljungby parish, Kalmar County, Sweden to Rev. Johan Aulén and Maria Hildebrand. He married a Norwegian woman, Kristine Bjørnstad in 1907. After studying at Uppsala University, Aulén became professor of dogmatics at Lund University in 1913, then Bishop of Strängnäs in 1933. Aulén wrote a huge amount of material in his lifetime and his most famous work –Christus Victor – was published in Swedish in 1930, with an English translation in 1931. His other most well read book, The Faith of the Christian Church was published in six different editions in Swedish. The fourth edition, from 1943, was the first to be translated into English in 1948. Aulén's work gained international recognition  and most of his later works were quickly followed by English translations. Aulén was also an avid composer and was heavily involved in the committee responsible for the Swedish Church's new hymn book published in 1937. He was the president of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music 1944–1950. Aulén retired his bishopric in 1952, returning to Lund to devote himself to his academic work, surviving his wife who died in 1959. He published an autobiography – "My ninety-six years: happenings and thoughts" – in 1975 and died two years later on 16 December 1977 at the age of 98. Theology
Aulén was a prominent member of the 'Lundensian' school of theology, along with Anders Nygren, Ragnar Bring and Gustaf Wingren. The Lundensian school perhaps resembles most closely neo-orthodoxy in the German and English-speaking theological scenes of the mid-20th century. It was also a via media that largely rejected 19th German liberal thought whilst it simultaneously embraced orthodoxy, though not without criticism. Two significant influences on Aulén's thinking were Martin Luther, whose work Aulén consistently praises, and Friedrich Schleiermacher, of whom Aulén is much more frequently critical. Christus Victor
Aulén's most influential contribution to Theology was in the area of Atonement theory. His book Christus Victor has established itself as one of the key reference points in contemporary discussion. The original Swedish title of the book was Den Kristna Försoningstanken(EN: The Christian Idea of Reconciliation) but his English translator, A. Gabriel Hebert gave it the title Christus Victor. In his autobiography Aulén said he preferred Hebert's title. Aulén identified three main theories of the Atonement: the 'objective' view, epitomised by Anselm of Canterbury (known as Satisfaction theory); the 'subjective' view, epitomised by Peter Abelard (known as Moral Exemplar theory); and what he referred to as the 'classic' view. Aulén advocated a return to this 'classic' view, which he characterised as follows:

He argued that both the other theories put too much emphasis on the work of humanity in the Atonement: the Moral Exemplar view wholly so, and Satisfaction Theory in its emphasis on "the service which Christ qua homo renders". Regardless of whether they agree with his arguments, most contemporary discussions of the Atonement follow Aulén's three categories, and the term Christus Victor has become synonymous with the 'classic' view he advocated. Studies and career
 Uppsala University:
Candidate of Philosophy 1899
Licenciate of Theology 1906
Doctor of Theology 1915
Lecturer of Theological Encyclopedia 1907
Lecturer of Dogmatism 1910
Lund University:
Professor of Systematic Theology 1913
Bishop of the Diocese of Strängnäs 1933

Selected bibliography of works in English 
The Faith of the Christian Church. Swedish: 1923, 1924, 1931, 1943 (English: 1948), 1957 (English: 1960), 1965
Christus Victor: A Historical Study of the Three Main Types of the Idea of Atonement. Swedish: 1930, English: 1931
Church, Law and Society. Scribner, 1948
Eucharist and Sacrifice. Swedish: 1956, English: 1958
Reformation and Catholicity. Swedish: 1959, English: 1961
The Drama and the Symbols. Swedish: 1965, English: 1970
Dag Hammarskjöld's White Book: An Analysis of 'Markings'. English: 1970
Jesus in Contemporary Historical Research. Swedish: 1976, English: 1976

See also
Samfundet Nordens Frihet, where Aulén was a board member

References 

1879 births
1977 deaths
People from Kalmar Municipality
Swedish theologians
Lutheran bishops of Strängnäs
20th-century Lutheran bishops
20th-century Protestant theologians
Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy