He took the
examen artium in 1886, and the
cand.theol. degree in 1893. From 1894 to 1900 he was a curate at St. John's Church in
Kristiania (in Norwegian the church was called
Johanneskirken, sharing Ording's given name). He also worked as a teacher. In 1900 he left his church job to study, first three years with funding from a legatee, then from 1903 as
research fellow at the
Royal Frederick University. In the same year he took the
dr.theol. degree with the thesis
Den religiøse Erkjendelse, dens Art og Vished. In 1903 professor of theology died
Fredrik Petersen, and there were problems with appointing a successor. In 1904 Ording was deemed to be the only qualified candidate, but he was not appointed. Certain people saw him as too liberal, as he was inspired by
Albrecht Ritschl. In 1905, there was another attempt to appoint a successor for Petersen, and this time six foreign academics had been summoned to judge the candidates. Five of them supported Ording, and the Faculty of Theology asked that Ording be appointed, except for professor
Sigurd Odland, who dissented. The collegium (board) of the university agreed, and in January 1906 the
Council of State made the final decision to appoint Ording.
Christoffer Knudsen resigned as Minister of Church Affairs, Sigurd Odland resigned as professor, and the more conservative
MF Norwegian School of Theology was founded as a response. Ording's most notable release after this was
Den kristelige tro ("The Christian Faith"), released in two volumes in 1915. Other releases include
Gammel og moderne kristendomsopfatning ("Old and Modern Perception of Christianity", 1906) and
Kristelig etik ("Christian Ethics", 1927). Ording did not write the latter book himself, but dictated it as he lay ill. He had suffered from a
stroke in 1921, and spent much of his time on sick leave until finally resigning as a professor in 1926. His last notable publication was an essay in
Samtiden in 1929. He died in January 1929 in Bærum. ==References==