A Baptist & A Lutheran: Origin Story

One of the more common questions I get is how a rather Reformed Baptist living in the Southern California became acquainted with Gisle Johnson in the first place. Indeed, in a correspondence with Svein Aage Christoffersen, he referred to it as "unbelievable." Generally I would not think twice about theology in Scandinavia, which is why the happenstance is all the more "unbelievable."

One day, in preparation for lectures on Pneumatology, I was walking through the library and my eyes glanced down the collection and happened upon the volume The Scandinavian Pietists, edited by Mark Granquist. I was always suspicious of pietism as being overly experiential and non-theological, but I recall feeling the urge to take and read. In the Norwegian section of the book I found an excerpt from Gisle Johnson on regeneration, and I was surprised not only to see him described as a dogmatician, but also to read the chapter and find it quite engaging and rigorously theological.

I immediately implemented it in my class reading for Pneumatology and contacted Mark Granquist at Luther Seminary. "I had no idea this guy even existed. Where did you get this translation?" Mark replied that it was only available in English via the Johan Koren thesis, and he pulled a few strings to make sure I could have it via Interlibrary loan, along with an original copy of the 1898 Grundrids and Oulsand's biography of Gisle. The elder Norwegian had become a curiosity for me: I read the Koren version in a day and took copious notes. I also found supplementary literature online, including a handful of doctoral dissertations on him. Svein Aage Christoffersen was abundantly helpful in familiarizing me with Gisle's literature in Norwegian.

Curiosity turned into a bit of obsession, and I started learning Norwegian, a language my grandfather had known and which I had thought was a bit silly. I still think it's a bit silly, but in a good way. Its affinity with English and German made it a bit more accessible than I remembered biblical language being.

A significant moment came at the 2024 Evangelical Theological Society Conference, where I found myself wandering into the Lutheran section. There I found Nathan Olson, who connected me through email to Brian Lunn. Brian quickly became a close friend, sending me the majority of the books I've used for this project, and his expertise on Norwegian theology, language, ecclesiastical history, and pietism have been indispensable.

The Gisle Johnson Project has been a welcome surprise. Every day I find the example of Gisle as both pietist and dogmatician to be a welcome change. Gisle is a theologian worth knowing and reading, and it has been my pleasure to reintroduce him to the world.

Robb Torseth