Gisle's Lost Lectures

Several authors mention Gisle's lost lectures and manuscripts. Part of the Gisle Johnson Project is to track down these lost lectures, possibly preserved in hand-written manuscripts, and pursue transcription and publication. Here is what Nils Hertzberg says of one particular lecture series from Gisle, "Det Paulinske Larebegreb":

"Johnson's first lectures, which gave me the greatest benefit, were the ones he gave on 'The Pauline Theory of Doctrine.' As far as I know, these have never been printed. They were the result of an in-depth study of Paul's letters and shed peculiar light on the apostle's entire Christian worldview. As is well known, Paul does not give any coherent or systematic presentation of the doctrine he preached in his letters; it should then be in the letter to the Romans; but this is not based on anything like that either. All the letters owe their creation to special circumstances arising in the concerned congregations; generally valid teachings about the Christian faith, doctrine, and life occur only scattered. But any interested reader of the Bible will inevitably get the impression that, at the root of the scattered teachings, lies a solid and well-coherent outlook on life.

To find and present this was Johnson's aim through these lectures; he solved this task in such a way that they came to throw clear light on many places where, in the connection they stand, they are often difficult to understand. In my exegetical studies, these lectures were of far greater use to me than the German Commentaries, which often confuse more than they clarify."

Amusingly, his note considering the value of theological German resources still resounds to the present!