Robb Torseth

A good theologian has many influences in his life, both those in the present, and those in the past. Martin Luther once wrote, “If you, O human being … are capable of unveiling the concealed truth only in part—be it as large as it may—then know that there is a witness there that points past you and will only be revealed to you or others in the future.” Eclecticism is thus an important part of being a theologian; but, significantly, it must be a learned eclecticism, reaching out into the...

What are the Grundrids? This is a question that has arisen in my own contemplation of Gisle's seminal volume in tandem with two other sources for his theology: the earlier Swedish edition, Föreläsningar öfver Systematiska Theologien (1878), from the lecture note of August Weenaas, along with the 1850 Den Kristelige Dogmatik from the lecture notes of Gjermunde Hoyme. In the latter two instances, more elaboration is clearly present, with more direct engagement with prominent thinkers,...

Famously, in his Concluding Unscientific Postscript, Danish philosopher S ø ren Kierkegaard described the need for a “qualitative transition of the leap from unbeliever to believer," colloquially known as the leap of faith. This is seen as brought on by an existential crisis by Kierkegaard, where the paradox of existence forces one to this higher sphere of belief. Gisle Johnson was regularly described as having been influenced by Kierkegaard, Svein Christofferson describing him as the first...