Gisle's theology was contained over the course of three volumes, a compact consideration of faith and
dogma in his
Grundrids af Den Systematiske Theology (1878), along with lectures on ethics
(Forelæsninger over den kristelige Ethik, 1898) and lectures on dogmatic history (
Forelæsninger over dogmehistorien 1898). Together, the
Grundrids (containing
Pistiks and
Dogmatiks) and the
kristelige Ethiks comprise three volumes of what Gisle envisioned to be a full dogmatic treatment of the Christian faith; in the introduction to his
Grundrids he reasons, From the three basic connections in which it is objectively perceived by the conscious mind, systematic theology is divided into three parts. These may be called Christian Pistics or the teaching concerning the nature of faith, Christian dogmatics, or the teaching concerning the truth-content of faith, and Christian ethics, or the teaching concerning the life of faith. Systematic theology finds its total content in these three disciplines... (s. 1)A potential fourth element of Johnson's thought is the
Forelæsninger over dogmehistorien, or
Lectures on Dogmatic History, also published posthumously, which will be discussed below. Gisle's method is what Kaasa correctly terms "regressive," beginning with faith and moving toward concrete theological realities. As such, it represents a different
ordo cognitio (order of knowing) than typical dogmatic treatments of the period, largely related to the influence of Kierkegaard and Erlangen theology on his thinking. Notably, Gisle's dogmatics implement an organic motif, where faith, the church, etc. are seen as organic realities, and as such it would not be unfair to categorize him as
organicist in his ontology.
Pistiks The
Grundrids bear the marks of a sophisticated ordered dogmatic. In the
Pistiks Gisle intentionally begins with what amounts to a prolegomena to theology based on the presuppositions of human faith: "As Christian Pistics, it is the task of systematic theology to understand that unique form of man' s personal being that is known as Christian faith, as something true and necessary for mankind." Here Gisle mirrors Kierkegaard by outlining his own the three stages of faith: the Egotistic, Legalist, and Christian (or Ethical) Faith, and moved toward traditional Lutheran categories of salvation by grace alone through faith alone. As such, although faith is a natural state of humanity, saving, Christian faith is both continuous and discontinuous with the prior stages of faith: The relationship between legalistic faith and Christian faith excludes any possibility of immediate transfer from one to the other. True, Christian faith finds its definite basis in legalistic faith. That which man through the mediation of the Law has understood about its content, about God as its Author and Preserver, and about himself as its transgressor, becomes also for the Christian unshakeable truth. Nevertheless, there is one point at which Christian faith becomes diametrically opposed to legalistic faith. While man in the latter sees himself to be the object of God's wrath because of his sin, in the former he is convinced in spite of his sin that he is the object of God's grace. (s. 53)Significantly, although this initial section on
Pistiks is highly experiential, it is also intended to establish a definite ontological basis for the construction of his dogmatic in the second part. In this sense, Kaasa's designation of Gisle's dogmatic method is incorrect when he considers him as beginning with "subjective consciousness" akin to Schleiermacher.
Dogmatiks In the beginning of the
Dogmatik portion, then, it is unsurprising to see that Gisle extends this scientific and ordered consideration of faith to the realm of theological propositions, which he believes to be the necessary objective relation to the subjective essence of faith (s. 61). Here, Gisle's order of theology is inductive, once again worked out from the order of faithful knowing, beginning with soteriology, moving onto anthropology, and ending with theology proper, which he sees as the pinnacle of faith's exploration (s. 61). Dogmatically, and in consistency with classical Lutheran commitments, Gisle sees justification as a unique intersection and basis for the whole of Christian religion: "The doctrine of justification is not only one factor besides the others in the system of dogmatics, it is the central, basic doctrine which in itself essentially includes the whole system, and from which every other factor is necessarily developed" (s. 61). As such, it is unsurprising that he immediately segues from faith to his discussion of justification. Gisle holds justification to be a once-for-all objective and forensic reality of double-imputation: "justification is an act of judgement on God's part, whereby He in His heart looks upon, considers, recognises and declares the sinner, who in himself is unrighteous, to be righteous," a work which "finds its source in the grace of God" (s. 64). Gisle then extends a family analogy to justification by way of adoption, lending it a personal quality and defining it from Romans 5:19 as "the objective restoration of his fellowship with God, previously disturbed by sin. The justified sinner is thus objectively reconciled to God and reunited with Him" (s. 64).
Rebirth and renewal From justification Gisle then turns to regeneration and the reality of this new life of faith. This he sees as consisting in two parts: the creative initiation of the new life principle (
nyt Livsprincip) in the heart of the sinner, formally regeneration (
Gjenfødelse, lit. 'rebirth'), and the ongoing sanctifying process, which he designates renewal (
Fornyelse). The causal realities of this process he wishes to allocate properly to the Holy Spirit, with keen attention to the united work of the Trinity: And just as this life is a spiritual life, so also is its communication first and foremost a work of the Spirit of God, depending on God’s gift of his Spirit to the sinner. By taking up residence in heart of the sinner and uniting with his spirit, but sinking down into the inner, central point of the sinner’s personal existence as living, inviolable seed, the Holy Spirit makes him a new spiritual man. But this whole activity that brings God’s Spirit and life appears at this point to the believer’s consciousness as mediated through Christ (s. 73).He then goes on to define this rebirth as...[T]hat gracious act of God whereby He by His Spirit creates faith in Christ in the sinner' s heart, and, in the same moment in which He thus has opened it for His gift of grace, also in the Spirit, takes up residence in the heart and bestows upon it of the fulness of His life. Regeneration thus becomes a union of two factors, of which the one (the gift of faith) is the necessary prerequisite for justification, and the other (the gift of the Holy Spirit) its necessary sequel.As such, Gisle's theology of faith and regeneration carefully balances both subjective and objective realities, with obvious Pietistic and revivalist qualities. Yet Gisle's ecclesiology extends his considerations of this new life principle of faith to the social and corporate level, an extension of his "organic" view of faith: As Christ receives individual sinners into life fellowship with Himself, He thereby at the same time places them in a characteristic organic relationship with each other, which we call the "communion of the saints." In so doing He brings them together out of the world into a new human society, and thereby makes them members of a spiritual body of which He is the head: the organic, living life-communicating central point, controlling all things and directing all things (s. 86).Sticking close to classical theological categories, Gisle goes on to state that the church is "both an invisible and visible fellowship," and "essentially a holy one," "the only one of its kind, and therefore also universal," citing the Apostolic and Nicene Creeds (ss. 87–88). Such a new and organic society finds its manifestation in the person of Christ the Mediator, which is Gisle's grounds for considering the centrality of the work and person of Christ, following the traditional
munus triplex of Christ as prophet, priest, and king. It is here that Gisle will also consider
biblical inspiration and authority, sacraments, and church offices, representative of Lutheran Christocentrism.
View of Scripture With regards to Gisle's doctrine of Scripture, Nostbakken has asserted that Gisle held to a salvific or functional, but not formal or material, view of biblical authority.Implementing more organicist language, Johnson desires to tie confessionalism to the organic growth of the faith of the individual in relation to the society of the church; using an agricultural metaphor found also in the
Ethiks, he likens this historical growth to that of a sprout:[T]he development of the ecclesiastical doctrine is an organic development. But an organic development necessarily includes a sprout, from which the development emerges. Also the organic development of the ecclesiastical doctrine presupposes a sprout, in which that which, after the development presents itself as the fruit of the development, is potentially present from the beginning, a sprout, which thus forms the starting point, the basis for the entire development, yes, is the subject of the development itself, that which in and through the development unfolds of itself the content of its hidden life and thus carries the whole development forward by its inner power. If the church doctrine is now the same as the church's confession of faith developed by reflection, it is thus a given that the starting point of the development, its living, fruitful sprout, can only be this church's confession in its original, basic form, independent of all reflection ("Introduction").Here, Gisle's thought merges organicist concepts of being with Hegelian concepts of becoming:As such an organic development, the development of the teaching concept also appears as a, as it has been called, dialectical development. It is organic in its content, dialectical in its form. Dialectical is a development that progresses through contradictions, and whose result appears as the product of the overcoming and cancellation of these contradictions ("Introduction"). The progress of the work itself is keen to analyze theological and controversial writings cross-denominationally, but through the lens of Lutheran Confessionalism. The chapter on predestination, for example, is highly critical of the thought of Zwingli and Calvin, responding from the perspective of the Formula Concord, which he believes to have helpfully preserved the mystery of God's will and the free agency of human volition, leaving God free from being the author of sin (p. 350). Similar constructive maneuvers are found throughout the work, handling source material from patristic period past the Reformation. As such, instead of considering the switch to dogmatic history a recension for Gisle, it might be more helpful to consider it a more concerted culmination of his theological aims. Unlike the
Grundrids or
Ethiks, what is seen in the
Dogmehistorien is a careful and concerted integration of the historical theological debates that he believed undergirded and vindicated the truth of the Lutheran Confessionalism. Likewise, whereas the former two works focused on dogmatic and ethical integration of biblical, theological, and philosophical concepts, the
Dogmehistorien demonstrates his broad and eclectic exposure to figures from Nestorius to Chemnitz. The dogmatic historical analysis in these late lectures thus may provide a clearer picture into the objective doctrinal and confessional backbone that Gisle aimed toward in his subjective constructions in the
Grundrids, although more work needs to be done in this area.
Theological controversies During his lifetime Johnson was known not only as a theologians and revivalist, but also involved himself in the various ideological debates of his day at as what would today be called a
public theologian. Two controversies in particular defined his career: Grundtvigianism, an experientialist sect stemming from the teachings of the Danish
N.F.S. Grundtvig, and lay preaching, an essential part of the revivalist position that sought to allow non-ordained clergy the right to preach. into Norwegian. Over and against the Grundtvigian position of experience over Scripture and tradition, Gisle argued for the sufficiency and authority of Scripture and the need for Lutheran Confessionalism, referring to it as "fanaticism." Likewise, and with the issue of lay preaching, Gisle attempted to come to a confessionally-consistent application of the
Augsburg Confession's Article XIV, which prohibited "public (
offentlig) preaching." According to Johnson, the confessional standard must be held, yet interpreted with
Martin Luther's statement of exigency, that "emergency situations break all laws." Indeed, Trygve Skarsten has argued that Confessionalism and Pietism are, in fact, the defining theological controls for Gisle's system: "...the basic controlling assumptions that molded and shaped the theology and
churchmanship of Gisle Johnson, are to be found within these two movements." Skarsten recounts that,When a question arose, Gisle Johnson would usually respond by asking two questions in return. What does the Bible say? What light do the confessional books of the Lutheran church throw upon the subject? Likewise, this helps explain the "groundwork" or "outline" nature of his thought, which is dense and almost scholastic in efficiency, proceeding from point to point with clear wording, focused logical progression of concepts, and copious footnoting of biblical and confessional material in the original languages. Even the focus on faith sets itself apart from similar treatments by Schleiermacher, Kierkegaard, and Dorner, revolving strongly around assumptions of ontological and essential properties cast in a classically Lutheran Law/Gospel paradigm. Gisle's theology would go on to reshape the theological landscape of Norway and, subsequently, influence a generation of Norwegian immigrants to America. As such, although his writing and charisma seems to have waned toward the end of his career, Nostbakken concludes his analysis of Gisle's theological influence by stating "...the fact remains that Johnson has been the single most influential theologian in Norway's history. A wider knowledge of his works is deserved." == Political views ==