Grundtvig and John Wesley – A Study of Convergence in Their Theologies

Abstract

John Wesley (1703-1791) and Nicolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig (1783-1872)were two very influential theologians, Wesley in eighteenth-century AnglicanEngland and Grundtvig in nineteenth-century Lutheran Denmark.1 They becamereformers of the Protestant concept of Christian thinking within their respectivecontexts of church and society. Wesley’s theological ideas and ecclesiasticalinitiatives have spread internationally, forming and influencing new churches,schools, hospitals, and universities in many countries. Grundtvig’s ideas haveinspired theological and pedagogical understanding not only in Denmark butalso, more broadly, in Scandinavia and internationally.