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 Anglican
England and Grundtvig in nineteenth-century Lutheran Denmark.1 They became
reformers of the Protestant concept of Christian thinking within their respective
contexts of church and society. Wesley’s theological ideas and ecclesiastical
initiatives have spread internationally, forming and influencing new churches,
schools, hospitals, and universities in many countries. Grundtvig’s ideas have
inspired theological and pedagogical understanding not only in Denmark but
also, more broadly, in Scandinavia and internationally.