Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1943, Page 116

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LE NORD
about voluntarily. Further a Christian publishing firm, a Christian
newspaper, ana many other undertakings have been started on
the initiative of the Home Mission. Finally it should also be men-
tioned that Danish mission in foreign countries is chiefly main-
tained by the Home Mission circles. Its missionaries have done
great work in China, India, Africa, Arabia, etc. Grundtvig with
his national attitude was not much interested in foreign missions,
and the same holds good of his successors.
Close to the Home Mission in their view of Christianity are
the KFUM (T. M. C. A.5) and the KFUK (£Y. W. C. A.5), which
in Denmark play a great role, especially after the time of Olfert
Ricard. Ricard about the turn of the century was a rector in
Copenhagen and leader of the Y. M. C. A. His Christo-centric
preaching greatly influenced the youth of the time, and his words
were heard far beyond the boundaries of the country.
There are many Danish Christians who do not feel at home
in Grundtvigianism or the Home Mission. Some of these
have united in the Kirkeligt Centrum (‘Ecclesiastical Centre’),
an association which emphasizes the richness of the ecclesiastical
legacy and wants to maintain the unity without the onesidedness
of the two chief trends. As their father the members of
the Centre consider /. P. Mynster, bishop of Copenhagen about
the middle of the 19th century, and known especially as Grundt-
vig’s implacable opponent. As an organization the Ecclesiastical
Centre has not been of much importance and only comprises a
minority of the large number of those whose Christianity is not
characterized by any particular trend.
Among those whose Christian faith cannot be particularly
labelled, Soren Kierkegaard in the last century held a special
position. He died in 1855, only 42 years old. In spite of his short
life he produced an enormous bulk of works, in which he discussed
both aesthetical, moral, and religious problems. His philosophical
thinking was so profound that it has only in part been turned to
account so far. On modern theology and philosophy Kierke-
gaard’s ideas seem to have a greater and greater influence, and
his works are translated to foreign languages to an ever increasing
extent. It was principally through his demand for the personal
decision of the individual that Kierkegaard became of importance
for Christian life and thinking in Denmark. In whipping polemics
he turned against the official preaching of the Church, which
in his opinion falsified Christianity and made it too easy for