Søren Holm: Grundtvig und Kierkegaard. Parallelen und kontraste

Resumé

Søren Holm: Grundtvig and Kierkegaard. Parallel and Contrast. Copenhagen and Tübingen, 1956, 102 pages.

By Steen Johansen.

This book attempts to give a brief account of the resemblances and the differences between the views of Christianity and of life adopted by Søren Kierkegaard and N. F. S. Grundtvig. It is a vast and difficult subject, which really demands a complete mastery of the ideas and the writings of both the two great Danish religious reformers. One cannot maintain that the author possesses these qualities to a sufficient extent, and the book may therefore be best regarded as a brilliant introduction to the subject. The author seeks to show, among other things, that Grundtvig as a Christian was a genuine dualist. But this is only a half-truth. Grundtvig’s bright, “joyful” Christianity does not bear the stamp of true dualism. — Much that is true is said about Grundtvig’s community-Christianity and Kierkegaard’s personal Christianity, but one cannot expect to find any new conclusions here. The best written sections is the one on contrasts, where the picture is presented with more restraint than in the rest of the book.