wherethereisdangerandopposition.Idonotwant(a`laMartensen,Hei-
berg, et cetera) to live in cowardly and prissy fashion at an aristocratic re-
move, in selectcircles protected by anillusion (that the massesseldom see
themandthereforeimaginethemtobeSomebody).”
Kierkegaard chose as his exemplars Socrates and Christ, both of whom
withdrewfromestablishedinstitutionsandtooktothestreets.Socrateshad
hisSophiststobattleagainst,ChristtookaimatthePharisees—andKierke-
gaardthushadMartensenandHeiberg,inwhomequalportionsofsophism
and pharisaism had fused into a fussy refinement. It cannot be denied that
a certain self-assertion gradually crept into this gesture, with Kierkegaard
emphasizingtheunselfishnessofhisperipateticpraxis,hiswanderingactiv-
ism, but he did remain true to his principle, right up to the end: “Quite
literallytomakeordinarydailylifeintoone’sstage,togooutandteachin
thestreets.”
Andthiswasexactlywhatconstitutedhisaristocraticradicalism.
“I Think Grundtvig Is Nonsense”
Attheageofthirty-sevenPeterChristianhadbeenappointedparishpastor
for Pedersborg and Kindertofte, near Sorø in south-central Zealand. Two
monthslater,onNovember11,1842,hewasordainedbyBishopMynster
intheChurchofOurLady.Soatlastthisdoctoroftheology—whowasso
brilliantly gifted but, from the bishop’s point of view, so difficult to deal
with—hadbeenplacedatanappropriateremovefromCopenhagencircles.
ButscarcelyhadPeterChristian,Henriette,andlittlePoulgotthemselves
more or less installed in their new surroundings when the government is-
sueda“ProclamationConcerningtheBaptistSectinDenmark,”datedDe-
cember 27, 1842, by which the pastors of the State Church were obliged
toperform compulsorybaptismsof thechildrenofBaptist parents.Forced
baptismofthissortwastotallyincompatiblewithPeterChristian’stheologi-
calprinciples,soshortlythereafter,whenafarmownercametohimbearing
aten-month-old childofBaptistparents anddemandedthatit bebaptised
in accordance with the proclamation, Peter Christian was compelled to
refusetocarryoutthedutiesofhisoffice.Inthishewasincompleteagree-
ment with Grundtvig, who had published a little pamphlet entitledOn
Religious Persecutionin which he dissociated himself in the strongest terms
from any governmental interference in religious matters. For Grundtvig it
was indisputable that “the State Church prostitutes its baptism by foisting
it upon the Baptists, giving them express permission to wash it off when
theyplease.”ThusPeterChristianhadtostandbyhisrefusalinorderthat