fewerthansixhundredsouls.MichaelKierkegaardwaschargedwithalead-
ing role in accomplishing this task, and in so doing he was able to erect a
quite tangible memorial to his lifelong relationship with Moravianism.
Reading a sermon on the passion of Christ delivered by curate Peter
Saxtorp gives us an impression of the atmosphere in that simply furnished
meeting hall where opponents of the period’s dominant theological ratio-
nalism met with other like-minded believers in order to worship God in
passionateearnestness.Saxtorp,whohadbeenMichaelKierkegaard’spastor
until 1795, was closely connected to the Moravian Congregation, and his
sermon’s preoccupation withJesus’ blood and wounds was moreor less the
epitome of Moravianism: “They spat in Christ’s face, o, a frightful insult!
We wretched earthworms view it as a great injury and as ill-treatment if
someone merely spitsatus. And here they are not merely spitting at Jesus
or on His clothing, but they spat right in His face. O, how great this insult
was! How pitiable the blessed face of Jesus looked! Especially since His
hands were bound, and He could not wipe off this uncleanness. Truly, we
have here an astonishing sight: God’s own Son, Who is the splendor of His
Father’s glory and the express image of His being, standing with His face
fullofspit,thatfacewhichindaysofyorehadshonelikethesunonMount
Tabor.”SomberimagesofthissortfromtheMoravianCongregationseized
hold of the sensitive child’s imagination quite early and set their stamp on
his view of life.
In summertime the great miracle took place: The children were sent up
north for a vacation at the home of Mads Røyen, where they stayed at
“Peter’s Castle” and played fro m morning till night. On July 26, 1829, the
father wrote to his eldest son: “As usual, Søren is spending his summers in
Frederiksborg.” Many years later, in July 1838, Søren Kierkegaard would
again standbeside that substantial house,with the forest inthe background,
suddenly recalling how he had run to and fro, clad in a green jacket and
gray trousers—and now he could no longer catch up with that carefree
child. He continued: “Viewing one’s childhood is like viewing a beautiful
landscape when one is driven through it facing backwards: One only be-
comes truly aware of the beauty of it at the moment, the very instant, that
it begins to disappear.”Warping
When, as a grown man, Kierkegaard looked back upon little Søren Aabye
in order to understand himself and the course of his life, the factual story
and the concrete circumstances rarely interested him. Rather, the dramatic12 {1813–1834}