e. Both conceptions were one-sided. If orthodoxy
had resulted in a lifeless formalism, Pietism soon lost its effectiveness
in a sentimental subjectivism. Its neglect of sound doctrine eventually
gave birth to Rationalism. But for the moment Pietism appeared to supply
what orthodoxy lacked: an urgent call to Christians to live what they
professed to believe.

A number of the early leaders of the movement in Denmark lived in the
neighborhood of Loegum Kloster, and were personally known to Brorson. But
whether or not any of these leaders was instrumental in his awakening is
now unknown. One of his contemporaries simply states that "Brorson at
this time sought to employ his solitude in a closer walk with God in
Christ and, in so doing, received a perfect assurance of the Lord's
faithfulness to those that trust in Him." Thus whatever influence
neighboring Pietists may have contributed to the great change in his
life, the change itself seems to have been brought about through his own
Jacob-like struggle with God. And it was a complete change. If he had
formerly been troubled by many things, he henceforth evinced but one
desire to know Christ and to be known by Him.

A first fruit of his awakening was an eager desire to enter the ministry.
He was offered a position as rector of a Latin school, but his
stepfather's death, just as he was considering the offer, caused him to
refuse the appointment and instead to apply for the pastorate at Randrup.
His application granted, he at once hastened back to the university to
finish his formerly uncompleted course and obtain his degree. Having
accomplished this in the fall of the same year, on April 6, 1722, he was
ordained to the ministry together with his brother, Broder Brorson, who
had resigned a position as rector of a Latin school to become pastor at
Mjolden, a parish adjoining Randrup. As his brother, Nicolaj Brorson,
shortly before had accepted the pastorate of another adjoining parish,
the three brothers thus enjoyed the unusual privilege of living and
working together in the same neighborhood.

The eight years that Brorson spent at Randrup where his father and
grandfather had worked before him were probably the happiest in his life.
The parish is located in a low, treeless plain bordering the North Sea.
Its climate, except for a few months of summer, is raw and blustery. In
stormy weather the sea frequently floods its lower fields, causing severe
losses in crops, stocks and ev