"By the publication of this book," he writes, "Prof. Clausen has put
himself forward as a leader among the enemies of the church and the
perverters of God's word in this country. A church, such as he advocates,
that has no determinable form, exists only in the brains of the
theologians, and must be construed from theological speculations on the
basis of a discredited Bible and according to the changing thoughts and
opinions of man, is plainly nothing but a fantastic dream, a comic if it
were not so tragic conception of a Christian congregation which claims to
confess the same faith, but knows not what it is, and holds that it is
instituted by God, but cannot tell for what purpose before the
theologians have found it out.

"Against such a church, I place the historical church, that is the church
of the Gospel, instituted by Christ Himself, created by His word and
vivified by His Spirit. For I contend that the Christian church now as
always consists of that body of believers who truly accept the faith of
their baptismal covenant, Holy Baptism and the Lord's Supper as the faith
and means of salvation."

_The Reply of the Church_ caused a sensation. It was read and discussed
everywhere. But if Grundtvig had hoped to force a general discussion of
the plight of the church, he was disappointed. Prof. Clausen answered him
with a lawsuit "for malicious injury to his professional honor"; his
enemies all condemned him, and his friends were silent. If they approved
of the substance of his charges, they disapproved of their form.
Grundtvig appeared to have thrown away the last remnant of his already
tattered reputation, and only the years would reveal that in doing so he
had struck a deadlier blow against Rationalism than he had expected, that
he had, in fact, for years to come made Rationalism impossible in Denmark
as a form of Christianity.

Meanwhile the Danish church was preparing to celebrate its thousandth
anniversary in May, 1826. Grundtvig looked forward to the event with
almost child-like anticipation, hoping that the celebration might serve
to awaken a new appreciation of the old church. To heighten the
festivities the authorities had authorized pastors to select the hymns
for the services in their own churches, and Grundtvig had written and
published a pamphlet of hymns to be used in his church. But shortly
before the festival, his bishop informed him that only hymns from the
authorized hymnal could be chosen. As no