THE HISTORY OF THE LITURGY IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH IN DENMARK.

ALMOST immediately after the ushering in of the great Reformation in Germany in 1517, the revived apostolic doctrines found their way into Denmark and were preached with intense enthusiasm, especially by several men, who had sat at the feet of Luther and Melanchthon in Wittenberg. And it is one of the marvels of history that in less than twenty years, 1536, the Roman Catholic ecclesiastical establishment had been abolished and the Evangelical Lutheran order had risen in its place. This wonderful revolution was not the result of the labors of any one great leader, but was a spontaneous movement throughout the whole country, reaching all classes of people. And the leading feature was the historical characteristic of Protestantism—the earnest preaching of the Gospel, which had for ages been obscured and kept in the background by the blinding and misleading errors and ceremonies of the papacy.

In some of the cities well arranged orders of public worship were used, but in the smaller communities and in the rural districts the ministers conducted the services according to their own judgment, but in harmony with the fundamental teachings of the Word of God. When a minister was appointed to the charge of a parish, he was enjoined "to teach and preach to the people of the parish God's pure, clear Word and Gospel, which he can prove by Holy Scripture, and to teach them their souls' salvation, as he will answer before God and be known before the king. He shall conduct divine service for them in Danish, if they require it, without any human additions or ungodly ceremonies,

and give them the Holy Sacrament, the Body and Blood of the Lord, in both kinds, as Christ Himself instituted and commanded it; and he shall lead a good, honest life, and give his people a good example. And, if he have not the grace of continence, then he shall take unto himself a worthy woman to wife, and live with her in good, honorable, Christian wedlock, and not have a concubine (as the custom had been), nor any other person with him, of whom any may have suspicion."

The people were happy in the possession of an excellent Danish translation of the New Testament, made by Christian Pederson in 1529, which superseded those previously published. It ranked with the Danes as Luther's did with the Germans. A collection of hymns was also composed by Claus Mortensen in Danish. An intense religious fervor characterized the services. and was long maintained, as we learn from a letter addressed by Bugenhagen to his Elector on his return from Denmark to Wittenberg in 1539. He used the following strong language: "The Gospel is preached purely and powerfully in Denmark. May God grant progress as He has begun. I have been nowhere where the people so gladly and so diligently hear preaching as in Denmark, even on week days, in winter, and before daylight, throughout the whole day at the Festivals; and they pray diligently."

But, in 1536, it was felt by the clergy and the pious king, Christian III, that an authorized and uniform Church law, governing the whole sphere of the ministerial and pastoral activity, ought to be prepared and promulgated. And, with this object in view, the king requested the Elector of Saxony to send John Bugenhagen to Denmark to aid in the great work of reorganiza

tion. But the answer was given that he could not be spared at that time; and he did not arrive until the summer of 1537.

In the meanwhile the new Church law was drawn up by a committee of 29 ministers and theologians, among whom were Peder Laurensen, Frants Vormordsen, Oluf Chrysostomus (Gyldenmund), Hans Tausen, Joergen Jensen Sadolin, and members of the Cathedral Chapters, and prominent ministers from Sleswig, as Herman Tast, Gert Slewert and John Vandal. When this document, which is known in history as the Ordinance of Christian III, was completed, the king amended it and then sent it, as he expressed himself in his later letter of confirmation, to "worthy Father Doctor Martin Luther, by whom God in His mercy and kindness, in these last times, has again sent Christ's holy and pure Gospel; thus he, with several other men highly learned in Scripture, in Wittenberg, examined the same Ordi

nance and adjudged it to be good and right." And, when Bugenhagen arrived in Denmark, he still further revised it, after which, in the same year, it was published in Latin, but did not, in the fullest sense, become the law of the Church until 1539, when it was translated into Danish by Peder Palladius and duly adopted by the Diet in Odense, June 14, 1539.

This Ordinance, directing how the Church service shall be held in the kingdom of Denmark and the Duchies of Sleswig and Holsten, thus became the established law of the Danish Lutheran Church. The Diet did not change it, but advised prudence and gentleness in introducing it. This Ordinance is very comprehensive. It confirms the true doctrines of the Church; gives suggestions for their presentation in the sermons; designates the festival days and their proper pericopes; the mode of procedure in calling Pastors, Provosts and Bishops and defines their duties and rights; sets forth the proper church usages; gives rules for the religious instruction of the children, the management of the church property, the care of the poor, and provision for the education of men for the ministry.

And, in order to carry out the provisions of the Ordinance under proper supervision, the king appointed the first Bishops, seven in number, who were ordained to their high office by Bugenhagen, September 2, 1537. The ceremony took place in Copenhagen in Frue Kirke, which is still standing. The names of the Bishops are: Peder Palladius, Frants Vormordsen, Joergen Jensen Sadolin, Jakob Skoenning, Peder Thomesen, Mads Lang, and John Vandal, the last named being a German appointed to the diocese of Ribe. The ministers desired the appointment of an archbishop, but such was not made; yet the bishop of Zealand has always practically occupied that position, being regarded as primus inter pares.

In regard to the order of public service, the Ordinance, like the older German Kirchen Ordnungen, confined itself to the general outlines of the evangelical service, and, as a rule, did not give the full formulas, which had long been in use, but with the opening words indicated what the minister should say. But this did not imply the minister's liberty to fill out the formulas according to his own judgment; for when such was contemplated it was specifically so stated. These formulas were, however, given in full in later "law books" of the church. The Ordinance remained in force until 1640. But it became necessary to prepare books giving more specific directions for the conduct of public service, and these took their place by the side of the Ordinance. And the first of these "Hand Books," or "Altar Books," as they were called, and the only ones now extant, are