Danish But Not Lutheran: The Impact of Mormonism on Danish Cultural Identity, 1850–1920 by Julie K. Allen (review)

Reviewed by: Danish But Not Lutheran: The Impact of Mormonism on Danish Cultural Identity, 1850–1920 by Julie K. Allen Mark Granquist Danish But Not Lutheran: The Impact of Mormonism on Danish Cultural Identity, 1850–1920. By Julie K. Allen. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2017. 292 pp. + xiii. Thinking of Denmark, one naturally considers the Lutheranism that dominated that nation's identity for over 400 years. Indeed, a leading nineteenth-century theologian, N.F.S. Grundtvig, built his theological understanding around the union of Lutheran Christianity and Danish national culture and identity, a social-religious folk Christianity. Although his contemporary Søren Kierkegaard sharply dissented from this view, the identity of Denmark was deeply influenced by Lutheranism, and for centuries, until 1849, Lutheranism was the only religion allowed. Thinking of Denmark, one does not naturally think of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints (LDS), more commonly, the Mormons. But Mormons have been part of Danish religious life [End Page 244] since the mid-nineteenth century. Some 23,000 Danes converted to Mormonism and 14,000 of these immigrated to Utah, making Den-mark, per capita, the largest source of European Mormons. Though this book sheds light on these Danish Mormons, both in Denmark and in Utah, that narrative is not the central point. Rather, this volume concentrates on the effects that Danish Mormonism had on Denmark's religious and social culture in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The presence of Mormons in Denmark had a profound effect on the debate over religious pluralism, and the nature of what it meant to be Danish. Although other Christian groups arose in Denmark after the 1849 act that allowed Christian religious pluralism, it was the Mormons who became the focal point of a spirited debate, most likely because of the differences between them and state church Lutheranism, and because the sheer numbers of converts to Mormonism shocked and agitated religious leaders and popular opinion. The first chapter narrates the movements that led in 1849 to the end of the official state monopoly on religious life, which had required that all Danes (with few exceptions) be members of the Lutheran Church of Denmark; this allowed limited religious pluralism. This was part of a series of sweeping changes, including a democratic constitution in 1848. Religious reformers, such as Grundtvig, argued that making the Church of Denmark voluntary would actually strengthen that church as a folkekirken, or church of the people. But arguments for reform were severely tested just the next year, 1850, when Mormon missionaries entered Denmark, and began to make a sizeable number of converts. Strong opposition and occasional violence met these missionaries. Chapter two examines the reactions of the cultural and religious elites, especially the brothers Søren and Peter Christian Kierkegaard, to the Mormons. Peter Christian Kierkegaard, much better known at the time than his brother, had first-hand experience debating with the new missionaries, and wrote extensively against them. Like his mentor Grundtvig, he had great faith in the concept of a Danish folkekirken, and the essential Lutheran-ness of the Danish soul. His brother, Søren, now famous for his searing critique of the idea of a cultural Christianity, did not address the Mormons directly, but his [End Page 245] individualistic understanding of faith presaged the religious pluralism that arose in Denmark in the twentieth century. The third chapter surveys the response of Danish mass media to Mormonism; first in print and later in early motion pictures, these responses were almost uniformly negative. While some more traditional writers attacked the Mormons theologically, many later writers were more concerned with social and national issues. These later writers sounded often sensationalistic warnings about gullible people taken in by the Mormons, or about the dangers of polygamy and immigration to Utah. Danish national life was buffeted by disasters, including the loss of Norway, later defeats by German states leading to the loss of Schleswig-Holstein, and losses by emigration. The attacks on the Mormons were in part a response to the feelings of national loss. The last chapter examines those Danes who joined the LDS, using their written narratives. The price of their conversions was...