II. Consiituium.— The first constitution of the Prot- taut Church of Denmark was drawn up by a com- littee, then revised by Luther and the other theologi- is of Wittenberg, and published, with some additions r the king, in 1537. The code of 1688 made the king le supreme head of the Church, with almost absolute owers. The king exercises ecclesiastical jurisdiction iroagh the bishops, all of whom are equal in rank, tiough the bishop of Zealand is considered primus tn- rrpares^ as he has the most extensive diocese and the rerogative of crowning the king. Every bishop has nder him several provosts, who have each the super- atendence of a district, which they visit once a year, ■liey are elected by the pastors of the district, and :on^rmed by the bishop. The pastors have the right 0 engage chaplains. A great change in the ecclesi- i<<tical constitution of Denmark took place in 1848, in »n9eqaence of the political revolution of that year. ?'ull religious liberty was granted to all denomina- ions, and the right of self-government was promised » the Established Church. The diets of Denmark iav« ever since been occupied with the discussion of nirious drafts of a new Church Constitution, but so p;at is the divergence of religious parties, that as yet ,1868) the reconstruction of tifie Church on the basis )f self-government has not been accomplished. The principle of religious liberty, in the mean while, has worked so beneficiaUy that the clergy and laitj' of all parties are almost unanimously in favor of maintain- ing it. When, hi 1866, the mmistry solicited the opin- ions of the diocesan synods concerning the abrogation of compulsory baptism, they generally advocated it.
U1 DENOMINATIONS, THE THREE
III. iror«ft»>.— The first liturgy (altar-book) of the Danish Church was elaborated in 1555 by bishc^ PaU ladius. By order of king Christian Y, a ritual, regu- lating the entire divine service, was issued in 1685, and soon after, in connection with a new edition of the altar-book, was prescribed for general use. Towards the close of the 18th century, a new liturgy, entirely pervaded by rationalistic views, was drawn up, but its introduction, notwithstanding the prevalence of Ra- tionalism among the clergy, was regarded as danger^ ous. Tet the ecclesiastical authorities connived at any deviation from the formularies which individual clergymen saw fit to make. A new draft of a liturgy was published in 1889 by bbhop Mynster, but gener- al uniformity in external worship has never Ween re» stored. A considerable party among the clergy is against the principle of binding the whole Church to one liturgy, and in favor of extensive liberties of indi- vidual congregations. In the duchy of Sleswick a ra- tionalistic liturgy was drawn up in 1797 by the super- intendent general Adler, and at first generally intro- duced, yet soon its use was left to the option of the congregations. In Uolstein, liturgies which strictly adhere to the Lutheran theology have always been, and are still in use.
IV. iStofwrtc*.— (1.) The Luthefan Church, or, as it is now (since 1849) officially called, the People*8 Church, has 9 bishops, viz. 4 for the islands, 4 for Jut* land, and 1 for Iceland. Ever}' bishopric is divided into a number of provostries. The numl)er of pro- vosts amounts to 160 for Denmark and 19 for Iceland. A theological faculty is connected with the University of Copenhagen. Among the periodicals, we mention the Danish Church Gazette, the organ of the (Low- Church) party of Grundtvig. A Danish missionary society was established at Copenhagen in 1821, and sustains a mission in India. (2.) Other denomina- tions. According to the census of Feb. 1, 1860, there were in that year in Denmark proper 12,907 souls not belonging to the state church in a total population of 1,608,095, viz. : Jews, 4214 ; Mormons, 2657 ; Baptists, 2270; Reformed, 1761; Roman Catholics, 1240; An- glicans, 114 ; 202 members of the Apostolical Church ; 162 of Uie Free Lutheran Church ; and the remainder, in small numbers, is divided among several other sects. The Baptists had in all Denmark in 1866, 16 churches and 1726 members. The Reformed Church has, ac- cording to an article of one of the Danish bishops in Herzog's Real-Encyldop. only 1600 souls (900 in Den- mark proper). The Methodist Episcopal Church has a flourishing mission in Copenhagen, under the charge of pastor Willerup, whose labors there (since 1868) have been very successfuL An elegant Methodist Episcopal Church has just been erected in that city, and has a large congregation ; in 1866 it had seventy- three members, and had appointments in four other towns ; the Methodist Sundbay-school had two hundred children, and the publication of a weekly Sunday- school paper had been commenced. Tlie Roman Cath- olics have two periodicals (the Scandinavian Church Gazette and a political paper) and an establishment of the Sisters of Charity at Copenhagen. There were in 1859 seven congregations of Lutheran seceders, with one periodical (Oersund). — Herzog, ReojUEncyklopa- die^ iii, 580 (art by the Danish bishop, Dr. Engelstoft). See Pontoppidan, Aimaies ecclesice Dan, d'plwn. (Co- penh. 1741) ; Munter, Kirchengeschichte von Ddnemark und Norwegen (Leips. 1823) ; Wiggers, Kirchliche ^ia- tistik, ii, 376 sq. ; Schem, Ecdes, Year-book for 1859, p. 1S2 and 211, and Ecclesiastical Almanac for 1868.
Denominations, The Three, the designation of an association of dissenting ministers residing in London, or the immediate neighborhood, belonging to the Presbyterian, Independent, and Baptist denomina- tions. It is usually known as 7%e General Body of PrcUstaiU Dis$enHng Ministers of London and Westmin-