RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Denio Denmark
books of the Old Testament with L. Haetzer (Worms, 1527) is still esteemed. His tracts are now extremely rare (cf. Mennonilische Blatter, xxx. 56). One is in the British Museum, Was geredt seyn, das (lie Schrifft sagt, Gott time und mache gilts und bases (1526). His principal works were reprinted in Geistliches Blumengdrtlein (Amsterdam, 1680); his Von der waliren Liehe was republished by the Mennonite publishing house, Elkhart, Ind.
Bibliography: L. Keller, Ein Apostel der Wiederttiufer, Leipsic, 1882 (best); cf. idem, Die Beformation und die alteren Reformparteien, ib. 1885; idem, J. von Staupitz und die Anfange der Reformation, ib. 1888. Consult also: G. E. Roehrich, La Vie . . de . Jean Denck, Strasburg, 1853; C. Beard, The Reformation of the 16th Cent, London, 1885; A. Baur, Zwinglis Theologie, ii. 175 sqq., Halle, 1889; H. Liidemann, Reformation und Taufertum, pp. 5.3 sqq., Bern, 1896; A. H. Newman, Hist, of Anti- Pedobaptism, pp. 163, 242 sqq., Philadelphia, 1897.
DENMARK: A kingdom of northwestern Europe. The country proper covers an area of 15,289 square miles, with a population (1906) of 2,588,919. The Danish colonies comprise Iceland (q.v.), part of Greenland, the Faroe islands, and the islands of St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. Jan in the Caribbean Sea. Since 1863 the Lutheran faith has been the established religion of Denmark, and the only one receiving the support of the State. The king must belong to this Church. Other denominations, however, are allowed full religious liberty, with no disabilities whatever. The census of 1901 shows the following distribution of the population according to creeds: Lutherans, 2,436,084; Roman Catholics, 5,373; Greek Catholics, 106; and Jews, 3,476. There are, besides, a small number each of Reformed, Protestant Episcopalians, Methodists, Catholic Apostolics (Irvingites), Baptists, and Mormons.
The ecclesiastical divisions of Denmark comprise seven stifter, or bishoprics, as follows: (1) Zealand, (2) Funen (with the neighboring islands of Aero, Langeland, etc.), (3) Laaland and Falster, (4) Aalborg, (5) Viborg, (6) Aarhus, and (7) Ribe. Iceland constitutes a separate stift. The bishops, like the rest of the clergy, are appointed by the king; and upon them it devolves to ordain ministers and to inspect churches and schools. Under the Ministry of Public Instruction and Ecclesiastical Affairs the bishops constitute the highest ecclesiastical authority, officiating in some cases independently, in other cases in association with the secular head of the stift (the stiftsamtmand, or governor). Each stift is divided into provstier {" provostries "), Zealand having 18, Funen
Ecclesias- 11, Laaland and Falster 4, Aalborg tical Divi- 10, Viborg 9, Aarhus 13, and Ribe 8: sion of total 73. Each provsti is superin-
Country. tended by a provost, who officiates as preacher also. He has to look after all ecclesiastical affairs within his precinct, and, together with the local amtmand and a member appointed by the School Commission, he supervises the parochial schools of his provostry (the eighteen secular divisions of Denmark are called amis — " counties " — each amt being governed by an amtmand). The amts within each stift are again ruled by a stiftsamtmand. Each provostry is divi-
ded into sognekald, the total number of which is about 1,070, each comprising one or two (rarely more) sogns, or parishes. Sognekalds of ordinary dimensions have each a minister who preaches alternately in the different parish churches. Large sognekalds, however, may have two officiating clergymen. The minister is also a school commissioner. The parish is thus the unit in the ecclesiastical organization of Denmark. By royal resolution of 1883 an ecclesiastical council was established, and the clergymen who are members of this body frequently assemble to discuss religious matters and questions pertaining to the affairs of the Church. The minister of each parish is, as already stated, a member of the school committee, and in this way the Church exercises a direct supervision over the parochial schools, of which there are nearly 3,000. The religious instruction given in the communal schools is based either upon Luther's smaller catechism or upon Balslev's version of the same.
The Danish clergy receive their education at the LTniversity of Copenhagen, which has a theological faculty consisting of five ordinary professors. The curriculum includes Old and New Tes- Education- tament exegesis, dogmatics, ethics, al Institu- and church history. There is also a tions. theological seminary, in which two resident clergymen lecture on homiletics and catechetics, while a member of the juridical faculty expounds canon law. The Icelandic clergymen are mostly educated at the theological seminary in Reikiavik, although many frequent the University of Copenhagen. Several stipends are awarded by the Danish State for the promotion of theological studies.
While it was originally compulsory upon a Danish resident to frequent the church in his own parish, and to pay tithes and feast-offerings to the local clergyman, important laws modifying these obligations were enacted on Apr. 4, 1855, and Mar. 25, 1872. By the former legislation every citizen was granted the right to identify himself with any church according to his own choice, being obliged only to notify the local provost of the desired change. He would thenceforth have to pay to the minister of his home parish only the stipulated levies on real estate, produce, etc., while the feast-offerings were to go to the clergyman of his choice. The law of 1872 extended this grant so that a citizen may now have his church ceremonies (baptisms, funerals, weddings) conducted by an outside clergyman in the church of his own parish, provided, of course, that the church is not occupied for other purposes.
A Danish Society for the Inner Mission was founded in 1853, and has exerted a highly meritorious influence among the lower Inner classes. Its activity received special Mission, impetus when Wilhelm Beck, minister of the parish of Oerslev on Zealand, became its head. Under his leadership the society was completely reorganized, and has since maintained a staff of about 120 missionaries, who conduct religious meetings especially for young men and women. The society has upward of 250
Denmark Dervish