Thorkild Grosbøll

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Thorkild Grosbøll (born February 27, 1948 in Støvring - † May 10, 2020 ) was a Danish pastor who became known for rejecting belief in a creator god, resurrection and eternal life. His standpoint was a “Christian atheism ” based on Rudolf Bultmann , Gianni Vattimo and Paul Tillich .

Life

Grosbøll was born into a pastor's family. After completing his theology studies in Copenhagen in 1975, Grosbøll was first a seaman's pastor, then a pastor at the Church of David in Copenhagen. From 1982 to 2008 he was pastor in Taarbæk in Lyngby-Taarbæk commune north of Copenhagen.

controversy

In the spring of 2003 Grosbøll published the book En Sten i Skoen (ie “A stone in the shoe”), in which he first wrote that he did not believe in God. However, the book received little attention. On May 23, 2003, an interview with Grosbøll appeared in Weekendavis (ie the weekend newspaper) in which he repeated his thesis that he did not believe in a creating and preserving God. The interview sparked a heated public debate in Denmark, which was further fueled by subsequent statements by Grosbøll, e.g. B. he explained in the weekly newspaper Ude og hjemme (24th calendar week , 2005): “God belongs to the past. Basically it is so out of date that it amazes me how modern people can even believe in its existence. I am really sick of all this empty talk about miracles and eternal life. ”Grosbøll also criticized the Danish national church , which does not allow everyone, including pastors, to behave freely and without fear of sanctions to the Christian tradition:“ If if you can't discuss completely openly and freely, then I don't think that modern people can still use Christianity for anything, and then you might as well close the shop. ”Christianity is historically important for our culture, but that's why be it unfortunate "when you lock the mental museum, so to speak, so that people cannot find out what we must not give up and what is otherwise no longer useful".

Grosbøll was given leave of absence on June 3, 2003 by Bishop Lise-Lotte Rebel because she accused Grosbøll, among other things, of disregarding the denomination of the Danish national church. He was reinstated in office on July 23, 2003, but under tightened supervision. On June 3, 2004 Grosbøll was informed that he should decide by the following day to resign from his pastor or to be suspended. The community stood behind Grosbøll. Thereupon he was given leave of absence on June 10, 2004 by Bishop Rebel with immediate effect. On July 12, 2004, the Danish Ministry of Churches decided to have the matter decided by a church court. However, this decision was effectively overridden by the fact that on May 11, 2005 the Ministry of Churches withdrew the Grosbøll case from Bishop Rebel and transferred it to the Bishop of Roskilde, Jan Holger Lindhardt . On May 20, 2005, Lindhardt ordered Grosbøll to be with him, and after Lindhardt had promised to stand by every sentence of the apostolic creed and confirmed his pastor's vow with a signature, he was reinstated in his office, but with the condition that to abstain from making any further statements to the press. Grosbøll retired when he reached his 60th birthday in 2008.

In 2008 Grosbøll published the book Ugudelige prædikener (ie “Godless Sermons”), which contains 25 sermons given between 2005 and 2008 which, according to Lars Sandbeck's newspaper review, are at the same time amusing, educated and in each case particularly well written. The word “God” almost never occurs, the reference to the underlying Bible text is sometimes small, but Christianity is seen as a liberating message. Grosbøll caused a stir in church circles one last time when he affirmed in an interview with Kristeligt Dagblad in 2018 that he was a “Christian atheist”.

literature

  • Grosbøll, Thorkild: En sten i skoen. Et essay on civilization and Kristendom. Anis-Verlag, Frederiksberg 2003. ISBN 87-7457-319-5 .
  • Stensgaard, Pernille: Præsten tror ikke på Gud. [D. H. “ Pastor does not believe in God ”]. Interview in Weekendavis 23. – 27. May 2003, p. 12.
  • Grosbøll, Thorkild: Til say. Prædikener. [D. H. " To the point. Sermons ”]. Anis-Verlag, Frederiksberg 2004. ISBN 87-7457-365-9 .
  • Brandt-Pedersen, Henrik; Hauge, Hans (ed.): Gud efter Grosbøll. [D. H. " God to Grosbøll "]. Anis-Verlag, Frederiksberg 2005. ISBN 87-7457-371-3 .
  • Grosbøll, Thorkild: Ugudelige prædikener. [D. H. “ Wicked Sermons ”]. Anis-Verlag, Frederiksberg 2008. ISBN 978-87-7457-488-0 .

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Nekrolog: Selvom Thorkild Grosbøll var præst, søgte han ikke efter guddom - han var optaget af menneskeligheden. Announcement on information.dk, May 13, 2020. Accessed May 13, 2020 (Danish).
  2. ↑ Thorkild Grosbøll at Den Store Danske, Gyldendals open encyclopedia
  3. ↑ dialogcentret.dk ( Memento from February 13, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
  4. ↑ Jens Aage Poulsen, Keld Skovmand, Ane Bonnesen Wex: Prøveoplæg til Kulturfagene . Gyldendal, Copenhagen 2009, ISBN 978-87-0206-5527 , pp. 138f.
  5. ^ Lars Sandbeck: Thorkild Grosbøll har bevaret vantroen. Politics, April 4, 2009
  6. ↑ Article on TV 2 (May 11, 2020): Tidligere sognepræst og ateist Thorkild Grosbøll er død - 72 år.
personal data
SURNAME Grosbøll, Thorkild
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Danish pastor and author
DATE OF BIRTH February 27, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH Støvring
DATE OF DEATH May 10, 2020