Thorkild Grosbøll (27 February 1948 – 10 May 2020) was a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

in the

Church of Denmark The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Denmark or National Church, sometimes called the Church of Denmark ( da, Folkekirken, literally: "The People's Church" or unofficially da, Den danske folkekirke, literally: "The Danish People's Church"; kl, ...

. In the early 2000s he received a lot of media attention in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

for publicly stating disbelief in an interventionist creator

God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...

. He died on 10 May 2020 after a short illness.

Early career

After various other services, Grosbøll became parish priest in

Taarbæk Taarbæk is a neighbourhood in Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality. The neighbourhood covers approximately 0.5 km2, located between Jægersborg Dyrehave and Øresund. The population is estimated to ca. 1700 residents. Traditionally, Taarbæk was a fi ...

June 1991.

Statement and controversy

In the spring of 2003, Thorkild Grosbøll published the book ''En Sten i Skoen'' (A Stone in the Shoe), resulting in very limited reactions, though he wrote in it that he does not believe in

. On 23 May 2003, the Danish newspaper ''

Weekendavisen ''Weekendavisen'' (meaning ''The Weekend Newspaper'' in English) is a Danish weekly broadsheet newspaper published on Fridays in Denmark. Its circulation (as of 2007) is approximately 60,000 copies, about ten per cent of which cover subscription ...

'' published an interview with Grosbøll, in which he repeated statements from his book, in particular that he does not believe in a creating or upholding God. After a public outcry, the bishop in Elsinore,

Lise-Lotte Rebel Lise-Lotte Rebel (born 23 January 1951) is a bishop of the Church of Denmark. Between 1995 and 2021, she served as the bishop of the Diocese of Helsingør in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark. She was the first woman to become a bishop i ...

, started talks with the priest on 3 June 2003 about his faith. Simultaneously, she relieved him of his duties as parish priest in Taarbæk as she believed Grosbøll had failed on four accounts: * neglected the

creed A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets. The ea ...

of the Church of Denmark * subverted the respectability of the service * ignored orders * created profound confusion about the Church of Denmark. On 23 July 2003, Thorkild Grosbøll was allowed to continue his service as a parish priest in Taarbæk, subject to special supervision by the bishop. On 3 June 2004, Grosbøll was instructed to resign no later than June 4, or he would be suspended. On 7 June 2004, the chairman of the elected parish council in Taarbæk, Lars Heilesen, informed the parish about the situation in the church in Taarbæk. On 10 June 2004, Rebel again relieved Thorkild Grosbøll of his duties. During all these events, the parish community in Taarbæk stood by Thorkild Grosbøll. There was an animated public debate, occasionally fuelled by statements from Grosbøll like: "God belongs in the past. He is actually so old fashioned that I am baffled by modern people believing in his existence. I am thoroughly fed up with empty words about

miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...

s and eternal life." At the same time he maintained that the bishop and the press misunderstood him, taking quotes from his

sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. El ...

s out of context. On 12 July 2004 the Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs transferred the case to an ecclesiastical court. The first stage of this process, a hearing of the involved parties, was concluded February 2005. On 11 May 2005, the ministry relieved bishop Rebel from her supervision of Thorkild Grosbøll, and transferred the supervision to the bishop in

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 51,916 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

Jan Lindhardt Jan Lindhardt (24 April 1938, in Copenhagen – 11 November 2014) was a Danish theologian and writer. He was the son of professor Dr Poul Georg Lindhardt and Gerda Winding, and the elder brother of the Rev Mogens Lindhardt. His nephew is actor T ...

. Thereby the ministry put the ecclesiastical court case on hold. On 20 May 2006 Grosbøll confirmed his priestly vows before Lindhardt in the presence of witnesses and by his signature, and was allowed to serve again as parish priest, but was instructed not to talk to the press. Thus the case was put to rest till autumn 2007, where it was decided that the supervision was to be transferred to the bishop in

Århus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

, Kjeld Holm, by 1 May 2008, when Lindhardt would retire. As announced shortly after this decision, Grosbøll retired early when he turned 60 in February 2008.

References

External links

Gyldendal encyclopedia entry

DCI.dk runthrough of the case
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grosboll, Thorkild 1948 births 2020 deaths Danish Lutheran clergy Religious naturalists People from Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality