Adolph Peter Adler (29 August 1812 – 5 October 1869), was a Danish theologian, writer and a pastor in Hasle and

Rutsker Rutsker is a small settlement in Rutsker Parish on the Danish island of Bornholm. It is situated in the north western part of the island, 3 km northeast of Hasle. The populated area lies immediately south of Ruth's Church. As of 2009, Rutske ...

, on the island of

Bornholm Bornholm () is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland. Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. It has usually been ruled by ...

, Denmark.

Early life

Adler was born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

on 29 August 1812, to well-to-do Danish merchant and wholesaler Niels Adler (1785–1871). When Adler was 8, he went to Copenhagen's most prestigious private school, Borgerdydskolen (School of Civic Virtue), whose headmaster was the legendary Michael Nielsen (1776–1846).

Frederik Ludvig Liebenberg Frederik Ludvig Liebenberg (August 16, 1810 – 23 January 1894), was a Denmark, Danish literary historian, translator, critic and publisher.Kierkegaard were in the same class together from 1823 to 1827 often addressing each other with the informal "du" form, implying a close and informal friendship. He began his studies at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

in 1831 and a year later begin work on his major, theology. After 4 years of studying he became a theological candidate in 1836. Adler writes in the dissertation: ''from the moment that the creature stepped forth out of the unity with the Creator, subjectivity also stepped forth out of unity with objectivity.'' He left Copenhagen in 1837 to travel abroad for a year and a half. Upon his return he became inspired by Hans Lassen Martensen's (1808–84) lectures on

Hegelianism Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends ...

, along with many of his fellow University of Copenhagen, theological students.

Career

Adler became an avid and prominent representative of the young Danish Hegelians and took a pastorate in 1841. He claimed to have had a "vision of light" in 1842, which turned him against

. In this vision Jesus commanded him to burn his former books and stated that he would dictate to him a new work. This book was entitled Several Sermons (Nogle Prædikener), and was published in 1843. He wrote later in his "preface" to a collection of sermons published in 1843, that he realized ''as if in a flash that everything depended not upon thought but upon spirit, and that an evil spirit existed.'' and he continued:

That same night a hideous sound descended into our room. then the Savior commanded me to get up and go in and write down these words: ''The first human beings could have had an eternal life, because when thought joins God's spirit with the body, then life is eternal; when the human being joins God's spirit with the body, then the human being is God's child; Adam would thus have been God's son. But they sinned. Thought immersed itself in itself without the world, without the body. It separated the spirit from the body, the spirit from the world. And when the human being himself, when thought itself separates the spirit from the body and the spirit from the world, the human being must die and the world and the body must become evil. And what becomes of the spirit? The spirit leaves the body. But God does not take it back. And it becomes his enemy. And where does it go? Back into the world. Why? It is angry with the world, which abandoned it. It is the evil spirit. And the world itself created the evil spirit. Then Jesus commanded me to burn my own works and in the future to keep to the Bible.''

Bishop

Jacob Peter Mynster Jacob Peter Mynster (8 November 1775 – 30 January 1854) was a Danish theologian and clergy member of the Church of Denmark. He served as Bishop of the Diocese of Zealand from 1834 until his death. Mynster was notably used as an exemplar of ...

suspended him in 1844. Adler was then deposed in 1845. He later conceded that his revelation was a mistake, that "revelation was perhaps too strong an expression". To make matters much worse, Adler later published other works, and declared that his former "revelation" was instead a work of genius. Moreover, Kierkegaard met with Adler, who, in reading his own works to Kierkegaard, would alternate between a regular speaking voice and a shrill "whistling" voice, as if the latter were to convey weightier and more spiritual truths. It was clear that the man was deranged. But beyond the mere fact of his delusions, Kierkegaard was impressed by the issues that the case of Adler raised, being particularly interested in Adler's confusion over the categories of

genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabilit ...

and inspiration. Kierkegaard's interest in Adler led him to write ''

The Book on Adler ''The Book on Adler'' (subtitle: ''The Religious Confusion of the Present Age, Illustrated by Magister Adler as a Phenomenon, A Mimical Monograph'') is a work by the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, written during his second authorship, a ...

'', which was published posthumously in 1872.

Notes

Sources

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adler, Adolph Peter 1812 births 1869 deaths Danish male writers Danish Lutheran clergy