In the practical application of these educational theories, Grundtvig
took no active part. Aside from his conception of the idea and the
development of much of the material used in the folk-school, his greatest
contributions to their work are probably, his innumerable Biblical,
historical and folk songs that were and are used in the schools.

Meanwhile he by no means neglected his religious work. Rationalism had
been defeated, a sound Evangelical movement was fast revitalizing the
church, and he could therefore concentrate his energy on a further
development of the view that had come to him during his years of
struggle. Among innumerable other works, he produced during his later
years the splendid _Enlightenment of the Church_, published 1840-1844;
_Teachings of Our Christian Childhood_, published 1855-1862; _The Seven
Stars of the Churches_, published 1854-1855; and _The Church Mirror_, a
series of lectures on the main currents of church history, published
1861-1863.

Although Grundtvig's views, and especially his distinction between the
"living" and the "written" word, were strongly opposed by many, his
profoundly spiritual conception of the church, as the body of Christ, and
of the sacraments, as its true means of life, has greatly influenced all
branches of the Danish church. In emphasizing the true indwelling of
Christ in the creed and sacraments, he visualized the real presence of
Him in the church and underscored the vital center of congregational
worship with a realism that no theological dissertation can ever convey.
Nor did he feel that in so doing he was in any sense diverging from true
Lutheranism. The fact that Luther himself chose the creed and the words
of institution of the sacrament as a basis for his catechism, showed, he
contended, that the great Reformer also had recognized their distinction.

Despite frequent charges to the contrary, Grundtvig had no desire to
engender a separatist movement in the church. He constantly warned his
followers against any such tendency. In a closing speech to the Meeting
of Friends in 1863, he said, "You can no more forbid the world to call
you Grundtvigians than those whom Luther called to the Lord could forbid
anyone to call them Lutherans, but do not yourself adopt that name. For
history shows that some have let themselves be called Lutherans until
they have almost lost the name of Christians. If anyone wishes to name us
after any other than Christ, we ought to te