Folk and Folkdom in the Light of Religion by Theodor Grentrup (pre-order)

Paperback. 5.5x8.5, 224 pages.

Note: this is a PRE-ORDER. Targeted release is late March 2026.

All pre-orders will receive a free PDF copy after release.

Folk and Folkdom by Theodor Grentrup is a sober philosophical-theological inquiry into what a Folk is, what gives it moral and historical substance, and how Christianity stands in relation to it. Written amid the ideological turbulence of interwar Germany, the book rejects both liberal individualism, which dissolves communal life, and racial absolutism, which idolizes blood, instinct, or fate. Grentrup distinguishes between Folk as a living human community and Folkdom as its inner spiritual-cultural form, expressed through language, custom, morality, and shared conviction. Folkdom is real and significant, but never self-justifying; it must be ethically judged, disciplined, and oriented toward truth beyond itself.

Central to the argument is Grentrup’s rejection of any attempt to identify the divine with the Folk. Because Folk-life contains both good and evil and is subject to rise and decay, it cannot serve as its own highest measure. Only a transcendent God can ground enduring truth, justice, and meaning. Christianity, precisely because it comes from above through revelation rather than Folk instinct, can purify and elevate Folkdom without destroying it—grace does not abolish nature but orders and completes it. Throughout, Grentrup argues for a fruitful duality rather than fusion or conflict: Folk and Church each possess real but limited independence and, when rightly ordered, can cooperate for the moral, cultural, and spiritual health of a people.