Brand gets his new church built (in the 1860s, many old Norwegian churches were being rebuilt as new, larger places of worship). Brand comes to believe that his new church is still too small, and rebels against the authorities, the local dean and the bailiff. The provost talks about getting people to heaven "by the parish", and denounces individual thinking. The provost's speech should be examined in detail, also because he has a vision of the masses "marching with equal steps" towards salvation, and stressing that egality matters more to the church than freedom. This speech has been interpreted as holding a fascist undertone. In fact, the provost mentions that the ideal of a religious leader is "a corporal" that shall hold the masses in line. Rendered in Norwegian, the word "fører-ideal" is used in this passage (rhyming on corporal), something that to Norwegian (and German) ears easily could be interpreted as a foreshadowing of Hitler ("fører" = "führer"). Brand's answers to this are mostly sarcastic. The provost ends his speech mentioning the "erasing of God in the soul of man", something of which he seems to approve. Brand, of course, wants the opposite: individual freedom and a clear picture of God in man's soul.