"Jeg saa strax, at her var en ikke almindelig Begavelse, men ogsaa et uimodstaaeligt Hang til Sophistik, til et Spidsfindighedens Spil, der ved all Leiligheder kom frem og ofte var trættende." Således husker Martensen den unge Kierkegaard, der på faderens regning havde hyret ham som sin private underviser. I sine yngre år var Martensen påvirket af Grundtvig, men blev med tiden helt opslugt af Hegels filosofi. Under kirkekampen ytrede Martensen sig kun en enkelt gang offentligt, men at angrebet har gjort et dybt indtryk, fremgår af hans selvbiografi fra 1883, hvor han betegner Kierkegaards angreb som en "Erfaring af den uhyggeligste Art".		"I recognized immediately that his was not an ordinary intellect, but that he also had an irresistible urge to sophistry, to hairsplitting games, which showed itself at every opportunity and was often tiresome." Thus remmebered Martensen the young Kierkegaard, who had hired him at his father's expense as his private tutor. In his younger years Martensen was influenced by Grundtvig, but as time passed became completely absorbed with Hegel's philosophy. During the attack on the church Martensen only once made a public statement, but that the attack had made a deep impression is clear in his autobiography from 1883, in which he refers to Kierkegaard's attack as an "experience of the most unpleasant sort."

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