The courage to be: the impact of Lebensphilosophie on Danish RE

The article deals with the impact of Lebensphilosophie on Danish RE in the elementary and lower secondary school – an impact which is subjected to a critical analysis with special attention given to anti‐intellectualism, criticism of reason and criticism of modernity as well as the romantic view of the child. The thesis of this article is that there is reason to be critical of the use of Lebensphilosophie in RE. The Danish Lebensphilosophie is primarily based on the thinking of K.E. L?gstrup – a thinking where the concept of creation is central. This means that there will often be connotations of the theology of creation in Danish RE, which is problematic given that the subject, since 1975, must be non‐preaching. In order to shed light on Danish Lebensphilosophie, I will start with the pioneer of Danish Lebensphilosophie, the theologian N.F.S. Grundtvig, who influenced L?gstrup. The article introduces some of the central themes of L?gstrup’s thinking. Following this is an exploration of his educational thinking and its influence on RE. The last part of the article deals with the recontextualisation of Lebensphilosophie within RE.