H.C. Andersens livssyn og kristendomsforståelse

Abstract

This article is not a complete assessment of Kaj Mogensen’s
voluminous doctoral dissertation. Instead, it focuses on two elements
in Hans Christian Andersen’s understanding of life and conception of
Christianity: 1) God as loving providence, and 2) the importance of the
freedom, endeavours and formation of the human being. It is argued
that there is a range of difficulties in the first element – both in Hans
Christian Andersen’s thinking and in Kaj Mogensen’s own corresponding
approach – that are not sufficiently discussed in the dissertation. It
is also argued that Mogensen to some degree underestimates the second
element in Andersen’s novels, poems and fairy-tales.