Pedagogical transformations of “religion” into “culture” in Danish state mass schooling from the 1900s to the 1930s

Abstract

Particularly after the Danish political system changed to parliamentarism in 1901, a growing interest in, and expanded meaning of, culture as a pedagogical category developed in relation to state schooling, on the road to a comprehensive school system for “the whole population”. This article elaborates on the role played by theological scholars in particular in transforming “religion” into a pedagogised category of ‘culture’, hence addressing what were to become central welfare state challenges: creating social cohesion, and thus defusing class conflict while maintaining social difference. The article examines two liberal theologians involved in the educational question, namely Aage Bentzen (1894–1953), Old Testament scholar and proponent of so-called biblical criticism, and one of his liberal–theological predecessors, Edvard Lehmann (1862–1930), founding father of Comparative Religion Studies and liberal theology as a movement in Denmark. A manifold understanding of “culture” appeared in their work which aimed at civilising, creating belongingness and establishing a common but differentiated relation to labour. In this endeavour, and in addition to scientific ideas of the Bible and Christianity as “culture” and “history”, inspiration from – for instance – fascist and anarchist ideas on labour, state and society appear to fit well with inspiration from American pragmatism. The article argues that the theological pedagogisation of culture can be understood as a sacralisation of the state, aiming at governing the population through state schooling in a double sense: by creating cohesion while maintaining and producing social differentiation.