Forestillinger om en ny religion. Utopiske gudsidealerhos J.P. Jacobsen og R.M. Rilke

Abstract

In this article, positions on religion in the works of J.P. Jacobsen and one of his most prominent readers, R.M. Rilke are discussed. At the centre are similarities and differences in their dealing with such questions as: the relevance and possibilities for development of religion in secularized modernity, the relation between atheism and modernity, and between dogmatic belief and spirituality. The main focus is on instances in both author's works where traditional or dogmatic religion is dismissed, and, at the same time, a future religion of a new kind is welcomed in utopian, sometimes even visionary, terms.