Curtis L. Thompson

Existing Before God

Philosophy

“Drawing on nearly seven decades of encountering Kierkegaard and his writings, Paul Sponheim here makes a major contribution to Kierkegaard scholarship by introducing this one whose works are at once broad-ranging and profound. Wisdom comes to us both from the one who was addressing the “single individual” from Copenhagen in Denmark’s Golden Age mid-19th century as well as from the one who is interpreting him for our time by making connections to contemporary figures and concerns. Readers are invited to appreciate the Danish genius as a theological thinker. Focusing especially on The Sickness unto Death, our reflection is directed to the human creature, who, though separated from God by an infinite qualitative difference, is able through faith to come to rest transparently in the divine Power. Sponheim’s book will serve for many as an inspiring portal into further engagement with this passionate writer who delved so deeply into human existence.”

Learning on Life’s Way

“Paul Sponheim here gives us a beautiful gift: a judicious testimony to a life whose existential searching has led to profound insights into a God whose love brings intimate entanglement in the proceedings of the world. With unguarded honesty and expansive humanity, he provides an impelling story of a human being whose world-affirming life of faith has empowered an open reception of actuality's fullness and a creative enactment of possibility's riches.”