Existing Before God: Soren Kierkegaard and the Human Venture

201 Pages·2017·3.336 MB·English

by  Paul R. Sponheim

EXISTING BEFORE GOD
Søren Kierkegaard and the
Human Venture
Paul R. Sponheim MAPPING
the
TRADITION
Existing Before God

Existing Before God
Søren Kierkegaard and the Human Venture
Paul R. Sponheim
Fortress Press
Minneapolis
EXISTING BEFORE GOD
Søren Kierkegaard and the Human Venture
Copyright © 2017 Fortress Press. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in
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prior written permission from the publisher. Email [email protected] or write to
Permissions, Fortress Press, PO Box 1209, Minneapolis, MN 55440-1209.
Cover image:Søren Kierkegaard, Oil on canvas. By Luplau Janssen; 1902.
Frederiksborg Museum.
Cover design: Alisha Lofgren
Print ISBN: 978-1-5064-0563-6
eBook ISBN: 978-1-5064-0564-3
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences — Permanence of Paper for Printed
Library Materials, ANSI Z329.48-1984.
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Contents
Mapping the TraditionSeries vii
Paul Rorem, series advisor
Abbreviations ix
Preface xi
Introduction: A Biographical Sketch xv
Part I.The Sickness unto Death: A Christian
Psychological Exposition for Upbuilding and
Awakening
by Anti-Climacus: Analysis and Commentary
Introduction 3
1. The Sickness unto Death Is Despair 13
2. Despair Is Sin 33
Part II.The Theological Reception and Legacy
3. The Theological Reception of Kierkegaard 77
4. The Theological Legacy of Kierkegaard for Our 133
Time
Bibliography 147
Index of Names 163

Mapping the Tradition Series
Paul Rorem, series advisor
Mapping the Tradition is a series of brief, compact guides to pivotal
thinkers in Christian history. Each volume in this series focuses upon
a particular figure and provides a concise but lucid introduction to
the central features of each thinker’s work and sketches the lasting
significance of that thinker for the history of Christian theology.
The series utilizes primary source works from each figure as an
entrypointforexpositionandexploration.Guidedbyleadingscholars
in history and theology, primary source texts are reproduced with
explanatory commentary and are accompanied by essays that orient
readerstothecontext,contours,andhistoricalandconceptuallegacy
of the corpus.
The series is designed for beginning and intermediate students, as
wellasinterestedgeneralreaders,whowillbenefitfromclear,helpful
surveys of thinkers, texts, and theologies from throughout Christian
history and from introductions to major issues and key historical and
intellectual points of development.
vii
EXISTING BEFORE GOD
Volumes in the series:
Gillian T. W. Ahlgren, Enkindling Love: The Legacy of Teresa of Avila and
John of the Cross
Paul Rorem,The Dionysian Mystical Tradition
Paul R. Sponheim, Existing Before God: Søren Kierkegaard and the Human
Venture
Forthcoming:
Khaled Anatolios,Irenaeus of Lyons: The Making of the Great Tradition
RomanusCessario,OP,andCajetanCuddy,OP,ThomasandtheThomists:
The Achievements of Thomas Aquinas and His Interpreters
Robert Kolb,Luther and Christian Freedom
Andrew Louth,John of Damascus: The Radiance of Orthodoxy
Terrence N. Tice,Schleiermacher: The Psychology of Christian Faith and Life
Thomas G. Weinandy and Daniel A. Keating, Athanasius: Trinitarian-
Incarnational Soteriology and Its Reception
viii
Abbreviations
BA The Book on Adler, trans. Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong.
CA The Concept of Anxiety, trans. Reidar Thomte.
CD Christian Discourses /The Crisis and a Crisis in the Life of an Actress, trans. Howard
V. Hong and Edna H. Hong.
CUP Concluding Unscientific Postscript to “Philosophical Fragments,”trans. Howard V.
Hong and Edna H. Hong.
E/O Either/Or, trans. Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong.
EUD Eighteen Upbuilding Discourses, trans. Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong.
FSE/ For Self-Examination / Judge for Yourself!, trans. Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong.
JFY
FT Fear and Trembling /Repetition, trans. Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong.
IKC International Kierkegaard Commentary, ed. Robert L. Perkins.
JP Søren Kierkegaard’s Journals and Papers, trans. Howard V. Hong and Edna H.
Hong.
KRSRR Kierkegaard Research: Sources, Reception and Resources, ed. Jon Stewart.
NRSV New Revised Standard Version.
PC Practice in Christianity, trans. Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong.
PF Philosophical Fragments /Johannes Climacus, trans. Howard V. Hong and Edna H.
Hong.
PV The Point of View, trans. Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong.
RSV Revised Standard Version.
SK Søren Kierkegaard.
ix