The Message of the Alien God and the Beginnings of Christianity
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53 of 53 people found the following review helpful
By Bu-Chan
Format:Paperback
I have heard from others that Jonas' book is less difficult to follow than Rudolph's book "Gnosis". I would agree with this assessment, in some ways. I found Jonas' book to be well organised and less "wordy" than that which Rudolph wrote.
While Jonas does not cover as wide a range of types of Gnosticism, he does enter into greater detail. He uses Valentinian and Manichaean Gnosticism as examples of different streams of Gnostic thought. The detail into which he goes with the different elements of these schools is excellent, and is quite easily understood. He also covers the imagery and symbolism of Gnostic religion, as well as some on Marcion, Simon Magus and other topics.
One drawback is the book's age, and it is a little dated. Here, Rudolph's book offers a more recent analysis with more of the Nag Hammadi Codices easily available than in Jonas' time. Despite this, Jonas still presents an excellent overview, and his book is rightly considered a classic in the field.
Overall, the book is worth the money and worth the effort to read. It provides a sound basis and introduction to Gnosticism that is not too loaded with incomprehensible words and rubbish.
If you know little to nothing about Gnosticism, start with Hans Jonas.
While Jonas does not cover as wide a range of types of Gnosticism, he does enter into greater detail. He uses Valentinian and Manichaean Gnosticism as examples of different streams of Gnostic thought. The detail into which he goes with the different elements of these schools is excellent, and is quite easily understood. He also covers the imagery and symbolism of Gnostic religion, as well as some on Marcion, Simon Magus and other topics.
One drawback is the book's age, and it is a little dated. Here, Rudolph's book offers a more recent analysis with more of the Nag Hammadi Codices easily available than in Jonas' time. Despite this, Jonas still presents an excellent overview, and his book is rightly considered a classic in the field.
Overall, the book is worth the money and worth the effort to read. It provides a sound basis and introduction to Gnosticism that is not too loaded with incomprehensible words and rubbish.
If you know little to nothing about Gnosticism, start with Hans Jonas.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By calmly
Format:Paperback
"...all investigations of detail over the last half century have proved divergent rather than convergent, and leave us with a portrait of Gnosticism in which the absence of a unifying character seems to be the salient feature" - Hans Jonas, Preface, 1958
No modern writer that I am aware of has brought life to Gnosticism as Jonas has. While in no way neglecting historical or theological issues, Jonas didn't get bogged down in them: he insisted on revealing the existential import of Gnosticism. Indeed, at the end of this book he explores the commonalities of ancient Gnosticism and Heidegger's existentialism. What does it mean to feel one is in a cosmos in which God is alien or absent?
Jonas provides a broad sweep of the conditions at the time Gnosticism developed at the beginning of the Christian era. His writing is that of a scholar but not targetted only to scholars: I find myself frequently excited by his insights. He writes: "... Gnosticism is actually a product of synceticsm [so ] each of these theories can be supported from the sources and none of them is satisfactory alone; but neither is the combination of all of them [supportable] which would make Gnosticism out to mere a mere mosaic of these elements and so miss its autonomous essence." Yet nearly fifty years later some scholars look for a single source for Gnosticism while many are unable to find a suitably bounded definition.
Jonas would not cage Gnosticism. Instead he asserts "The gnostic movement - such as we must call it - was a widespread phenomena in the critical centures indicated, feeding like Christianity on the impulses of a widely prevalent human situation, and therefore erupting in many places, many forms, and many languages."
Jonas discusses many Gnostic texts and themes in organized chunks that made reading them easy for me and I moved rapidly and enthusiastically through the book. Certainly I need to re-read it but after this first reading I launched into reading a number of other books on early Gnosticism as well as wondering how I can apply the insights of Gnosticsm to my life now. Few authors and books have had such an immediate impact on me.
No modern writer that I am aware of has brought life to Gnosticism as Jonas has. While in no way neglecting historical or theological issues, Jonas didn't get bogged down in them: he insisted on revealing the existential import of Gnosticism. Indeed, at the end of this book he explores the commonalities of ancient Gnosticism and Heidegger's existentialism. What does it mean to feel one is in a cosmos in which God is alien or absent?
Jonas provides a broad sweep of the conditions at the time Gnosticism developed at the beginning of the Christian era. His writing is that of a scholar but not targetted only to scholars: I find myself frequently excited by his insights. He writes: "... Gnosticism is actually a product of synceticsm [so ] each of these theories can be supported from the sources and none of them is satisfactory alone; but neither is the combination of all of them [supportable] which would make Gnosticism out to mere a mere mosaic of these elements and so miss its autonomous essence." Yet nearly fifty years later some scholars look for a single source for Gnosticism while many are unable to find a suitably bounded definition.
Jonas would not cage Gnosticism. Instead he asserts "The gnostic movement - such as we must call it - was a widespread phenomena in the critical centures indicated, feeding like Christianity on the impulses of a widely prevalent human situation, and therefore erupting in many places, many forms, and many languages."
Jonas discusses many Gnostic texts and themes in organized chunks that made reading them easy for me and I moved rapidly and enthusiastically through the book. Certainly I need to re-read it but after this first reading I launched into reading a number of other books on early Gnosticism as well as wondering how I can apply the insights of Gnosticsm to my life now. Few authors and books have had such an immediate impact on me.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Dustin Atlas
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Reading Jonas is always a pleasure; the way he divides and presents the field is still useful, despite the many discoveries that have occurred since book's publication.
Most useful for people with a philosophical background: while (excepting the final chapter) the book is in no way 'philosophy,' Jonas thinks like a philosopher; he brings Gnostic figures and myths into a kind of dialogue with philosophy (especially Stoicism).
Most useful for people with a philosophical background: while (excepting the final chapter) the book is in no way 'philosophy,' Jonas thinks like a philosopher; he brings Gnostic figures and myths into a kind of dialogue with philosophy (especially Stoicism).
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
High informative, a must have for any student of Gnosticism.
Highly informative and eloquently written. Though outdated by today's standards, Hans Jonas has written a wonderful and insightful study into Gnosticism's foundational teachings,... Read more
Published on June 18, 2010 by Taylor Holmes
4.0 out of 5 stars
Could've Should've Would've Been A Five Star Book If Only,..
It is an informative book, and is written in a fairly engaging manner. It has relatively few typos. It is, however, also rather bigoted at points. Read more
Published on February 28, 2007 by Morpheus
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hans Jonas redeemed himself
I admit that the book is hard to follow. Nevertheless, I must give it five stars only because of the last chapter Jonas added which showed the connection between existentialism... Read more
Published on January 3, 2005 by GangstaLawya
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disastrously narrow-minded
This is a text that, taken at face value, can destroy the understanding of the period it sets out to explore. A caution is not enough for this book. Read more
Published on August 6, 2003 by F. P. Barbieri
3.0 out of 5 stars
Turgid and scholastic
This book is not the most clear and straightforward introduction to gnosticism. It is turgid, and scholastic, and should be read while keeping in mind the skeptical cautionary... Read more
Published on April 19, 2003 by Michael Hoffman
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