The gnostic religion; the message of the alien God and the beginnings of Christianity.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jonas, Hans, 1903-1993.

Contributor:

Gotham Book Mart Collection (University of Pennsylvania)

The Library of Chaim Potok (University of Pennsylvania)

Series:

Beacon paperbacks ; L18.

Beacon paperback ; LR 18

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Gnosticism.

Penn Provenance:

Gotham Book Mart (former owner) (Gotham Book Mart Collection copy)

Potok, Adena (donor) (Potok Collection copy)

Potok, Chaim (autograph) (Potok Collection copy)

Physical Description:

355 pages ; 21 cm.

Edition:

Second edition, revised.

Place of Publication:

Boston : Beacon Press, [1963]

Summary:

Here is the full-scale study of the heretical world of Gnosticism--its literature, symbolic language and main tenets--based on actual Gnostic documents and written by an eminent authority in the field. The paperback edition of this classic contains an important new chapter entitled 'The Recent Discoveries in the Field of Gnosticism, ' and an epilogue on 'Gnosticism, Existentialism and Nihilism.'

Contents:

Introduction: East and West in Hellenism

Part I. Gnostic Literature-Main Tenets, Symbolic Language. The meaning of Gnosis and the extent of the Gnostic movement; Gnostic imagery and symbolic language

Part II. Gnostic Systems of Thought. Simon Magus; The "Hymn of the Pearl"; The angels that made the world. The gospel of Marcion; The Poimandres of Hermes Trismegistus; The Valentinian speculation; Creation, world history, and salvation according to Mani

Part III. Gnosticism and the Classical Mind. The cosmos in Greek and Gnostic evaluation; Virtue and the soul in Greek and Gnostic teaching

Supplements to Second Edition. The recent discoveries in the field of Gnosticis; Epilogue: Gnosticism, Nihilism and Existentialism.

Notes:

"Enlarged edition first published as a Beacon Paperback in 1963."

"This second edition of 'The Gnostic Religion' has been enlarged by two substantial additions: a new chapter (12) dealing with the great find at Nag Hamadi in Egypt ... and, for an epilogue to the historical subject as a hole, an essay relating Gnosticism to more recent and even to contemporary forms of spiritual life ... The text of the first edition of 'The Gnostic Religion' has been retained in its entirety, unchanged except for a few minor corrections."--Preface to the Second Edition.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 342-355).

Local Notes:

Potok Collection copy presented to the Penn Libraries by Adena Potok.

Potok Collection copy has autograph of "Herman Potok November 1964 New York City".

ISBN:

0807057991

9780807057995

OCLC:

385034