GNILKA, Chr.,
Aetas Spiritalis. Die Überwindung der natürlichen Altersstufen als Ideal frühchristlichen Lebens.
Peter Hanstein Verlag, Bonn, 1972. 271p. Original off white cloth. Upper edge publisher's stained. With author's intention on free endpaper. 'The centre of this book is the idea of the 'puer senex' and its starting point the brief, but important, pages of E.R. Curtius in his 'Europäische Literatur und lateinisches Mittelalter' (...). Gnilka first isolates the essence of the idea which is the theme of his book: it is, as the title suggests, the transcendence of the natural phases of human growth, maturity, and decline as a moral, intellectual, and spiritual ideal. This he then examines in the Hellenistic age, in Philo, and in Christian authors. All along it is set in a significant context and not treated merely as a literary 'topos': above all, it is related to Stoic and Epicurean teaching about the indifference of a life's duration and the transcendence of time, which in its turn profoundly influences Philo. It is also widespread in a less philosophical form as a topic of consolation. Gnilka then goes on to show how it takes root and ramifies in early Christianity in biblical exegesis, ascetism, eschatology, etc. and also how it is connected with practical problems of the Church (...). This is a book which has assembled and carefully sifted a great quantity of material, and in view of its wide historical sweep it should command the attention of theologians and Church historians. Its acute and thorough reconsideration of Curtius' thesis also make it worth reading for students of later Western literature, whether sacred or profane. But its merit lies not merely in its scope. Its clarity and thoughtfulness make it an object lesson in a field where too often writers are content with assemblages of parallel or arbitrary generalizations. It avoids what is worst in 'Toposforschung' and 'Geistesgeschichte'; and it is a most valuable addition to studies in 'Antike und Christentum'.' (C.W. MACLEOD in The Classical Review (New Series), 1975, p.319). From the library of the late Professor Doktor Nikolaus Himmelmann.
€ 55.00
(Antiquarian)