GNOSTICISM AND EXISTENTIALISM FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF IOAN PETRU CULIANU'S HERMENEUTICS

Abstract

Can we discuss a common conceptual ground between modern existentialism and early Gnosticism? And, reversing the terms of the statement, are we witnessing the continuity of an ancient existentialism through modern Gnosticism? What relationship-and clear differentiation—might exist between Heideggerian Da-sein and homo gnosticus? What could the phenomena of estrangement and unfamiliarity mean and how do they manifest in relation to transcendence as well as mundanity? Ioan Petru Culianu attempts to outline possible answers to these questions by hermeneutically engaging with the positions of renowned scholars such as Hans Jonas, H.-Ch. Puech, and Barbara Aland. Through such an approach, Culianu opens a wide range of problem-dilemmas, including the relationship between the Gnostic and transcendence, Gnosis and the hermeneutic circle between Gnosticism and existentialism, or the myths of the Gnostic savior. This text aims to highlight certain aspects of the extraordinary interpretive and scholarly effort offered by Ioan Petru Culianu, the great disciple of Mircea Eliade.