Christian Kabbalah arose during the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
due to Christian scholars' interest in the
mysticism
Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute (philosophy), Absolute, but may refer to any kind of Religious ecstasy, ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or Spirituality, spiritual meani ...
of
Jewish Kabbalah, which they interpreted according to
Christian theology
Christian theology is the theology – the systematic study of the divine and religion – of Christianity, Christian belief and practice. It concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Ch ...
. Often spelled Cabala to distinguish it from the Jewish form and from
Hermetic Qabalah
Hermetic Qabalah () is a Western esoteric tradition involving mysticism and the occult. It is the underlying philosophy and framework for magical societies such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, has inspired esoteric Christian organiz ...
, it sought to link Kabbalistic concepts with Christian doctrines, particularly the
Trinity
The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...
. Early proponents included
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola
Giovanni Pico dei conti della Mirandola e della Concordia ( ; ; ; 24 February 146317 November 1494), known as Pico della Mirandola, was an Italian Renaissance nobleman and philosopher. He is famed for the events of 1486, when, at the age of 23, ...
and
Johann Reuchlin
Johann Reuchlin (; 29 January 1455 – 30 June 1522), sometimes called Johannes, was a German Catholic humanist and a scholar of Greek and Hebrew, whose work also took him to modern-day Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and France. Most of Reuchlin's c ...
, who adapted Kabbalistic ideas to Christian beliefs, sometimes using them as a tool for conversion.
The movement drew from earlier Christian interest in
Jewish mysticism
Academic study of Jewish mysticism, especially since Gershom Scholem's ''Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism'' (1941), draws distinctions between different forms of mysticism which were practiced in different eras of Jewish history. Of these, Kabbal ...
, including the work of Spanish ''
conversos'' and scholars like
Ramon Llull
Ramon Llull (; ; – 1316), sometimes anglicized as ''Raymond Lully'', was a philosopher, theologian, poet, missionary, Christian apologist and former knight from the Kingdom of Majorca.
He invented a philosophical system known as the ''Art ...
, though it gained prominence in the 15th and 16th centuries. Christian Kabbalists proposed interpretations that linked Jesus and Mary to the
Sefirot
Sefirot (; , plural of ), meaning '' emanations'', are the 10 attributes/emanations in Kabbalah, through which Ein Sof ("infinite space") reveals itself and continuously creates both the physical realm and the seder hishtalshelut (the chained ...
and saw hidden Christian messages in Kabbalistic texts. Figures such as
Athanasius Kircher
Athanasius Kircher (2 May 1602 – 27 November 1680) was a German Society of Jesus, Jesuit scholar and polymath who published around 40 major works of comparative religion, geology, and medicine. Kircher has been compared to fellow Jes ...
and
Christian Knorr von Rosenroth further expanded these ideas, influencing later
esoteric traditions.
By the 18th century, Christian Kabbalah had largely faded from mainstream theology, though it persisted in European
occultism
The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mystic ...
. Some later attempts were made to revive interest, particularly through interpretations of the
Gospel of John
The Gospel of John () is the fourth of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "Book of Signs, signs" culminating in the raising of Lazarus (foreshadowing the ...
, but it remained outside traditional Christian thought. Today, Christian Kabbalah is primarily studied as a historical and esoteric movement that bridged Jewish mysticism and Christian theological speculation.
Background
The movement was influenced by a desire to interpret aspects of Christianity even more mystically than contemporary
Christian mystics. Greek Neoplatonic documents came into Europe after
Constantinople
Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
fell to
Mehmed II
Mehmed II (; , ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror (; ), was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from August 1444 to September 1446 and then later from February 1451 to May 1481.
In Mehmed II's first reign, ...
.
Neoplatonism
Neoplatonism is a version of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a series of thinkers. Among the common id ...
had been prevalent in
Christian Europe
The terms Christendom or Christian world commonly refer to the global Christian community, Christian states, Christian-majority countries or countries in which Christianity is dominant or prevails.SeMerriam-Webster.com : dictionary, "Christen ...
and had entered into
Scholasticism
Scholasticism was a medieval European philosophical movement or methodology that was the predominant education in Europe from about 1100 to 1700. It is known for employing logically precise analyses and reconciling classical philosophy and Ca ...
since the translation of Greek and Hebrew texts in Spain in the 13th century. The Renaissance trend was a relatively short-lived phenomenon, ending by 1750.
Christian scholars interpreted Kabbalistic ideas from "a distinctly Christian perspective, linking Jesus Christ, His atonement, and His resurrection to the Ten
Sefirot
Sefirot (; , plural of ), meaning '' emanations'', are the 10 attributes/emanations in Kabbalah, through which Ein Sof ("infinite space") reveals itself and continuously creates both the physical realm and the seder hishtalshelut (the chained ...
"the upper three Sephirot to the
hypostases of the
Trinity
The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...
and the other seven "to the lower or earthly world". Alternatively, they "would make
Kether the Creator (or the
Spirit),
Hokhmah the
Father
A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. A biological fat ...
, and
Binahthe supernal mother
Mary", which placed her "on a divine level with God, something the orthodox churches have always refused to do". Christian Kabbalists sought to transform Kabbalah into "a dogmatic weapon to turn back against the Jews to compel their conversionstarting with
Ramon Llull
Ramon Llull (; ; – 1316), sometimes anglicized as ''Raymond Lully'', was a philosopher, theologian, poet, missionary, Christian apologist and former knight from the Kingdom of Majorca.
He invented a philosophical system known as the ''Art ...
", whom Harvey J. Hames called "the first Christian to acknowledge and appreciate ''kabbalah'' as a tool of conversion", though Llull was not a Kabbalist himself nor versed in Kabbalah.
[Don Karr]
''The Study of Christian Cabala in English''
(pdf), p. 1, accessed on 28 March 2013. Later Christian Kabbalah is mostly based on Pico della Mirandola, Johann Reuchlin and Paolo Riccio.
After the 18th century, Kabbalah became blended with European occultism, some of which had a religious basis; however, the main interest in Christian Kabbalah was by then dead. A few attempts have been made to revive it in recent decades, particularly regarding the alleged Neoplatonism of the first two chapters of the ''
Gospel of John
The Gospel of John () is the fourth of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "Book of Signs, signs" culminating in the raising of Lazarus (foreshadowing the ...
'', but it has not entered into mainstream Christianity.
Medieval precursors
Raymond Llull
The Franciscan friar Ramon Llull (c. 1232–1316) was "the first Christian to acknowledge and appreciate ''kabbalah'' as a tool of conversion", although he was "not a Kabbalist, nor was he versed in any particular Kabbalistic approach".
[ Not interested in the possibilities of scholarly Jewish influence, which began later in the Renaissance, his reading of new interpretations of Kabbalah was solely for the sake of theological debate with religious Jews; i.e., proselytizing.
]
Spanish conversos
An early expression of Christian Kabbalah was among the Spanish conversos from Judaism, from the late 13th century to the Expulsion from Spain Expulsion from Spain may refer to:
* Expulsion of Jews from Spain (1492 in Aragon and Castile, 1497–98 in Navarre)
* Expulsion of the Moriscos (1609–1614)
See also
* Forced conversions of Muslims in Spain (1500–1502 in Castile, 1515–16 ...
of 1492. These include Abner of Burgos and Pablo de Heredia. Heredia's ''Epistle of Secrets'' is "the first recognizable work of Christian Kabbalah", and was quoted by Pietro Galatino who influenced Athanasius Kircher
Athanasius Kircher (2 May 1602 – 27 November 1680) was a German Society of Jesus, Jesuit scholar and polymath who published around 40 major works of comparative religion, geology, and medicine. Kircher has been compared to fellow Jes ...
. However, Heredia's Kabbalah consists of quotes from non-existent Kabbalistic works, and distorted or fake quotes from real Kabbalistic sources.
Christian Kabbalists
Pico della Mirandola
Among the first to promote aspects of Kabbalah beyond exclusively Jewish circles was Giovanni Pico della Mirandola
Giovanni Pico dei conti della Mirandola e della Concordia ( ; ; ; 24 February 146317 November 1494), known as Pico della Mirandola, was an Italian Renaissance nobleman and philosopher. He is famed for the events of 1486, when, at the age of 23, ...
(1463–1494), a student of Marsilio Ficino
Marsilio Ficino (; Latin name: ; 19 October 1433 – 1 October 1499) was an Italian scholar and Catholic priest who was one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the early Italian Renaissance. He was an astrologer, a reviver of Neo ...
at his Florentine Academy. His syncretic world-view combined Platonism
Platonism is the philosophy of Plato and philosophical systems closely derived from it, though contemporary Platonists do not necessarily accept all doctrines of Plato. Platonism has had a profound effect on Western thought. At the most fundam ...
, Neoplatonism, Aristotelianism
Aristotelianism ( ) is a philosophical tradition inspired by the work of Aristotle, usually characterized by Prior Analytics, deductive logic and an Posterior Analytics, analytic inductive method in the study of natural philosophy and metaphysics ...
, Hermeticism
Hermeticism, or Hermetism, is a philosophical and religious tradition rooted in the teachings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, a syncretism, syncretic figure combining elements of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth. This system e ...
and Kabbalah.
Johann Reuchlin
Johann Reuchlin, a Catholic humanist (1455–1522), was "Pico's most important follower". His main sources for Kabbalah were Menahem Recanati (''Commentary on the Torah'', ''Commentary on the Daily Prayers'') and Joseph Gikatilla (''Sha'are Orah'', ''Ginnat 'Egoz'').[Don Karr]
''The Study of Christian Cabala in English''
(pdf), p. 16, accessed on 28 March 2013.
Reuchlin argued that human history divides into three periods: a natural period in which God revealed Himself as Shaddai (שדי), the period of the Torah in which God "revealed Himself to Moses
In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...
through the four-lettered name of the Tetragrammaton
The TetragrammatonPronounced ; ; also known as the Tetragram. is the four-letter Hebrew-language theonym (transliteration, transliterated as YHWH or YHVH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four Hebrew letters, written and read from ...
" (יהוה), and the period of Christian spiritual rule of the earth which is known in Christianity as "the redemption." It was asserted that the five-letter name associated with this period is an altered version of the tetragrammaton with the additional letter shin (ש).
This name, Yahshuah (יהשוה for 'Jesus'), is also known as the pentagrammaton. It is an attempt by Christian theologians to read the name of the Christian deity into The unpronounced name of the Jewish God. The first of Reuchlin's two books on Kabbalah, ''De verbo mirifico'', "speaks of the ��name of Jesus derived from the tetragrammaton".[ His second book, ''De arte cabalistica'', is "a broader, more informed excursion into various kabbalistic concerns".
]
Francesco Giorgi
Francesco Giorgi, (1467–1540) was a Venetian Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...
friar and "has been considered a central figure in sixteenth-century Christian Kabbalah both by his contemporaries and by modern scholars". According to Giulio Busi, he was the most important Christian Kabbalist second to its founder Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. His, ''De harmonia mundi'', was "a massive and curious book, all Hermetic, Platonic, Cabalistic, and Pinchian".
Paolo Riccio
Paolo Riccio (1506–1541) "unified the scattered dogmas of the Christian Cabala into an internally consistent system", based on Pico and Reuchlin and adding "to them through an original synthesis of kabbalistic and Christian sources".
Balthasar Walther
Balthasar Walther, (1558 – before 1630), was a Silesia
Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...
n physician. In 1598–1599, Walther undertook a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to learn about the intricacies of the Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism from groups in Safed
Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel.
Safed has been identified with (), a fortif ...
and elsewhere, including amongst the followers of Isaac Luria
Isaac ben Solomon Ashkenazi Luria (; #FINE_2003, Fine 2003, p24/ref>July 25, 1572), commonly known in Jewish religious circles as Ha'ari, Ha'ari Hakadosh or Arizal, was a leading rabbi and Jewish mysticism, Jewish mystic in the community of Saf ...
. However, he did not follow the teachings of these Jewish authorities but later used his learning to further Christian theological pursuits. Despite his claim to have spent six years in these travels, it appears that he only made several shorter trips. Walther himself did not author any significant works of Christian Kabbalah but maintained a voluminous manuscript collection of magical and kabbalistic works. His significance for the history of Christian Kabbalah is that his ideas and doctrines exercised a profound influence on the works of the German theosopher, Jakob Böhme
Jakob Böhme (; ; 24 April 1575 – 17 November 1624) was a German philosopher, Christian mysticism, Christian mystic, and Lutheran Protestant Theology, theologian. He was considered an original thinker by many of his contemporaries within the L ...
, in particular Böhme's '' Forty Questions on the Soul'' (c.1621).
Athanasius Kircher
The following century produced Athanasius Kircher, a German Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
priest, Hermeticist and polymath
A polymath or polyhistor is an individual whose knowledge spans many different subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. Polymaths often prefer a specific context in which to explain their knowledge, ...
. He wrote extensively on the subject in 1652, elaborating on Mirandola's work on Kabbalah by bringing in further elements such as Orphism and Egyptian mythology
Egyptian mythology is the collection of myths from ancient Egypt, which describe the actions of the Egyptian pantheon, Egyptian gods as a means of understanding the world around them. The beliefs that these myths express are an important part ...
to the mix in his work, ''Oedipus Aegyptiacus''. It was illustrated by Kircher's adaptation of the ''Tree of Life
The tree of life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world's mythology, mythological, religion, religious, and philosophy, philosophical traditions. It is closely related to the concept of the sacred tree.Giovino, Mariana (2007). ''The ...
''. Kircher's version of the Tree of Life is still used in Hermetic Qabalah
Hermetic Qabalah () is a Western esoteric tradition involving mysticism and the occult. It is the underlying philosophy and framework for magical societies such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, has inspired esoteric Christian organiz ...
.
Sir Thomas Browne
The physician-philosopher Sir Thomas Browne
Sir Thomas Browne ( "brown"; 19 October 160519 October 1682) was an English polymath and author of varied works which reveal his wide learning in diverse fields including science and medicine, religion and the esoteric. His writings display a d ...
(1605–82) is recognised as one of the few 17th century English scholars of the Kabbalah. Browne read Hebrew, owned a copy of Francesco Giorgio's highly influential work of Christian Kabbalah ''De harmonia mundi totius'' (1525), and alluded to the Kabbalah in his discourse The Garden of Cyrus
''The Garden of Cyrus'', or ''The Quincuncial Lozenge, or Network Plantations of the Ancients, naturally, artificially, mystically considered'', is a discourse by Thomas Browne concerned with the quincunx—a pattern of five points arranged in an ...
and encyclopaedia Pseudodoxia Epidemica
''Pseudodoxia Epidemica: or, Enquiries into very many received tenents and commonly presumed truths'', also known simply as ''Pseudodoxia Epidemica'' or ''Vulgar Errors'', is a work by the English polymath Thomas Browne, challenging and refuti ...
which was translated into German by the Hebrew scholar and promoter of the Kabbalah, Christian Knorr von Rosenroth.
Christian Knorr von Rosenroth
Christian Knorr von Rosenroth, (1636–1689), became well known as a translator, annotator, and editor of Kabbalistic texts; he published the two-volume ''Kabbala denudata'' ('Kabbalah Unveiled' 1677–78), "which virtually alone represented authentic (Jewish) ''kabbalah'' to Christian Europe until the mid-nineteenth century". The ''Kabbala denudata'' contains Latin translations of, among others, sections of the ''Zohar
The ''Zohar'' (, ''Zōhar'', lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is a foundational work of Kabbalistic literature. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material o ...
'', ''Pardes Rimmonim'' by Moses Cordovero, ''Sha’ar ha-Shamayim'' and ''Beit Elohim'' by Abraham Cohen de Herrera, ''Sefer ha-Gilgulim'' (a Lurianic tract attributed to Hayyim Vital), with commentaries by Knorr von Rosenroth and Henry More; some later editions include a summary of Christian Kabbalah (''Adumbratio Kabbalæ Christianæ'') by F. M. van Helmont.[Don Karr]
''The Study of Christian Cabala in English''
(pdf), p. 43, accessed on 28 March 2013.
Johan Kemper
Johan Kemper (1670–1716) was a Hebrew teacher, whose tenure at Uppsala
Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019.
Loc ...
University lasted from 1697 to 1716. He was Emanuel Swedenborg
Emanuel Swedenborg (; ; born Emanuel Swedberg; (29 January 168829 March 1772) was a Swedish polymath; scientist, engineer, astronomer, anatomist, Christian theologian, philosopher, and mysticism, mystic. He became best known for his book on the ...
's probable Hebrew tutor.
Kemper, formerly known as Moses ben Aaron of Cracow, was a convert to Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
from Judaism. During his time at Uppsala, he wrote his three-volume work on the ''Zohar'' entitled ''Matteh Mosche'' ('The Staff of Moses'). In it, he attempted to show that the ''Zohar'' contained the Christian doctrine of the Trinity.
This belief also drove him to make a literal translation of the Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells the story of who the author believes is Israel's messiah (Christ (title), Christ), Jesus, resurrection of Jesus, his res ...
into Hebrew and to write a kabbalistic commentary on it.
See also
* Emanation in the Eastern Orthodox Church
* Platonism in the Renaissance
Platonism, especially in its Neoplatonist form, underwent a revival in the Renaissance as part of a general revival of interest in classical antiquity. Interest in Platonism was especially strong in Florence under the Medici.
History
During th ...
References
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{{Christian theology
Kabbalah
Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of Mysticism, mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ...
Kabbalah