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The Perennial Philosophy

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The Perennial Philosophy Chapter 3 The Perennial Philosophy In order to contextualise Huxley’s notion of the Perennial Philosophy, a num- ber of similar traditions and terms that relate to an ancient wisdom religion need to be identified and differentiated, namely the prisca theologia, the phi- losophia perennis, the Theosophy of H.P. Blavatsky, Traditionalism and pe- rennialism. In addition, I briefly examine the neo-Vedanta and neo-Advaita tradition, and their claims of universalism, since the Perennial Philosophy is often conflated with these traditions and wrongly represented as universalist in the strong sense. I also situate the Perennial Philosophy in the context of the study of mysticism in the twentieth century and interrogate the influen- tial theories and typologies advanced by William James, Rudolf Otto, William Stace and Steven Katz. The Ancient Wisdom Tradition: From the Prisca Theologia to Traditionalism The term prisca theologia (ancient or venerable theology) was introduced by Marsilio Ficino in the fifteenth century. Cosimo de’ Medici, the ruler of Flor- ence, had received a manuscript of Plato’s complete dialogues and commis- sioned Ficino to translate them into Latin. At this time, as a result of the work of Middle- and Neoplatonists, Plato had been transformed from a philosopher into the founder of a “religious worldview with its own mythologies and ritual practices”, which derived from an ancient wisdom tradition in the “Orient”.1 A number of divinely inspired sages were construed as exponents of this prisca theologia (Moses, Hermes Trismegistus, Zoroaster, Orpheus, Pythagorus et al.), but who took precedence among the prisci theologi depended on one’s na- tionality or religion: Egyptians claimed Hermes as the fons et origo; Persians affirmed that it was Zoroaster; while the Greeks advanced Orpheus or Pytha- gorus.2 For the Christian apologists of the second to the fifth century ce, who were intent on reconciling Platonism with Christianity, Greek philosophy and the pagan wisdom of Hermes and Zoroaster derived from Moses, who had 1 Hanegraaff, Esotericism and the Academy, 12. 2 See ibid., 5–6 and Schmitt, “Perennial Philosophy”, 508. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���9 | doi:�0.��63/978900440690�_005 <UN> 94 chapter 3 received it directly from Jehovah.3 Christianity was presented as the restora- tion and apotheosis of this tradition, which had been corrupted by demons, whom the pagans worshipped as their gods. The implication was that Hermes et al. either derived their wisdom from Moses second hand or were inspired by the divine Logos (Christ), prior to his incarnation. Consequently, St Augus- tine could write: “The very thing which is now called the Christian religion was with the ancients, and it was with the human race from its beginning to the time when Christ appeared in the flesh: from when on the true religion, which already existed, began to be called the Christian”.4 Ficino believed that the wisdom of the prisca theologia had most recently been lost as a result of medieval Aristotelianism, which had eclipsed the reli- gious Platonism described above.5 Hence Ficino regarded the newly rediscov- ered Corpus Hermeticum and Chaldean Oracles, allegedly authored by Hermes and Zoroaster respectively but later proved to be relatively recent (second- third century ce) forgeries, as a providential means to reconstruct the prisca theologia. Unlike the Christian apologists, Ficino maintained that Zoroaster was the oldest of the prisci theologi, with the troubling implication that the Jewish and Christian religions were ultimately pagan in origin. The Christian Kabbalah promoted by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola has been interpreted as a corrective to Ficino’s view.6 Pico asserted that on Mt Sinai Moses had re- ceived an esoteric teaching, namely the Kabbalah, in addition to the tablets of the Law, and been told to keep this secret, only revealing it to “Jesus Nave”.7 The Jews had jealously guarded the Kabbalah, but Pico, having read the kab- balistic scriptures, disclosed that they contained unmistakably Christian doc- trines. The Kabbalah, Pico affirmed, was the ultimately Christian source for the Hebrew, Platonic and pagan religions. The fifteenth century was fraught with millenarian expectations, and Pico believed that now that he had revealed the true source of the prisca theologia, all the Jews would convert to Christianity, possibly even precipitating the Apocalypse.8 However, the Jews continued to regard the Kabbalah as belonging to the Hebrew tradition, and the mass conversion Pico was anticipating did not take place. The various discourses 3 See Hanegraaff, Esotericism and the Academy, 16–20. 4 Quoted in ibid., 9. 5 See ibid., 51. Hanegraaff, following John Walbridge, uses the term “Platonic Orientalism”. 6 Although, as Hanegraaff points out, as far as Ficino was concerned Plato, Moses, Hermes et al. were all divinely inspired by God, or by Christ qua the eternal Logos, and so their chron- ological order is irrelevant, and the prisci theologi were ultimately espousing a Christian wis- dom (see ibid., 50). 7 See ibid., 56. 8 See ibid., 56–57. <UN>.
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