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© Don Karr 2021R ∞ The Study of Christian Cabala in English Don Karr For the ADDENDA to “The Study of Christian Cabala in English,” go to http://www.digital-brilliance.com/contributed/Karr/Biblios/ccineb.pdf or https://www.academia.edu/24035820/The_Study_of_Christian_Cabala_in_English_Addenda © Don Karr 1995-2007; revised, enlarged, and updated 2007-2020; newly revised 2021. All rights reserved. License to Copy: This publication is intended for personal use only. Paper copies may be made for personal use. With the above exception, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, without permission in writing from the author. Reviewers may quote brief passages. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION & OUTLINE OF STANDARD LITERATURE FOUR HISTORIANS OF CHRISTIAN CABALA (Waite, Blau, Yates, Beitchman) CHRISTIAN INTERPRETERS OF KABBALAH (navigation page) SOME SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY PRINTED WORKS ON CHRISTIAN CABALA THE CONTENTS OF KABBALA DENUDATA NINETEENTH-CENTURY BOOKS ON KABBALAH THE HERMETIC ORDER OF THE GOLDEN DAWN TWENTIETH-CENTURY BOOKS ON KABBALAH/CABALA/QABALAH INTRODUCTION ANYONE WHO HAS read a few books concerning the Western esoteric tradition has encountered, at the very least, references to kabbalah, variously cabala, or qabalah.1 A familiarity with the term kabbalah and the implications of the variant spellings of the word as cabala and qabalah is useful here. Very broadly, • kabbalah generally represents Jewish esoteric teaching which emerged in the 12th century, though preserving older mystical elements; it is a grand commentary on the Torah elaborating on the relationship of man and the infinite creator. • cabala is something of a catch-all for both Christian interpretations of kabbalah from the Renaissance and Reformation periods and magic in general, such as that described by Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1486-1535). • qabalah is “Hermetic”2 in that it is the narrow practical version of kabbalah originating in nineteenth- century Western esoteric schools such as the Golden Dawn the structure of which is centered on the kabbalistic Tree of Life and its correspondences to other schemes, especially the tarot. These days, academics seem to favor kabbalah for all references, drawing distinctions by adding the modifiers “Christian” or “Hermetic.” 1 On “the background of variant orthographies, including origins, definitions, and usages,” see Anthony J. Elia, “An Historical Assessment of the Narrative Uses of the Words ‘Kabbalah,’ ‘Cabala,’ and ‘Qabala/h’: Discerning the Differences for Theological Libraries,” in Theological Librarianship: An Online Journal of the American Theological Library Association, Volume 2, Number 2 (Chicago: American Theological Society, 2009), at THEOLOGICAL LIBRARIANSHIP: https://theolib.atla.com/theolib/article/view/111. 2 Frances Yates coined the term “Hermetic-Cabalist tradition” to refer to the Christian stream begun by Pico and Reuchlin, which incorporated a blend of the literature attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, Platonism, and what was perceived as kabbalah. Thus, it is equivalent to the second category above: cabala. 1 © Don Karr 2021R ∞ Cabala figures into many tenets and methods central to Western esoteric thought and practice. Unfortunately, what is meant by term is not always clear and may vary from one reference to another. Those readers who enter an investigation of Christian cabala after having studied Jewish kabbalah may well become impatient at the outset with the misreadings and deformations characteristic of “Christian developments.”3 Complicating matters further, Christian ideas seem to have crept into (Jewish) kabbalah. • Regarding kabbalistic developments in the 12th century, Elliot R. Wolfson suggests that the motif of the cosmic tree, an image that became central to kabbalah as the Tree of Life (etz hayyim—the tree of the sefirot), combines Jewish and Christian influences.4 • Peter Schäfer indicates connections between the Christian figure of Mary and kabbalistic notions of the shekhinah (the “presence of God”) as a deific female, an object of devotion, and a mediator between God and man.5 • Yehuda Liebes looks at the “Doctrine of Trinity,” concepts of the “Son,” and interpretations of GENESIS 1:1 to demonstrate signs of Christian thought in the Zohar,6 though he qualifies his observations, stating, [A]lthough the author of the Zohar allowed himself to be influenced by Christianity, this does not mean that he felt any affinity for the “Gentile Nations,” and particularly for those who converted to their faith. Quite the opposite is true.7 Indeed, Ellen D. Haskell has shown how the author(s) of the Zohar “crafted strategically subversive narratives that bolstered Jewish identity by countering Christian claims.”8 3 For a summary of the differences between Jewish kabbalah and Christian cabala, especially with regard to the latter’s earliest stages, see (1) Joseph Dan, “Christian Kabbalah: From Mysticism to Esotericism,” in Western Esotericism and the Science of Religion, eds. Antoine Faivre and Wouter J. Hanegraaff [GNOSTICA 2] (Leuven: Peeters, 1998), pp. 117-129; reprinted in Dan’s Jewish Mysticism, Volume III: THE MODERN PERIOD (Northvale – Jerusalem: Jason Aronson Inc., 1999), pp. 191-207. (2) the first several sections of Dan’s article, “The Kabbalah of Johannes Reuchlin and Its Historical Significance,” in The Christian Kabbalah: Jewish Mystical Books and Their Christian Interpreters, ed. Joseph Dan (Cambridge: Harvard College Library, 1997), also reprinted in Dan’s Jewish Mysticism, Volume III, pp. 209-251. (3) Moshe Idel, “Jewish Kabbalah in Christian Garb,” in Kabbalah in Italy, 1280-1510: A Survey (New Haven – London: Yale University Press, 2011), pp. 227-235 4 “The Tree That is All: Jewish-Christian Roots of a Kabbalistic Symbol in Sefer ha-Bahir,” in Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy, volume 3, issue 1, edited by Elliot Wolfson and Paul Mendes-Flohr (Harwood Academic Publishers GmbH, 1993), pp. 31-76; reprinted in Along the Path: Studies in Kabbalistic Myth, Symbolism, and Hermeneutics (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995), pp. 63-88. While raising the issues of Christian influences on (Jewish) kabbalah, Wolfson calls into question traditional lines of inquiry into a particular subject matter, namely, the ten sefirot, as the major indication of the origins of kabbalah. He says, in effect, that if Sefer ha-Bahir is the earliest known work which can properly be called kabbalistic, its own contents suggest that something more—if not something other—than the sefirot comprises kabbalah’s primal swirlings. Moshe Idel broaches the same point at the beginning of “Jewish Kabbalah in Christian Garb” (cited in the previous footnote), mentioning “an esoteric tradition concerning divine names” as another possible early indication of kabbalah (ibid., page 227). Idel also takes up this issue in “Defining Kabbalah: The Kabbalah of the Divine Names,” in Mystics of the Book: Themes, Topics and Typologies, edited by R. A. Herrera (New York – San Francisco – Bern, etc.: Peter Lang, 1993), pp. 97-122. 5 Mirror of His Beauty: Feminine Images of God from the Bible to the Early Kabbalah (Princeton – Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2002). 6 Studies in the Zohar (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993), pp. 139-161 7 Ibid., page 139. 8 Mystical Resistance: Uncovering the Zohar’s Conversations with Christianity (New York: Oxford University Press, 2016), page 1. 2 © Don Karr 2021R ∞ The strand of Christian cabala which has become best known began in Renaissance Florence with Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494). Pico sought to harmonize Christian beliefs with cabala, which he considered a primal form of Jewish doctrine which originated with Moses and thus long presaged the teachings of Jesus. This parallels the treatment of the Hermetica by the circle around Ficino, namely the movement to recover the prisca theologia (the ancient theology) and philosophia perennis (the perennial philosophy), thought to be the fountainheads of all true religion and philosophy.9 Certainly, the “first wave” of Christian kabbalists in the Renaissance (Pico della Mirandola, Johannes Reuchlin, Francisco Giorgi, Egidio da Viterbo, Agrippa, etc.) viewed cabala as an expression of Christian truth entrusted to the Jews centuries before Christ’s incarnation.10 These interpreters took cabala as an independent tradition that transcended Judaism.11 Ideally, we would find sources which led us in a nice straight line from the traditional beginning of the Christian cabala in the Renaissance to the present day. Alas, the material available on the subject and the history of Christian cabala itself conspire to make our effort one fraught with cuts and detours, though a certain shape to it all does emerge. At the outset, the limitations of an English-only bibliography should be noted, for any short list of books on Christian cabala consists largely of works in other languages. A selection of standard works—listed chronologically—would include • Benz, Ernst. Die christliche Kabbala: Ein Stiefkind der Theologie [THE CHRISTIAN KABBALAH: A STEPCHILD OF THEOLOGY] (Zürich: Rhein-Verlag, 1958). • Secret, François. Le Zôhar chez les kabbalistes chrétiens de la Renaissance (Paris: Durlacher, 1958). • Secret, François. Les Kabbalistes chrétiens de la Renaissance (Paris: Dunod, 1964). • Wirszubski, Chaïm. Sheloshah perakim be-toldot ha-Kabalah ha-notsrit [THREE STUDIES IN THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN KABBALAH] (Jerusalem: Mosad
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