Francis Mercury Van Helmont's Sketch of Christian Kabbalism

Francis Mercury van Helmont’s Sketch of Christian Kabbalism Aries Book Series Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism Editor Marco Pasi Editorial Board Jean-Pierre Brach Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke Wouter Hanegraaff Advisory Board Antoine Faivre – Olav Hammer Andreas Kilcher – Arthur McCalla Monika Neugebauer-Wölk – Mark Sedgwick Jan Snoek – György Szo ˝nyi Garry Trompf VOLUME 15 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.nl/arbs Francis Mercury van Helmont’s Sketch of Christian Kabbalism Translated and Edited by Sheila A. Spector LEIDEN • BOSTON 2012 Cover illustration: “The Second Adam Kadmon” from Christian Knorr von Rosenroth, Kabbala denudata (1677). Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Helmont, Franciscus Mercurius van, 1614–1699. [Adumbratio Kabbalae Christiana. English & Latin] Francis Mercury van Helmont’s Sketch of Christian Kabbalism / translated and edited by Sheila A. Spector. p. cm. — (Aries book series, ISSN 1871-1405 ; v. 15) In Latin with facing English translation. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-22655-5 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Cabala. 2. Cabala and Christianity. 3. Helmont, Franciscus Mercurius van, 1614–1699. Adumbratio Kabbalae Christiana. I. Spector, Sheila A., 1946– II. Title. III. Title: Sketch of Christian Kabbalism. BM525.H395 2012 135’.47—dc23 2012006891 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, IPA, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.nl/brill-typeface. ISSN 1871-1405 ISBN 978 90 04 22655 5 (hardback) ISBN 978 90 04 22724 8 (e-book) Copyright 2012 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers and Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper. CONTENTS Note on the Translation ................................................................................ vii Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1 Sketch of Christian Kabbalism Preliminaries .................................................................................................... 26 Ι. Of the Various States of the Universe .............................................. 31 ΙΙ. Of the First State of the Universe, or the Primordial Institution and Its Effects .................................................................... 33 ΙΙΙ. Of the Mediator of the First Production, or Adam Kadmon .... 39 IV. Of the Beings Produced and of the Purpose for Their Production ................................................................................................ 77 V. Of the Ensuing State of Destitution ................................................. 79 VI. Of the State of the Modern Constitution ....................................... 85 VII. Of the Preexistence of Souls in Species .......................................... 91 VIII. Of the Persons of the Divinity in Species ....................................... 133 IX. Of the Third State of Deprivation, or the Fall of the Souls ....... 137 X. Of the State of Supreme Restitution: The First Degree .............. 139 XI. Of the Second Degree of the Restitution of Souls ....................... 143 XII. Of the Last Two Degrees of the Messianic Restitution .............. 159 vi contents Translator’s Notes ............................................................................................. 163 Works Cited ........................................................................................................ 169 Index of Biblical References .......................................................................... 171 General Index ..................................................................................................... 179 NOTE ON THE TRANSLATION My guiding principle in translating Francis Mercury van Helmont’s Sketch of Christian Kabbalism has been to make the treatise accessible to the modern English reader. I have attempted to remain as faithful as possible to the original text, though with two notable exceptions. First, in the original, van Helmont included bibliographical citations parentheti- cally, within the text. Rather than interrupt the reading with what can be disruptive intrusions, I have moved his citations to footnotes, located at the bottom of the page, indicated by Arabic numerals. Also, I have regu- larized the documentation style so that his sources can be more easily located. Most of these are from the Kabbala denudata, abbreviated Kd. The two-volume compendium contains multiple sections, many with their own pagination, so I have used the system outlined in my introduction (pp. 9–11). My second deviation involves the choice of Bible translation. Van Helmont used the Syriac, but because it has never been translated into English, I used the English Standard Version of the Bible, and have indicated in the translator’s notes any discrepancies between it and the Syriac. These notes, which are indicated by Roman numerals, have been kept to a minimum and are primarily explanatory, but they do include any corrections or clarifications of van Helmont’s text. With these two exceptions, the translation is as close as possible to the original. Regarding van Helmont’s sources, I used published versions where they were avail- able, as cited in the endnotes. Unless otherwise indicated, all translations are mine. The facsimile of van Helmont’s Adumbratio Kabbalæ Christianæ is reproduced courtesy of The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. INTRODUCTION From the earliest years of the common era, many developing forms of Chris- tianity have buttressed their identity as persecuted minorities by defining as heresy any idea or belief that might contradict what would eventually consolidate into their core doctrines.1 These heresies have included— among the numerous movements that have been interdicted throughout history—Gnosticism, Montanism, Monarchianism, Arianism, Apollinari- anism, Nestorianism, Eutychianism (Monophysitism) and Pelagianism.2 Serving as more than just a theological judgment, the label heresy made it virtually impossible to evaluate the relative merits of other movements, for by definition alone they were determined to have been theologically unacceptable, so that even to mention the possibility that there might be some elements of validity to them would be tantamount to contradicting the judgment of the religious establishment and, by extension, to question God Himself. As a result, by the seventeenth century, more than a millen- nium and a half of religious wars had been fought against what were per- ceived to have been both external and internal threats, as various forms of Christianity sought on the one hand, to consolidate their sense of self, and on the other, to maintain political hegemony. Counteracting this dominant tendency towards theological exception- alism has been a move towards religious syncretism. Rather than exploit- ing, syncretists attempted to reconcile differences in order, it was hoped, 1 The matter of universally recognized core doctrines is problematical. According to Kocku von Stuckrad, “It is not that Christian Europe never existed; instead, Christianity in Europe has always been diverse and comprised many forms of beliefs and practices that populated the minds of believers (and non-believers)” Locations of Knowledge in Medieval and Early Modern Europe: Esoteric Discourse and Western Identities (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2010), 14. 2 The list comes from “Christian Heresy,” a section of the on-line The Illustrated His- tory of the Roman Empire, which says heresy is “generally defined as a departure from the traditional Christian beliefs; the creation of new ideas, rituals and forms of worship within the Christian church. This was especially dangerous to a faith in which for a long time the rules as to what was the proper Christian belief remained very vague and open to interpretation” (http://www.roman-empire.net/religion/heresy.html [accessed March 17, 2010]). For background, see the essays in The Shaping of Christianity in the Second and Third Centuries, ed. E. P. Sanders, vol. 1 of the three-volume Jewish and Christian Self- Definition (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1980). Of particular interest is R. A. Markus, “The Problem of Self-Definition: From Sect to Church” (1–15). 2 sheila a. spector to produce a universal religion that could be embraced by members of all faiths. A major vehicle through which syncretists attempted to transcend the many theological differences is Kabbalism. Its antecedents developing concurrently with Christianity, Kabbalism has historically provided Chris- tians with what many hoped would be the key to what they believed to have been the early, pre-institutional form of Christianity, the supposedly pure creed some considered to have

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