"Kabbalah originally developedentirely within the realm of Jewish
thought":
>
On 12/6/2014 8:21 PM, s3raphita wrote:
>
Sorry but that is total bollocks. Kabbalistic teaching is heavily
influenced by Greek Neoplatonic - and Gnostic - teaching (both
philosophical and magical). The Jews' contribution is twofold: firstly
they added Hebrew prophecy and poetry into the mix (which makes their
writings seem less "dry" for those who find philosophy hard work but
have been brought up in a Christian culture) and secondly the Jews
preserved a lot of the speculation of the Late Antique Greek spirit
when it was regarded with suspicion by the Church in its war against
heresy and schismatics.
>
Sorry, I'm just not finding any evidence that Kabbalistic teaching is
"heavily influenced by Greek Neoplatonic and Gnostic influences."
Apparently the esoteric Kabbalah preceded by centuries any Western
esoteric tradition, dating back to the 5th century BCE. Can you site any
scholarly references for your information? Thanks.
Joseph Dan thinks the "Kabbalah originally developed entirely within the
realm of Jewish thought, and Kabbalists often use classical Jewish
sources to explain and demonstrate its esoteric teachings." These
teachings are held by followers in Judaism to define the inner meaning
of both the Hebrew Bible and traditional Rabbinic literature and their
formerly concealed transmitted dimension, as well as to explain the
significance of Jewish religious observances./
/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalah
/"It is the underlying philosophy and framework for magical societies
such as the Golden Dawn, Thelemic orders, mystical societies such as the
Builders of the Adytum and the Fellowship of the Rosy Cross, and is a
precursor to the Neopagan, Wiccan and New Age movements."/
http://www.nanettemediumtarotreading.com/qabalah.html/
//
/Work cited:/
/Dan, Joseph. *Kabbalah: **A Very Short Introduction.* Oxford University
Press, Chapter 1 "The term and its uses."
