Investigating the roots of western civilization (ye olde BC&H forum of IIDB lives on...)
https://earlywritings.com/forum/
Concepts which did not originate exclusively in Jewish mysticism, like the idea of the Shekhinah and the hypostases of stern judgment and compassion, could easily have been interpreted according to the theory of the "aeons" and incorporated with Gnostic ideas. The "exile of the Shekhinah," originally an aggadic idea, was assimilated in Jewish circles at a particular stage with the Gnostic idea of the divine spark that is in exile in the terrestrial world, and also with the mystic view of the Jewish concept of the keneset Yisrael ("the community of Israel") as aiskander wrote: ↑Thu Sep 13, 2018 2:03 pm Gnosis and Judaism,
Attachement
gnostic1.PNG
From , Gershom Scholem, Kabbalah
To what extent the growth of Gnostic tendencies within Judaism itself preceded their development in early Christianity is still the subject of lively scholarly controversy. Peterson, Haenchen, and Quispel, in particular, along with several experts on the Dead Sea Scrolls, have tried to prove that Jewish forms of Gnosis, which retained a belief in the unity of God and rejected any dualistic notions, came into being before the formation of Christianity and were centered particularly around the idea of primordial man (following speculation on Gen. 1 : 2 6 ; " Adam Kadmon"). The image of the Messiah, characteristic of the Christian Gnostics, was absent here. These scholars have interpreted several of the earliest documents of Gnostic literature as Gnostic Midrashim on cosmogony and Haenchen in particular has argued that their basic Jewish character is clearly recognizable in an analysis of the teaching of Simon Magus, apparently the leader of Samaritan Gnosis, a first-century heterodox Judaism. Even before this, M. Friedlaender had surmised that antinomian Gnostic tendencies (which belittled the value of the Commandments) had also developed within Judaism before the rise of Christianity
one god. but two or more hypostasesiskander wrote: ↑Thu Sep 13, 2018 2:06 pmConcepts which did not originate exclusively in Jewish mysticism, like the idea of the Shekhinah and the hypostases of stern judgment and compassion, could easily have been interpreted according to the theory of the "aeons" and incorporated with Gnostic ideas. The "exile of the Shekhinah," originally an aggadic idea, was assimilated in Jewish circles at a particular stage with the Gnostic idea of the divine spark that is in exile in the terrestrial world, and also with the mystic view of the Jewish concept of the keneset Yisrael ("the community of Israel") as aiskander wrote: ↑Thu Sep 13, 2018 2:03 pm Gnosis and Judaism,
Attachement
gnostic1.PNG
From , Gershom Scholem, Kabbalah
To what extent the growth of Gnostic tendencies within Judaism itself preceded their development in early Christianity is still the subject of lively scholarly controversy. Peterson, Haenchen, and Quispel, in particular, along with several experts on the Dead Sea Scrolls, have tried to prove that Jewish forms of Gnosis, which retained a belief in the unity of God and rejected any dualistic notions, came into being before the formation of Christianity and were centered particularly around the idea of primordial man (following speculation on Gen. 1 : 2 6 ; " Adam Kadmon"). The image of the Messiah, characteristic of the Christian Gnostics, was absent here. These scholars have interpreted several of the earliest documents of Gnostic literature as Gnostic Midrashim on cosmogony and Haenchen in particular has argued that their basic Jewish character is clearly recognizable in an analysis of the teaching of Simon Magus, apparently the leader of Samaritan Gnosis, a first-century heterodox Judaism. Even before this, M. Friedlaender had surmised that antinomian Gnostic tendencies (which belittled the value of the Commandments) had also developed within Judaism before the rise of Christianity
heavenly entity that represents the historical community of Israel.
