Christian Kabbalah

{{Short description|Christian interpretation of Kabbalah}} {{About|traditional Christian Kabbalah|other Kabbalistic traditions|Kabbalah|and|Hermetic Qabalah|and|Practical Kabbalah}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}} {{Kabbalah}} '''Christian Kabbalah''' arose during the Renaissance due to Christian scholars' interest in the mysticism of Jewish Kabbalah, which they interpreted according to Christian theology. Often spelled '''Cabala''' to distinguish it from the Jewish form and from Hermetic Qabalah,{{sfnp|Martin|Rische|Van Gorden|2008|pp=134–151}} it sought to link Kabbalistic concepts with Christian doctrines, particularly the Trinity. Early proponents included Giovanni Pico della Mirandola and Johann Reuchlin, who adapted Kabbalistic ideas to Christian beliefs, sometimes using them as a tool for conversion.

The movement drew from earlier Christian interest in Jewish mysticism, including the work of Spanish ''conversos'' and scholars, though it gained prominence in the 15th and 16th centuries. Christian Kabbalists proposed interpretations that linked Jesus and Mary to the Sefirot and saw hidden Christian messages in Kabbalistic texts. Figures such as Athanasius Kircher and Christian Knorr von Rosenroth further expanded these ideas, influencing later esoteric traditions.

By the 18th century, Christian Kabbalah had largely faded from mainstream theology, though it persisted in European occultism. Some later attempts were made to revive interest, particularly through interpretations of the Gospel of John, but it remained outside traditional Christian thought. Today, Christian Kabbalah is primarily studied as a historical and esoteric movement that bridged Jewish mysticism and Christian theological speculation.

== Background == {{further|History of Jewish mysticism}} The movement was influenced by a desire to interpret aspects of Christianity even more mystically than contemporary Christian mystics. Greek Neoplatonic documents came into Europe after Constantinople fell to Mehmed II. Neoplatonism had been prevalent in Christian Europe and had entered into Scholasticism since the translation of Greek and Hebrew texts in Spain in the 13th century. The Renaissance trend was a relatively short-lived phenomenon, ending by 1750.

Christian scholars interpreted Kabbalistic ideas from "a distinctly Christian perspective, linking Jesus Christ, His atonement, and His resurrection to the Ten Sefirot"{{Spaced en dash}}the upper three Sephirot to the hypostases of the Trinity and the other seven "to the lower or earthly world".{{sfnp|Martin|Rische|Van Gorden|2008|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3mVevn3NWYAC&pg=PA147 147ff]}} Alternatively, they "would make Kether the Creator (or the Spirit), Hokhmah the Father, and Binah{{Spaced en dash}}the supernal mother{{Spaced en dash}}Mary", which placed her "on a divine level with God, something the orthodox churches have always refused to do".{{sfnp|Pollack|2004|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Ztl-B6NxftAC&pg=PA50 50]}} Christian Kabbalists sought to transform Kabbalah into "a dogmatic weapon to turn back against the Jews to compel their conversion{{Spaced en dash}}starting with Ramon Llull", whom Harvey J. Hames called "the first Christian to acknowledge and appreciate ''kabbalah'' as a tool of conversion", though Llull was not a Kabbalist himself nor versed in Kabbalah.<ref name=karr1>Don Karr: [http://www.digital-brilliance.com/contributed/Karr/Biblios/ccinea.pdf ''The Study of Christian Cabala in English''] (pdf), p. 1, accessed on 28 March 2013.</ref> Later Christian Kabbalah is mostly based on Pico della Mirandola, Johann Reuchlin and Paolo Riccio.{{sfnp|Martin|Rische|Van Gorden|2008|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3mVevn3NWYAC&pg=PA150 150]}}

After the 18th century, Kabbalah became blended with European occultism, some of which had a religious basis; however, the main interest in Christian Kabbalah was by then dead. A few attempts have been made to revive it in recent decades, particularly regarding the alleged Neoplatonism of the first two chapters of the ''Gospel of John'', but it has not entered into mainstream Christianity.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

== Medieval precursors ==

=== Spanish conversos === An early expression of Christian Kabbalah was among the Spanish conversos from Judaism, from the late 13th century to the Expulsion from Spain of 1492. These include Abner of Burgos and Pablo de Heredia. Heredia's ''Epistle of Secrets'' is "the first recognizable work of Christian Kabbalah", and was quoted by Pietro Galatino who influenced Athanasius Kircher. However, Heredia's Kabbalah consists of quotes from non-existent Kabbalistic works, and distorted or fake quotes from real Kabbalistic sources.{{sfnp|Scholem|1997}}

== Christian Kabbalists ==

=== Pico della Mirandola === {{main|Pico della Mirandola}} Among the first to promote aspects of Kabbalah beyond exclusively Jewish circles was Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463–1494), a student of Marsilio Ficino at his Florentine Academy. His syncretic world-view combined Platonism, Neoplatonism, Aristotelianism, Hermeticism and Kabbalah.{{sfnp|Copenhaver|2024}}

=== Johann Reuchlin === thumb|Title of Reuchlin's ''De arte cabalistica libri tres, iam denua adcurate revisi'', 1530. {{main|Johann Reuchlin}} Johann Reuchlin, a Catholic humanist (1455–1522), was "Pico's most important follower".<ref>Don Karr: [http://www.digital-brilliance.com/contributed/Karr/Biblios/ccinea.pdf ''The Study of Christian Cabala in English''] (pdf), p. 6, accessed on 28 March 2013.</ref> His main sources for Kabbalah were Menahem Recanati (''Commentary on the Torah'', ''Commentary on the Daily Prayers'') and Joseph Gikatilla (''Sha'are Orah'', ''Ginnat 'Egoz'').<ref name=karr16>Don Karr: [http://www.digital-brilliance.com/contributed/Karr/Biblios/ccinea.pdf ''The Study of Christian Cabala in English''] (pdf), p. 16, accessed on 28 March 2013.

</ref> Reuchlin argued that human history divides into three periods: a natural period in which God revealed Himself as Shaddai (שדי), the period of the Torah in which God "revealed Himself to Moses through the four-lettered name of the Tetragrammaton" (יהוה), and the period of Christian spiritual rule of the earth which is known in Christianity as "the redemption." It was asserted that the five-letter name associated with this period is an altered version of the tetragrammaton with the additional letter shin (ש).{{sfnp|Martin|Rische|Van Gorden|2008|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3mVevn3NWYAC&pg=PA149 149]}}

This name, Yahshuah (יהשוה for 'Jesus'), is also known as the pentagrammaton. It is an attempt by Christian theologians to read the name of the Christian deity into The unpronounced name of the Jewish God{{Editorializing|date=March 2026}}. The first of Reuchlin's two books on Kabbalah, ''De verbo mirifico'', "speaks of the […] name of Jesus derived from the tetragrammaton".<ref name=karr16/> His second book, ''De arte cabalistica'', is "a broader, more informed excursion into various kabbalistic concerns".<ref>Don Karr: [http://www.digital-brilliance.com/contributed/Karr/Biblios/ccinea.pdf ''The Study of Christian Cabala in English''] (pdf), p. 17, accessed on 28 March 2013.</ref>

=== Francesco Giorgi === {{main|Francesco Giorgi}} thumb|front page of Francesco Giorgi's ''De harmonia mundi''. Francesco Giorgi, (1467–1540) was a Venetian Franciscan friar and "has been considered a central figure in sixteenth-century Christian Kabbalah both by his contemporaries and by modern scholars". According to Giulio Busi, he was the most important Christian Kabbalist second to its founder Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. His, ''De harmonia mundi'', was "a massive and curious book, all Hermetic, Platonic, Cabalistic, and Pinchian".<ref>Don Karr: [http://www.digital-brilliance.com/contributed/Karr/Biblios/ccinea.pdf ''The Study of Christian Cabala in English''] (pdf), p. 19, accessed on 28 March 2013.</ref>

=== Paolo Riccio === {{main|Paolo Riccio}} Paolo Riccio (1506–1541) "unified the scattered dogmas of the Christian Cabala into an internally consistent system",{{sfnp|Martin|Rische|Van Gorden|2008|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3mVevn3NWYAC&pg=PA149 149]}} based on Pico and Reuchlin and adding "to them through an original synthesis of kabbalistic and Christian sources".<ref>Don Karr: [http://www.digital-brilliance.com/contributed/Karr/Biblios/ccinea.pdf ''The Study of Christian Cabala in English''] (pdf), p. 23, accessed on 28 March 2013.</ref>

=== Balthasar Walther === {{main|Balthasar Walther}} Balthasar Walther, (1558 – before 1630), was a Silesian physician. In 1598–1599, Walther undertook a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to learn about the intricacies of the Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism from groups in Safed and elsewhere, including amongst the followers of Isaac Luria. However, he did not follow the teachings of these Jewish authorities but later used his learning to further Christian theological pursuits. Despite his claim to have spent six years in these travels, it appears that he only made several shorter trips. Walther himself did not author any significant works of Christian Kabbalah but maintained a voluminous manuscript collection of magical and kabbalistic works. His significance for the history of Christian Kabbalah is that his ideas and doctrines exercised a profound influence on the works of the German theosopher, Jakob Böhme, in particular Böhme's ''Forty Questions on the Soul'' (c.1621).{{sfnp|Penman|2008}}

=== Athanasius Kircher === {{main|Athanasius Kircher}}

The following century produced Athanasius Kircher, a German Jesuit priest, Hermeticist and polymath. He wrote extensively on the subject in 1652, elaborating on Mirandola's work on Kabbalah by bringing in further elements such as Orphism and Egyptian mythology to the mix in his work, ''Oedipus Aegyptiacus''.{{sfnp|Stolzenberg|2013}} It was illustrated by Kircher's adaptation of the ''Tree of Life''.{{sfnp|Schmidt|2001–2002}} Kircher's version of the Tree of Life is still used in Hermetic Qabalah.{{sfnp|Pollack|2004|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Ztl-B6NxftAC&pg=PA49 49]}}

=== Sir Thomas Browne === The physician-philosopher Sir Thomas Browne (1605–82) is recognised as one of the few 17th century English scholars of the Kabbalah.{{sfnp|Beitchman|1998|pp=339–40}} Browne read Hebrew, owned a copy of Francesco Giorgio's highly influential work of Christian Kabbalah ''De harmonia mundi totius'' (1525), and alluded to the Kabbalah in his discourse The Garden of Cyrus and encyclopaedia Pseudodoxia Epidemica which was translated into German by the Hebrew scholar and promoter of the Kabbalah, Christian Knorr von Rosenroth.{{sfnp|Barbour|2013|p=339-40}}

=== Christian Knorr von Rosenroth === thumb|Sephirotic diagram from Knorr von Rosenroth's ''Kabbala Denudata''. {{main|Christian Knorr von Rosenroth}} Christian Knorr von Rosenroth, (1636–1689), became well known as a translator, annotator, and editor of Kabbalistic texts; he published the two-volume ''Kabbala denudata'' ('Kabbalah Unveiled' 1677–78), "which virtually alone represented authentic (Jewish) ''kabbalah'' to Christian Europe until the mid-nineteenth century". The ''Kabbala denudata'' contains Latin translations of, among others, sections of the ''Zohar'', ''Pardes Rimmonim'' by Moses Cordovero, ''Sha’ar ha-Shamayim'' and ''Beit Elohim'' by Abraham Cohen de Herrera, ''Sefer ha-Gilgulim'' (a Lurianic tract attributed to Hayyim Vital), with commentaries by Knorr von Rosenroth and Henry More; some later editions include a summary of Christian Kabbalah (''Adumbratio Kabbalæ Christianæ'') by F. M. van Helmont.<ref>Don Karr: [http://www.digital-brilliance.com/contributed/Karr/Biblios/ccinea.pdf ''The Study of Christian Cabala in English''] (pdf), p. 43, accessed on 28 March 2013.</ref>

=== Johan Kemper === {{main|Johan Kemper}} Johan Kemper (1670–1716) was a Hebrew teacher, whose tenure at Uppsala University lasted from 1697 to 1716.{{sfnp|Wolfson|2001}} He was Emanuel Swedenborg's probable Hebrew tutor.

Kemper, formerly known as Moses ben Aaron of Cracow, was a convert to Lutheranism from Judaism. During his time at Uppsala, he wrote his three-volume work on the ''Zohar'' entitled ''Matteh Mosche'' ('The Staff of Moses').{{sfnp|Schoeps|1965|pp=60–67}} In it, he attempted to show that the ''Zohar'' contained the Christian doctrine of the Trinity.{{sfnp|Wolfson|2001}}

This belief also drove him to make a literal translation of the Gospel of Matthew into Hebrew and to write a kabbalistic commentary on it.{{citation needed|date=March 2025}}

== References == {{Reflist}}

===Works cited=== {{refbegin}} * {{cite book |last1=Barbour |first1=Reid |title=Sir Thomas Browne: A Life |date=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-967988-1}} * {{cite book |last1=Beitchman |first1=Philip |title=Alchemy of the Word: Cabala of the Renaissance |date=1998 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-7914-3738-4}} * {{cite encyclopedia |last=Copenhaver |first=Brian P. |title=Giovanni Pico della Mirandola |encyclopedia=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |date=2024 |orig-date=2008 |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pico-della-mirandola/ |access-date=2025-03-20}} * {{cite journal |first=Don |last=Karr |title=The Study of Christian Cabala in English |journal=Kabbalah: Journal for the Study of Jewish Mystical Texts |date=2008 |url=http://www.digital-brilliance.com/contributed/Karr/Biblios/ccinea.pdf}}{{full citation needed|date=March 2025}} * {{cite book |last1=Martin |first1=Walter |last2=Rische |first2=Jill Martin |last3=Van Gorden |first3=Kurt |year=2008 |title=The Kingdom of the Occult |publisher=Thomas Nelson |isbn=978-1-4185-1644-4}} * {{cite book |first=Leigh T. I. |last=Penman |chapter=A Second Christian Rosencreuz? Jakob Böhme’s Disciple Balthasar Walther (1558-c.1630) and the Kabbalah. With a Bibliography of Walther’s Printed Works |title=Western Esotericism. Selected Papers Read at the Symposium on Western Esotericism held at Åbo, Finland, on 15–17 August 2007 |series=Scripta instituti donneriani Aboensis |volume=XX |editor-first=T. |editor-last=Ahlbäck |place=Åbo, Finland |publisher=Donner Institute |year=2008 |pages=154–172}} * {{cite book |first=Rachel |last=Pollack |title=The Kabbalah Tree: A Journey of Balance & Growth |year=2004 |place=St. Paul, MN |publisher=Llewellyn Publications |isbn=978-0-7387-0507-1}} * {{cite journal |last=Schmidt |first=Edward W. |title=The Last Renaissance Man: Athanasius Kircher, S.J. |journal=Company: The World of Jesuits and Their Friends |volume=19 |number=2 |date=Winter 2001–2002}} * {{cite book |last=Schoeps |first=Hans-Joachim |title=Barocke Juden, Christen, Judenchristen |place=Bern |publisher=Francke Verlag |year=1965 |language=de}} * {{cite book |last=Scholem |first=Gershom |author-link=Gershom Scholem |chapter=The Beginnings of the Christian Kabbalah |editor-link=Joseph Dan |editor-last=Dan |editor-first=Joseph |title=The Christian Kabbalah: Jewish Mystical Books and their Christian Interpreters |place=Cambridge, MA |publisher=Harvard College Library |year=1997 |pages=17–51}} * {{cite book |last=Stolzenberg |first=Daniel |title=Egyptian Oedipus: Athanasius Kircher and the Secrets of Antiquity |place=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-226-92414-4}} * {{cite journal |last=Wolfson |first=Eliot R. |date=August 2001 |title=Messianism in the Christian Kabbalah of Johann Kemper |journal=The Journal of Scriptural Reasoning |volume=1 |number=1 |url=http://etext.virginia.edu/journals/ssr/issues/volume1/number1/ssr01-01-a02.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070825033350/http://etext.virginia.edu/journals/ssr/issues/volume1/number1/ssr01-01-a02.html |archive-date=2007-08-25}} {{refend}}

== Further reading == {{refbegin}} * {{cite book |last=Armstrong |first=Allan |title=The Secret Garden of the Soul: An introduction to the Kabbalah |publisher=Imagier Publishing |place=Bristol |year=2008 |ref=none}} * {{cite book |last=Blau |first=J. L. |title=The Christian Interpretation of the Cabala in the Renaissance |place=New York |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=1944 |ref=none}} * {{cite book |editor-link=Joseph Dan |editor-last=Dan |editor-first=Joseph |title=The Christian Kabbalah: Jewish Mystical Books and their Christian Interpreters |place=Cambridge, MA |publisher=Harvard College Library |year=1997 |ref=none}} * {{cite book |last=Dan |first=Joseph |chapter=Modern Times: The Christian Kabbalah |title=Kabbalah: A Very Short Introduction |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2006 |ref=none}} * {{cite book |last=Farmer |first=S. A. |title=Syncretism in the West: Pico's 900 Theses (1486) |publisher=Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies |year=1998 |isbn=0-86698-209-4 |ref=none}} * {{cite journal |last=Forshaw |first=Peter J. |title=Cabala Chymica or Chemica Cabalistica – Early Modern Alchemists and Cabala |journal=Ambix |volume=60 |number=4 |url=https://www.academia.edu/5237828 |date=2013 |page=361 |doi=10.1179/0002698013Z.00000000039 |s2cid=170459930 |ref=none}} * {{cite book |last=Forshaw |first=Peter J. |chapter=The Genesis of Christian Kabbalah - Early Modern Speculations on the Work of Creation |title=Hidden Truths from Eden: Esoteric Readings of Genesis 1–3 |editor1-first=Susanne |editor1-last=Scholz |editor2-first=Caroline |editor2-last=Vander Stichele |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/10460846 |date=2014 |ref=none}} * {{cite book |last=Forshaw |first=Peter J. |chapter=Christian Kabbalah |title=The Cambridge Handbook of Western Mysticism and Esotericism |editor-first=Glenn |editor-last=Magee |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/40599158 |date=2016 |page=143 |doi=10.1017/CBO9781139027649.014 |isbn=978-0-521-50983-1 |ref=none}} * {{cite book |last=Hames |first=Harvey J. |year=2000 |title=The Art of Conversion: Christianity and Kabbalah in the Thirteenth Century |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-11715-0 |ref=none}} * {{cite journal |title=Exotericism and Esotericism in Thirteenth Century Kabbalah |first=Harvey J. |last=Hames |date=2004 |journal=Esoterica |volume=6 |pages=103–112 |url=http://www.esoteric.msu.edu/VolumeVI/KabbalahHames.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041212215947/https://esoteric.msu.edu/VolumeVI/KabbalahHames.htm |archive-date=2004-12-12 |ref=none}} * {{cite book |last=Huss |first=Boaz |chapter=Text and Context of the 1684 Sulzbach Edition of the Zohar |editor1-first=Chanita |editor1-last=Goodblatt |editor2-first=Howard Theodore |editor2-last=Kreisel |title=Tradition, Heterodoxy, and Religious Culture: Judaism and Christianity in the Early Modern Period |year=2006 |place=Israel |publisher=Ben-Gurion University of the Negev |isbn=978-965-342-926-0 |ref=none}} * {{cite book |first=Don |last=Karr |chapter=Christian Kabbalah: A Survey of Research |title=Western Esotericism and the Science of Religion |editor1-first=Antoine |editor1-last=Faivre |editor2-first=Wouter J. |editor2-last=Hanegraaff |publisher=Peeters Publishers |year=1998 |isbn=978-90-429-0630-3 |ref=none}} * {{cite journal |first=Andrew |last=Kuiper |date=August 7, 2019 |title=Officially Sanctioned Catholic Kabbalah? |journal=Church Life Journal |publisher=University of Notre Dame |url=https://churchlifejournal.nd.edu/articles/officially-sanctioned-catholic-kabbalah/ |access-date=2025-03-20}} * {{Cite book |last=Ogren |first=Brian |title=Kabbalah and the Founding of America: The Early Influence of Jewish Thought in the New World |publisher=NYU Press |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-4798-0798-7 |ref=none}} * {{cite journal |last1=Paluch |first1=A. |last2=Koch |first2=P. B. |year=2022 |title=Kabbalah and Knowledge Transfers in Early Modernity: Foreword |journal=European Journal of Jewish Studies |volume=16 |number=1 |pages=1–4 |doi=10.1163/1872471X-11411104 |ref=none}} * {{cite book |last=Reichert |first=Klaus |chapter=Pico della Mirandola and the Beginnings of Christian Kabbala |title=Mysticism, Magic and Kabbalah in Ashkenazi Judaism |editor1-first=K. E. |editor1-last=Grözinger |editor2-first=J. |editor2-last=Dan |place=Berlin |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |year=1995 |ref=none}} * {{cite book |last=Swietlicki |first=Catherine |title=Spanish Christian Cabala: The Works of Luis de Leon, Santa Teresa de Jesus, and San Juan de la Cruz |publisher=University of Missouri Press |year=1987 |ref=none}} * {{cite book |last=Wirszubski |first=Chaim |title=Pico della Mirandola's Encounter with Jewish Mysticism |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1989 |ref=none}} * {{cite book |author-link=Frances Yates |last=Yates |first=Frances A. |title=The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age |publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul |place=London |year=1979 |ref=none}} * {{cite book |last=Yates |first=Frances A. |year=1999 |title=Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-22045-3 |ref=none}} {{refend}}

Category:Christian Kabbalah Kabbalah Category:Kabbalah