The History of Christian Kabbalah

What did Christian thinkers discover in Jewish mysticism? From cosmic diagrams to the balance of mercy and judgment, we explore the ideas that captivated early Christian readers, and the centuries of Jewish thought that stood behind them.As the first part of a three-part introduction, this episode sketches the emergence of key themes of Jewish mysticism, from early cosmological speculation and letter symbolism to the formation of kabbalistic doctrines of divine emanation. It introduces the symbolic world that later Christian readers would encounter and reinterpret within their own theological frameworks.CreditsAcademic Research Article: Elke Morlok & Níels Páll EggerzPodcast Adaptation & Narration: Níels Páll Eggerz & Elke MorlokAudio Editing & Post-Production: Gregor Meinecke & Mario AdamMusic: Luigi Boccherini, Minuet, G.275 (arr. for harpsichord by Gregor Quendel)Source: Pixabay (Pixabay License)Funding & SupportThe History of Christian Kabbalah Podcast is a project of Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG, project no. 497340432).Further ReadingJoseph Dan, Kabbalah: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2006)Joseph Dan (ed.), The Early Kabbalah (Paulist Press, 1986)Moshe Idel, Kabbalah: New Perspectives (Yale University Press, 1988)Gershom Scholem, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (Knopf, 2011), 1–155Gershom Scholem, Origins of the Kabbalah (Princeton University Press, 1990)