The Essenes: Their History and Doctrines ; And, The Kabbalah : Its Doctrines, Development, and Literature

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Cosimo, Inc., Nov 1, 2005 - Religion - 256 pages
Every investigation into the causes of the phenomena both of mind and matter was strictly forbidden, because the study of logic and metaphysics was regarded as injurious to devotional life.-from The EssenesThe Essenes introduces us to the Judaic sect that contributed greatly to the spread of early Christianity. Drawing upon the Midrashim and the Talmud as well as the accounts of Pliny, Josephus, and other ancient writers, this tribute explores their rise and progress, their relationship to both Judaism and Christianity, and more.The Kabbalah is a guide to those wishing initiation into the mysteries of this esoteric doctrine and its extraordinary if veiled influence on Jewish culture over the centuries. Elementary but also comprehensive, it offers easy-to-understand explanations of matters of Jewish history and literature with which the lay reader may not be familiar.Here, in one volume, are two classic essays, dating from 1863 and 1864, on Jewish mysticism by one of the most prominent Hebrew scholars of the 19th century.Hebrew Massoretic scholar CHRISTIAN D. GINSBURG (1821-1914) was born in Poland but spent much of his literary life in England. He is also the author of The Song of Songs and Coheleth and Introduction to the Massoretico-Critical Edition of the Hebrew Bible.

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Contents

Ancient Literature on the Essenes
31
THE KABBALAH
82
The Schools
189
Index
233
Index of Passages of Scripture Referred to
239
Copyright

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Page 136 - And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
Page 95 - Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves ; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female...
Page 104 - And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, ° before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.
Page 211 - This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Page 125 - From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord's name is to be praised.
Page 96 - Seek not out the things that are too hard for thee, neither search the things that are above thy strength. But what is commanded thee, think thereupon with reverence; for it is not needful for thee to see with thine eyes the things that are in secret.
Page 184 - The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will show them his covenant/- (Ps.
Page 48 - ... a paddle, (which kind of hatchet is given them when they are first admitted among them,) and covering themselves round with their garment, that they may not affront the divine rays of light, they ease themselves into that pit, after which they put the earth that was dug out again into the pit, and even this they do only in the more lonely places, which they choose out for this purpose : and although this...
Page 47 - ... his body with hunger, till he perish; for which reason they receive many of them again when they are at their last gasp, out of compassion to them, as thinking the miseries they have endured till they came to the very brink of death to be a sufficient punishment for the sins they had been guilty of.
Page 84 - ... of the divine nature, and show them the real tie which binds all things together, found the cravings of their minds satisfied by this theosophy, the claims of the Kabbalah on the attention of students in literature and philosophy will readily be admitted. The claims of the Kabbalah, however, are not restricted to the literary...

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