Neoplatonism / Gnosticism / Kabbalah?

Started by Daniel, October 15, 2018, 07:54:41 PM

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Daniel

I'm not sure whether this is the right forum, but I think I'll post it here since there is a historical aspect to the question.

I am wondering whether there is any connection between these three religions: Neoplatonism, Gnosticism, and Kabbalah? I personally don't know a whole lot about any of them, but they all seem kind of similar at a glance. (Come to think of it, the New Age religion seems similar too, from what I can tell...)

Tales

My understanding is that the entire Church, all of the Fathers, were Christian neoplatonists before St. Thomas.

Daniel

#2
When I say "Neoplatonism", I'm referring specifically to the Neoplatonism of Plotinus. It's a pantheistic religion and it has an inherently non-Christian doctrine of salvation.

('Christian Neoplatonism' is something entirely different. Christian Neoplatonism is a kind of Neoplatonism which borrows from Plotinus to a great extent but does so in a way that's compatible with the Church's teachings. (Though I believe the line between Christian Neoplatonism and Plotinus's Neoplatonism was a lot blurrier in the east than it was in the west. And I know that the western philosopher Scotus Eriugena (not to be confused with Duns Scotus) came dangerously close to pantheism.))


But anyway, I note that there appear to be some similarities between [non-Christian] Neoplatonism and Gnosticism and Kabbalah. Neoplatonism and Kabbalah both seem to be pantheistic; all three seem to have a similar doctrine of salvation; Neoplatonism and Gnosticism both have this idea that matter is evil; Gnosticism and Kabbalah both seem to place great emphasis on secret knowledge (Neoplatonism not so much, though it is idealistic).
Again, I don't know much about Gnosticism (and I know even less about Kabbalah), so maybe my impression is just wrong. But if these similarities do in fact exist, I'm wondering whether they are merely superficial, or whether there's some real historical/ideological connection? (I haven't done the research, but I believe that Wikipedia says that Neoplatonism had an influence on Gnosticism and not the other way around. But doesn't Gnosticism predate Neoplatonism? Unless Gnosticism sort of evolved over time or something. I know that there were various different kinds of Gnosticism as well...)

Also, is Manichæanism a kind of Gnosticism?

Optatus

The Jewish Revolutionary Spirit by E. Michael Jones is the book for you. He details the connections between Neoplatonism and Kabbalah and their subsequent introduction into the European (i.e., Christian) mindset by the likes of Giordano Bruno and Reuchlin, its eventual evolution into Rosicrucianism in the Elizabethan curia and its final development into Masonry.