Elitism and the Approach to God

Erscheinungsjahr 2025
ISBN: 978-90-04-50428-8
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 359, 248 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm

Reihe: Brill's Studies in Intellectual History

Elitism and the Approach to God investigates a historical and cultural dichotomy in European history which has not hitherto been satisfactorily explained Why did so many of the most influential “authorities” of the age insist that the nature and mystery of the divine and of God should not be shared with “the vulgar crowd”, that is with the ordinary people, although this appears to be the principal purpose of all other religious teaching throughout the period? Robin Raybould gives examples from the works of more than sixty “authorities” who insisted that the mysteries of the divine should remain secret. He then surveys the attempts of other religious and civic leaders, both pagan and Christian, to investigate, understand and by contrast to share their findings on the nature of God. In a final section he attempts to reconcile these opposing views.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Raybould, Robin

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft | Kulturwissenschaften Kulturwissenschaften
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Philosophie: Allgemeines, Methoden

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Contents

List of Figures

Introduction

Part 1: The Witness of the Authorities: Reasons to Withhold the Secrets

1 The Ignorant Were Not Initiated 1 Origin of the Rites of Initiation 2 Orpheus 3 The Derveni Papyrus 4 The Mysteries: an Experience of the Divine 5 Plato and the Mysteries of Philosophy

2 Reasons to Withhold the Secrets: the Ignorant Were Not Sufficiently Instructed 1 Pagan Writers 2 Christian Initiation: Jesus Christ 3 Collegia

3 Reasons to Withhold the Secrets: the Ignorant Were Not Worthy (I) – the First Millenium CE 1 The Christian Fathers: Clement of Alexandria

4 Reasons to Withhold the Secrets: the Ignorant Were Not Worthy (II) – the Renaissance

Part 2: Strategies to Understand the Divine Mysteries

Introduction to Part 2

Section 1: Direct Approaches to the Divine

5 History of the Symbol

6 The Neoplatonists

7 Theurgy, Agalmata and the Divine Names

8 Christian Mysticism

9 Silence as a Medium to Approach God

10 Visions and Dreams

11 The Paradox of Concealing and Revealing

Section 2: Indirect Understanding of the Divine

Introduction to Section 2, Part 2

12 Poetry and Myth 1 The Myths

13 Allegory 1 Secular and Christian Allegories 2 The Scriptures 3 The Book of Nature

14 The Literary Species 1 Hieroglyphs 2 Enigmas 3 Bestiaries 4 Emblems

Part 3: Why the Secrets Were to Be Withheld

Introduction to Part 3

15 Disdain for the Unlearned

Conclusion 1 The Elite 2 Profanation and the Love of God 3 The Status of Man

Bibliography

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Robin Raybould (M.A., LL.M., Cambridge, UK) is an independent scholar studying the symbolic literature of the European Renaissance. He has published, monographs, articles and translations on the subject including a translation and commentary of Karl Giehlow’s Die Hieroglyphenkunde (Brill, 2015).