Elitism and the Approach to God

Robin Raybould (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

248 Seiten

2025
Brill (Verlag)
978-90-04-50428-8 (ISBN)

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“Elitism” examines the paradox that one tradition of philosophers and theologians throughout European history insisted that the nature of the Divine should not be revealed to the ordinary people, in spite of the fact that during the same period the main thrust of Christian teaching was to do exactly that.

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.

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).

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

Erscheinungsdatum	29.07.2025
Reihe/Serie	Brill's Studies in Intellectual History ; 359
Verlagsort	Leiden
Sprache	englisch
Maße	155 x 235 mm
Gewicht	541 g
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
	Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Kulturgeschichte
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Philosophie des Mittelalters
	Religion / Theologie ► Christentum ► Kirchengeschichte
ISBN-10	90-04-50428-1 / 9004504281
ISBN-13	978-90-04-50428-8 / 9789004504288
Zustand	Neuware