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On The Cabalistical Philosophy Of The Jews.
ON THE CABALISTICAL PHILOSOPHY OF THE JEWS .
For the FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE . MR . EDITOR , HAVING lately read several tracts on the subject of the Cabalistical Philosophy of the Jews , I have been led-to think that there is a very intimate connection between the higher parts of it and the sublime mystei ies of Freemasonry . This has induced me to send you
a few extracts , which I beg you to insert in your valuable Magaizne ; and as the Order boasts the names of Watkins , Northouck , and Preston , 1 shall hope that , in a future Number , one of those gentlemen will throw some light on the subject : this , I am sure , will oblige more of your correspondents than myself . ' This philosophy is divided into speculative and practical . The
former consists in the knowledge of explaining Scripture conformably to the secret tradition , and in discovering the sublime truths that relate to the Deity , spirits , and worlds . It teaches a theory o f mystical metaphysics , and a system of refined physics . The latter teaches the art of producing miracles by a peculiar application of the words and sentences in Sciipture , as well as by their-being combined in different manners . ' The practical Caballists , not content with suggesting the grossest absurdities in support of their science , wish to dignify it with a sacred
origin . I liey say , that by its power , Moses triumphed over Pharaoh ' s magicians , and became so formidable by his miracles—that by the same art , Elias brought down the fire fn . m heaven , and Daniel shut the mouths of the lions ; and all the prophets used it with success , ' The speculative Caballa is of two sorts . One is called the literal , artificial , or fymbolical ; the other , the philosophical , or not artificial The literal Caballa is a secretartificialand symbolical explanation
, , of the Holy Sciipture , which the Jews say they have received from their ancestors ; and that , by means of letters , syllables , and words transposed , it teaches them to discover the hidden sense of a verse , and entirely different from what it seems to convey as it is regularly written . , ' The philosophical Caballa abounds with very sublime and symt
bolical meaphysics , in regard to the Deity , spirits , and world / according to the tradition which , the Jews cleclaie to have been transmitted to them from their fore-fathers . It is divided into two species , The one , which teaches a knowledge of the divine perfections , & c . is called the . chariot , or nurcav . i , from the vision which Ezekiel relates in the first chapter of his revelations . The other is called bcrefchit , or the beginning ., from its being the first word in Genesis ; and its power only extends to sublunary events . '
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Cabalistical Philosophy Of The Jews.
ON THE CABALISTICAL PHILOSOPHY OF THE JEWS .
For the FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE . MR . EDITOR , HAVING lately read several tracts on the subject of the Cabalistical Philosophy of the Jews , I have been led-to think that there is a very intimate connection between the higher parts of it and the sublime mystei ies of Freemasonry . This has induced me to send you
a few extracts , which I beg you to insert in your valuable Magaizne ; and as the Order boasts the names of Watkins , Northouck , and Preston , 1 shall hope that , in a future Number , one of those gentlemen will throw some light on the subject : this , I am sure , will oblige more of your correspondents than myself . ' This philosophy is divided into speculative and practical . The
former consists in the knowledge of explaining Scripture conformably to the secret tradition , and in discovering the sublime truths that relate to the Deity , spirits , and worlds . It teaches a theory o f mystical metaphysics , and a system of refined physics . The latter teaches the art of producing miracles by a peculiar application of the words and sentences in Sciipture , as well as by their-being combined in different manners . ' The practical Caballists , not content with suggesting the grossest absurdities in support of their science , wish to dignify it with a sacred
origin . I liey say , that by its power , Moses triumphed over Pharaoh ' s magicians , and became so formidable by his miracles—that by the same art , Elias brought down the fire fn . m heaven , and Daniel shut the mouths of the lions ; and all the prophets used it with success , ' The speculative Caballa is of two sorts . One is called the literal , artificial , or fymbolical ; the other , the philosophical , or not artificial The literal Caballa is a secretartificialand symbolical explanation
, , of the Holy Sciipture , which the Jews say they have received from their ancestors ; and that , by means of letters , syllables , and words transposed , it teaches them to discover the hidden sense of a verse , and entirely different from what it seems to convey as it is regularly written . , ' The philosophical Caballa abounds with very sublime and symt
bolical meaphysics , in regard to the Deity , spirits , and world / according to the tradition which , the Jews cleclaie to have been transmitted to them from their fore-fathers . It is divided into two species , The one , which teaches a knowledge of the divine perfections , & c . is called the . chariot , or nurcav . i , from the vision which Ezekiel relates in the first chapter of his revelations . The other is called bcrefchit , or the beginning ., from its being the first word in Genesis ; and its power only extends to sublunary events . '