Kabbalah as Philosophia Perennis?: The Image of Judaism in the German Early Enlightenment: Three Studies

One of the CARDINAL debates in the German Enlightenment in general and in the German Early Enlightenment in particular concerned the origins of knowledge. It was a continuation of a sixteenth-centuiy discussion which affected eveiy aspect of the intellectual world-theology, philosophy, history, philology, scientific and political thought-often transcending dogmatic barriers between disciplines and calling for a wider, universal perspective. It gave rise to different constructions of the transmission and transformation of knowledge that was described as "true" and "untainted" and that was methodically distinguished from "distorted" or "deviant'" knowledge.I want to highlight two interrelated aspects of this complex debate in Germany. First, theology retained considerable authority in Germany during the first half of the eighteenth century despite the growth of radical thought, and shaped the search for the source of authentic knowledge by setting it within the framework of sacred history. The German idea of a "perennial philosophy" {philosophia perennis)-a term Leibniz borrowed from August Steucho1-promoted a model of the transmission of authentic theological knowledge. This emphasis gave rise to various problems concerning the identification of perennial knowledge in nontheological systems of thought such as Greek philosophy. Second, although "theological," the German intellectual world was far from being theologically homogenous. Almost all Protestant sects make use of "perennial" arguments as proof of their authenticity, even when condemning others as heretics. This language dominated not only the polemical and apologetic debates within German Protestantism but also the often one-sided intrareligious debate with the "other," be it with a pagan, Jew, or Muslim.These two aspects were factors in the discussions of Jewish (or Hebrew) religion. Jews were the most significant "other" in German Protestantism, not only because they were physically present but also because they served as a mirror image upon which Protestantism constructed its own identity. The fact that the consideration of ancient Judaism and its esoteric knowledge, the Kabbalah, stood at the heart of the philosophia perennis debate since the sixteenth centuiy only intensified the tension. For side by side with Protestant controversies concerning the vaunted antiquity and authenticity of kabbalistic wisdom, there were internecine criticisms and concerns over the Christian preoccupation with these materials.2 Christian Kabbalah-already an established terminus in the seventeenth centuiy3-was often depicted as having a dangerous affinity for Judaism, an intrareligious accusation that in turn affected the image of Judaism itself.In the following pages I wish to present three different considerations of Hebrew religion in general and Kabbalah in particular, written during the German Early Enlightenment: Johann Benedikt Carpzov's Introduction to Jewish Theology (1687), Johann Franz Buddeus's Introduction to the History of the Philosophy of the Hebrews (1701), and Jacob Friedrich Reimmann's Introduction to Theology in General and to Jewish Theology in Particular (1717). I choose to deal with these essays not only in light of their significance for discussions throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries but also because they share an interest in histoiy-Carpzov's perspective on the degeneration of true knowledge, Buddeus in the framework of the "Histoiy of Philosophy," and Reimmann through the prism of historia literaria-combining the historical narrative with the theological/philosophical one. In examining these essays I will focus on three main points: how each defines theology; the depiction of Jewish thought in light of that definition; and the understanding of Kabbalah in light of the two preceding points. I will examine the attempt in each essay to reconcile the discourse of "perennial philosophy" with Christianity through the discussion on Judaism, either by denouncing Kabbalah as a source deprived of authenticity, thus condemning the use of Christian Kabbalah, or by employing the perennial philosophy concept in a wider view of universal histoiy. …