Z'ev ben Shimon Halevi (aka Warren Kenton)
the Work of the Kabbalist
Z'ev ben Shimon Halevi is the author of eleven books on various aspects of Kabbalah. He lives in London but teaches courses in Kabbalah all over the world -- in Europe, North and South America, and Israel.
Halevi writes in his preface, "To be acquainted with Kabbalah is one matter, but to do its Work quite another. Many who begin to walk the path soon tire or turn away when the novelty has gone, and some even double back after great progress when they see there is nothing for them. Only those who do the Work for its own sake are initiated. Only the individual who wants to make manifest what Kabbalah reveals can be an initiate. This process is nothing less than to integrate the body, soul and spirit, and so become a finer instrument whereby the inner and outer worlds can come into communion."
In his chapter entitled "Self", he further writes, "It is the aim of all mystics to know the Holy One. In Kabbalah this is a primal objective...but one must differentiate between following ancient custom for its own sake and worshipping God...the unorthodox Kabbalist can have the same spiritual experience as the Hasidic rabbi because they share the same objectives as the mystics of Christianity, Islam and all the other great religious traditions. It cannot be any other way, or the Universal teaching found everywhere makes no sense, and we have every reason to believe this is not so. There can only be one pivot to every true and complete Teaching, one focus to all rituals, devotions and contemplations. There is only one reality that the mystic can contact, and that is the Absolute. Now the Name of God is known in every language spoken by the human race. It may be this and it may be that, or it might not be anything that can be named. The Holy One is and is not, is remote and yet at the heart of all. This is the mystery of God."
Concerning the Work, "It is not enough to be able to see all the levels of Existence, although this would be an asset, but to work within it. Despite its reputation of being concerned with the higher realms of the universe, Kabbalah has always been an essentially earth-related tradition..In its original and purest form, theurgy, to give it its more respectable name, was the art and science of adjusting situations from the higher realms so as to allow a process to proceed or to create conditions wherein a situation could develop that would aid Creation at large, or an individual to evolve, and so serve God.."
There may be some confusion concerning Kabbalah. Only proper study can bring knowledge which will enlighten. A governing principle of Kabbalah is that it is not enough to experience a spiritual relationship. This relationship is only complete when the knowledge gained is an influence for greater understanding in the temporal world, an understanding which touches lives with the Holy Spirit.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A View of the Evidences of Christianity in Three Parts
"In order to pass the B.A. examination, it was, also, necessary to get up Paley's Evidences of Christianity, and his Moral Philosophy. . . The logic of this book and as I may add of his Natural Theology gave me as much delight as did Euclid. The careful study of these works, without attempting to learn any part by rote, was the only part of the Academical Course which, as I then felt and as I still believe, was of the least use to me in the education of my mind. I did not at that time trouble myself about Paley's premises; and taking these on trust I was charmed and convinced of the long line of argumentation." Charles Darwin. Autobiography
Born in July 1743, in Peterborough, England, William Paley trained for the Anglican priesthood, graduating from Christ's College, Cambridge in 1763. He was appointed a fellow and tutor of his college in 1766, and rose through the ranks of the Anglican Church. He died on May 25, 1805. Paley wrote several books on philosophy and Christianity, which proved extremely influential. His 1794 book A View of the Evidence of Christianity was required reading at Cambridge University until the 20th century. His most influential contribution to biological thought, however, was his book Natural Theology: or, Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity, Collected from the Appearances of Nature, first published in 1802. In this book, Paley laid out a full exposition of natural theology, the belief that the nature of God could be understood by reference to His creation, the natural world. He introduced one of the most famous metaphors in the philosophy of science, the image of the watchmaker. http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/paley.html
In his preamble to the Honourable and Right Reverend James York, DD, Lord Bishop of Ely, William Paley states as one of his purposes in writing A View of the Evidences of Christianity in Three Parts as to promote the religious part of an academical education. As one of the outstanding philosophers of British Empiricism, Paley's work stands as the ultimate rationale argument for the credibility of the Christian message.
William Paley proposes first, that "there is satisfactory evidence, that many professing to be original witnesses of the Christian miracles, passed their lives in labours, dangers and sufferings, voluntarily undergone in attestation of the accounts which they delivered, and solely in consequence of their belief of those accounts; and that they also submitted, from the same motives, to a new rule of conduct." His second proposition is that "there is not satisfactory evidence that persons professing to be original witnesses of other miracles, in their nature as certain as these are, have ever acted in the same manner, in attestation of the accounts which they delivered, and properly in consequence of their belief of those accounts."
In support of the first proposition, Paley offers two points, "first that the founder of the institution [Christianity], his associates and the immediate followers, acted the part which the proposition imputes to them; secondly, that they did so in attestation of the miraculous history recorded in our scriptures, and solely in consequence of their belief of the truth of this history." Further, he advances that the gospel record and the epistles promoted the same message as we have today that the basis of Christianity is miraculous, namely, the resurrection of its founder.
In every age, the LORD our GOD conveys the message which guides believers to a spiritual relationship. In the Age of Enlightenment, there was no stronger voice than William Paley.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Benedict, Saint, Abbot of Monte Cassino (c - 547)
The Rule of St. Benedict in English
The founder of Western monasticism, born in Nursia near Spoleto, Italy. He studied at Rome, and became convinced that the only way of escaping the evil in the world was in seclusion and religious exercise; so as a boy of 14 he withdrew to a cavern or grotto near Subiaco, where he lived for three years. The fame of his piety led to his being appointed the abbot of a neighbouring monastery at Vicovaro, but he soon left it, as the morals of the monks were not strict enough. Multitudes still sought his guidance; and from the most devoted he founded 12 small monastic communities. He ultimately established a monastery on Monte Cassino, near Naples, afterwards one of the richest and most famous in Italy. In 515 he is said to have composed his Regula monachorum, which became the common rule of all Western monasticism. He was declared the patron saint of all Europe by Pope Paul VI in 1964. Feast day 11 July. (http://www.biography.com}
Benedict begins, "Listen carefully, my son, to the master's instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart. This is advice from a father who loves you; welcome it, and faithfully put it into practice. The labour of obedience will bring you back to him from whom you had drifted through the sloth of disobedience. This message of mine is for you, then, if you are ready to give up your own will, once and for all, and armed with the strong and noble weapons of obedience to do battle for the true King, Christ the Lord.
"First of all, every time you begin a good work, you must pray to him most earnestly to bring it to perfection...If you desire true and eternal life, keep your tongue free from vicious talk and your lips from all deceit; turn away from evil and do good; let peace be your quest aim (Pa 33(Vulgate); 34(Hebrew):14-15)...Therefore we intend to establish a school for the Lord's service. In drawing up its regulations, we hope to set down nothing harsh, nothing burdensome. The good of all concerned, however, may prompt us to a little strictness in order to amend faults and to safeguard love. Do not be daunted immediately by fear and run away from the road that leads to salvation. It is bound to be narrow at the outset. But as we progress in this way of life and in faith, we shall run on the path of God's commandments, our hearts overflowing with the inexpressible delight of love. Never serving from his instructions, then, but faithfully observing his teaching in the monastery until death, we shall through patience share in the sufferings of Christ that we may deserve also to share in his kingdom. Amen"
Benedict describes the "Tools for Good Works", "First of all, love the Lord God with your whole heart, your whole soul and all your strength, and love your neighbour as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39)...Rid your heart of all deceit. Never give a hollow greeting of peace or turn away when someone heeds your love Bind yourself to no oath lest it prove false, but speak the truth with heart and tongue...Place your hope in God alone. If you notice something good in yourself, give credit to God, not to yourself, but be certain that the evil you commit is always your own and yours to acknowledge...Yearn for everlasting life with holy desire. Cay by day remind yourself that your are going to die. Hour by hour keep careful watch over all you do...And finally, never lose hope in God's mercy. These, then, are the tools of the spiritual craft."
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Making All Things New
Life of the BelovedHenri Nouwen was born in Nijkerk, Holland, and came to the United States in 1964. A Roman Catholic priest and psychologist, he has taught at several prestigious universities including Yale, Harvard and Notre Dame. He is the author of over 20 books. Nouwen's spiritual pilgrimage brought him to serve the mentally handicapped in L'Arche, an international network of communities. After spending one year in Trosly, France, he went to L'Arche Daybreak in Richmond Hills, Ontario, Canada, in 1986. At a L'Arche home, the mentally handicapped and their assistants live together as God's children trying to en flesh the gospel. Assistants provide basic care for their charges: cooking cleaning, encouraging, and praying. Henri Nouwen's spiritual sensitivity is both refreshing and prophetic. (Foster, Richard; Smith, James Bryan, Devotional Classics)
Of Making All Things New, Elizabeth O'Connor writes, "An instructive and gentle book. Henri Nouwen does more than tell us that solitude and community are essential for the spiritual life. His words impart a spirit that will better enable his readers to provide themselves with these seemingly contradictory necessities."
"During the past few years, various friends have asked me, 'What do you mean when you speak about the spiritual life?'" writes Henri. Every time this question has come up, I have wished I had a small and simple book which could offer the beginning of a response. I have felt that there was a place for a text that could be read within a few hours and could not only explain what the spiritual life is but also create a desire to live it. This feeling caused me to write Making All Things New.
"We live in a worry-filled world. We find ourselves occupied and preoccupied with many things, while at the same time feeling bored, resentful, depressed and very lonely. In the midst of this world, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, appears and offers us new life, the life of the Spirit of God.
"The beginning of the spiritual life is often difficult not only because the powers which cause us to worry are so strong but also because the presence of God's Spirit seems barely noticeable. If, however, we are willing to live a life of prayer and practice the disciplines of solitude and community, a new hunger will make itself known. This new hunger is the first sign of God's presence. When we remain attentive to this divine presence, we will be led always deeper into the kingdom. There, to our joyful surprise, we will discover that the power of our worries is waking and all things are being made new."
The book Life of the Beloved was written to Henri's friend, Fred Bratman, and has been used as source material for a course at the Servant Leadership School of the Church of the Saviour in Washington, D.C. USA under the direction of Gordon Cosby and Diana Chambers.
Concerning the impetus for the book, Henri writes, "As I gradually came to know Fred's friends and got a feel for their interests and concerns, I better understood Fred's remarks about the need for a spirituality that speaks to men and women in a secularised society."
"'You have something to say,' Fred kept telling me, 'but you keep saying it to people who least need to hear it...What about us young, ambitious, secular men and women wondering what life is all about after all? Can you speak to us with the same conviction as you speak to those who share your tradition, your language and your vision?" Alas, once the book had been written and Fred read it, Henri had missed his target, "During our long conversations about the text of this book, it became increasingly clear that, although Fred had many good things to say about my words to him, I had been unable to do what he had hoped for...It wasn't easy to hear this criticism, but I wanted to listen to it in a non-defensive way so that I could discover on my own where I was being challenged. My attempt had been to be a 'witness of God's ; to a secular world, but I had sounded like someone who is so excited about the art of sailing that he forgets that his listeners have never seen lakes or the sea, not to mention sailboats"
Out this failure, Henri learns of the purpose of his writing this book, "Here the irony of writing hit me. I had tried so hard to write something for secular people, and the ones who were most helped by it were searching Christians in Washington and London. I suddenly realised that without Fred I would never have found the words that were so helpful to believers. For me, there is more than an irony here. It is the mystery of God using his secular friends to instruct his disciples."
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)
The Dialogue of Saint Catherine of Siena
Catherine of Siena, St (originally Caterina Benincasa) 1347 -- 1380 Nun and mystic, born in Siena, Italy. She became a Dominican, and gained a great reputation for holiness, writing many devotional pieces, letters, and poems. She prevailed on Pope Gregory XI to return the papacy from Avignon to Rome. Christ's stigmata were said to have been imprinted on her body. She was canonised in 1461,was declared a Doctor of the Church on October 4, 1970 and is the patron saint of Italy. Feast day 29 April. (http://www.biography.com/)
Catherine articulates a clear understanding of the two greatest commandments, to love the LORD your GOD above all else and to love your neighbour as yourself. "And I would have thee know that just as every imperfection and perfection is acquired from Me, so is it manifested by means of the neighbour...I require that you should love Me with the same love with which I love you. This indeed you cannot do, because I loved you without being loved...Therefore to Me, in person you cannot repay the love which I require of you and I have placed you in the midst of your fellows, that you may do to them that which you cannot do to Me, that is to say, that you may love your neighbour of free grace, without expecting any return from him, and what you do to him, I count as done to Me, which My Truth [the Christ Jesus] showed forth when He said to Paul, My persecutor == Saul, Saul, why persecutes thou Me?"
Catherine continues, relaying what the LORD her GOD had told her, "And, for this reason, the soul that knows Me immediately expands to the love of her neighbour, because she sees that I love that neighbour ineffably, and so, herself, love the object which she sees Me to have loved still more. She further knows that she can be of no use to Me and can in no way repay Me that pure love with which she feels herself to be loved by Me, and therefore endeavours to repay it through the medium which I have given her, namely, her neighbour, who is the medium through which you can all serve Me. For, as I have said to thee, you can perform all virtues by means of your neighbour, ... You should therefore love them with the same pure love with which I have loved you. That pure love cannot be returned direct to Me, because I have loved you without being Myself loved, and without any consideration of Myself whatsoever, for I loved you without being loved by you -- before you existed; it was, indeed, love that moved Me to create you to My own image and similitude. This love you cannot repay to Me, but you can pay it to My rational creature, loving your neighbour without being loved by him and without consideration of your own advantage, whether spiritual or temporal, but loving him solely for the praise and glory My Name, because he has been loved by Me. Thus will you fulfil the commandment of the law, to love Me above everything, and your neighbour as yourselves."
Catherine explains repentance as accepting that the LORD our GOD has grace stronger than anything we might do against our LORD or our neighbour. To deny this grace is to fall into despair which is itself a denial of the grace of GOD. In Catherine's words, "... whereas had he grieved and repented for the offence done to Me, and hoped in My mercy, he would have found mercy, for, as I have said to thee, My mercy is greater without any comparison than all the sins which any creature can commit; wherefore it greatly displeases Me that they should consider their sins to be greater. Despair is that sin which is pardoned neither here nor hereafter, and it is because despair displeases Me so much that I wish them to hope in My mercy at the point of death, even if their life have been disordered and wicked. This is why during their life I use this sweet trick with them, making them hope greatly in My mercy, for when, having fed themselves with this hope, they arrive at death, they are not so inclined to abandon it, on account of the severe condemnation they receive, as if they had not so nourished themselves."
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Catherine of Genoa (1447-1510)
Catherine of Genoa was born in the Vicolo del Filo in 1447. She was of the great Guelph family of Fiesca, being the daughter of Giacomo Fiesca, at one time Viceroy of Naples, and granddaughter of Roberto Fiesca, whose brother was Pope Innocent IV. Another Fiesca was Pope Adrian V; for this family gave several princes to the Church at Rome and many bold and skilful warriors and statesmen to the state. Francesca de Negro, Catherine's mother, was likewise of aristocratic birth.
On 13 January 1463, at the age of sixteen, Catherine was married to Guiliano Adorni. He is described as a man of "strange and recalcitrant nature" who wasted his substance on disorderly living. Having little in common with her husband, their marriage had many difficult years. As did Jeanne Guyon, Catherine maintained a strong spiritual relationship despite opposition in her marriage. Guiliano became a member of the Third Order of St. Francis, and both he and Catherine worked among the poor and the sick. In 1497, she nursed her husband through his last illness. In his will he extolled her virtues and left her all his possessions.
Catherine's conversion is dated from the eve of St. Bernard, 1474, when she visited the church of St Bernard, in Genoa. Soon, guided by the Ladies of Mercy, she was devoting herself to the care of the sick poor. In her plain dress she would go through the streets and byways of Genoa, looking for poor people who were ill, and when she found them she tended them and washed and mended their filthy rags. Often she visited the hospital of St Lazarus, which harboured incurable so diseased as to be horrible to the sight and smell, many of them embittered. In Catherine they aroused not disgust but charity; she met their insults with unfailing gentleness. The time came when directors of the great hospital in Genoa asked Catherine to superintend the care of the sick in this institution. She accepted, and hired near the hospital a poor house in which she and her husband lived out the rest of their days. Still later, although she was humbly submissive even to the hospital servants, the directors saw the value of her work and appointed her rector of the hospital with unlimited powers.
Catherine was still only fifty-three years old when she fell ill, worn out by her life of ecstasies, her burning love for GOD, labour for her fellow creatures and her privations; during her last ten years on earth she suffered much. She died on the 15th of September, 1510, at the age of sixty-three. The public cult rendered to her was declared legitimate on the 6th of April, 1675. The process for her canonisation was instituted by the directors of the hospital in Genoa where she had worked. Her heroic virtue and the authenticity of many miracles attributed to her having been proved, the bull for her canonisation was issued by Clement XII on 30 April 1737.
Catherine's authorship of the Treatise on Purgatory has never been disputed. The Dialogue reproduces the incidents of her spiritual life as these are recorded in her earliest biography, and its doctrine is that embodied in the Treatise on Purgatory and in her recorded sayings, from which even its language is derived. The Dialog presents an autobiographical tale of her spiritual journey as recorded in a conversation between the Soul, the Body, and Self-Love (aka Natural Man) with revelations from the LORD her GOD. The Dialogue reaches a climax with a song of praise recorded in the fourth chapter of part 3:
" O love, for the heart which tastes thee eternal life begins in this world!
LORD, Thou hides this working from him in whom Thou accomplishes it, lest he spoil Thy work by something of self.
O love, he who feels thee understands thee not, and he who would understand thee cannot know thee.
O love, our life, our blessedness, our rest! ... "Although Catherine was no scholar, she was, at the same time, inspired, vehement and warm-hearted. Her work reads as though she poured out what she had to say on paper, not staying to choose words, not revising or hardly revising. If she is sometimes careless of exactitude, she compensates for it by spontaneity. In her simple honest expression, Catherine is able to address the complex issue, for example, of what is the cause of the LORD our GOD's great love for us who are so set against her, and what are we that GOD would be mindful of us.
"Know first that I am GOD who change not, and that I loved man before I created him, with an infinite, pure, simple and clear love for which there was no cause, save that I cannot but love what I have created and ordained to minister, in its degree, to my glory. And I have provided man richly with all fit means to reach his end, with natural gifts and supernatural graces which he will never lack in so far as they depend on me; nay more, with my infinite love which by divers ways and means surrounds him so that he may be subject to my care."
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The Pilgrim's Progress
Writer, born in Elstow, Bedfordshire, SC England, UK. He worked as a tinker, and fought in the parliamentary army during the English Civil War (1644--5). In 1653 he joined a Christian fellowship, preaching around Bedford. In 1660 he was arrested and spent 12 years in Bedford county gaol, where he wrote prolifically, including Grace Abounding (1666). Briefly released after the Declaration of Indulgence (1672), he was reimprisoned for six months in the town gaol, and there wrote the first part of the The Pilgrim's Progress, a vision of life told allegorically as if it were a journey. Returning to his career, he acted as pastor in Bedford for 16 years, where he wrote the second part of The Pilgrim's Progress (1684) (http://www.biography.com)
The Pilgrim's Progress has been translated into many languages and is held in high regard around the world. There was a time when there was hardly an English-speaking Protestant household without a copy. After the Bible (KJV), this classic allegory has been the best-selling Christian book and has influenced English literature and thought through the four centuries in which it has been in print. For the twentieth century, Clives Staples Lewis wrote Pilgrim's Regress, with its obvious reference to the original classic.
The Pilgrim's Progress depicts, the life of a pilgrim named Christian as he makes his spiritual journey. The strength of this tale is the resonance it contains with the spiritual journeys of many seekers, students, philosophers and teachers throughout the centuries. As other spiritual guides had done before Bunyan, most notably John of the Cross, he records the hardships and sacrifices along with the great joys experienced along a spiritual journey.
Presenting the subtle diversion which a desire for worldly success can bring, Bunyan writes, "'First,' said Mr Moneylove, 'becoming religious is a virtue, regardless of the means he employed to be so. Second - it's not unlawful to get a rich wife or to bring more business to his shop. Third - the man who gets these by becoming religious gets things that are good from them who are good by becoming good himself. So then, here are a good wife, good customers, and good gain; and he has gotten all these things by becoming religious, which is good. Becoming religious in order to get all these things, therefore, is a good and profitable intention.'"
To which, Bunyan counters, "Then Christian said, 'Even a babe in religion may answer ten thousand such questions. If it is unlawful to follow Christ to obtain loaves, as shown in John six, how much more abominable is it to make of Him and religion a stalking-horse to get and enjoy the world? Nor do we find anyone but heathen, hypocrites, devils, and sorcerers who hold this opinion.'"
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Existiert Gott? (English Translation: Does God Exist?)
Roman Catholic theologian, born in Sursee, Switzerland. A professor at Tübingen (1960-- ), he has written extensively for fellow theologians and for lay people. His questioning of received interpretations of Catholic doctrine, as in Justification (1965), The Church (1967), and Infallible? An Inquiry (1971), and his presentations of the Christian faith, as in On Being a Christian (1977), Does God Exist? (1980), and Eternal Life? (1984), aroused controversy both in Germany and with the Vatican authorities, who withdrew his licence to teach as a Catholic theologian in 1979. He defended himself in Why I Am Still a Christian (1987). (http://www.biography.com)
Hans Küng methodically develops the reasonableness of faithing in the GOD of Abraham, and Jesus, the Christ.. His apology is developed from the nascent of critical thinking with René Descartes to the late-twentieth century. It is difficult to think of an influential thinker during the past four millennia who is yet to be considered by Küng. His list includes, but is not restricted to Blaise Pascal, Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Ludwig Feuerbach, David Friedrich Strauss, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Auguste Comte, Alfred North Whitehead, Rudolf Bultmann, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Friedrich Nietzsche, Max Horkheimer, Martin Heidegger, Karl Barth, Immanuel Kant, and Albert Einstein, along with a smattering of Chineese Theology, Buddhism, and Judaism.
Küng writes, "If man, by believing in God, is doing what is absolutely the most reasonable, thing, what kind of rationality is involved here? This rationality is similar to that of fundamental trust:
"* It is not an outward rationality, which could not produce an assured security. God's existence is not first proved or demonstrated by reason and then believed, thus guaranteeing the rationality of belief in God. There is not first a rational knowledge and then confident acknowledgement of God. The hidden reality of God is not forced on reason.
"* It is an inward rationality, which offers a fundamental certainty. In the accomplishment, by the 'practice,'of boldly trusting in God's reality, despite all temptations to doubt, man experiences the reasonableness of his trust, based as it is on an ultimate identity, meaning fullness and value of reality, on its primal ground, primal meaning primal value. " (p574)
Continuing, "But also like fundamental trust, trust in God cannot simply be decided on, willed, extorted or produced. I cannot simply create or produce ultimate certainty, security, stability, for myself. God -- as we saw -- is not an object of immediate experience; he is not part of existing reality, he is not among the objects available to experience; no intuition or speculation, no direct experience or immediate perception, can provide a 'view' of him. It is just because of this that belief in God is seen as a gift. " (p575)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gershom Gerhard Scholem (1897- 1982)
Kabbalah
Gershom Scholem was one of the towering figures in modern Jewish scholarship. He left Germany in 1923 and joined the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, first as librarian and eventually as Professor of Mysticism and Kabbalah. His combination of painstaking analysis, penetrating philosophical insight and profound historical understanding added new perspectives to Jewish Studies. Further, his work made the study of the history of Cabala an Jewish mysticism an important scholarly discipline. Professor Scholem served as president of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and authored over 500 articles and books, including Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (1941), and Kabbalah (1974)
With origins extending back in time beyond the Dead Sea Scrolls, the body of writings and beliefs known as the Kabbalah has come to be increasingly recognised not only as one of the most intriguing aspects Judaism but also as an important part of a broader mystical tradition. Here is one of the most enlightening studies ever to plumb its complex depths and range over its rich history, written by one of the world's leading authorities on the Kabbalah.
Illumined in this fascinating work are the centuries of efforts by Cabalists to discover the secrets of GOD and the universe through the symbols of the physical world and the mysteries of language -- a mammoth search set against a background of Jewish life in Spain, Poland, Germany and the rest of Europe. Brought to life are such remarkable personalities as Shabbetai Zevi, the 17th-century pseudo-Messiah who raised the Jewish world to near ecstasy before plunging it into disillusion; and the charismatic Jacob Frank, who threatened to disastrously divide the Jewish religion. We learn the connection between the Kabbalah and such haunting legends as the Dybbuk, the Golem, and lilith, and well as its relationship to the practice white magic, palm reading, and Satanism.
Long cloaked in obscurity, the Kabbalah is revealed by this book to contain a suggestive power which still entrances both the intellect and the imagination. Gershom Scholem is without challenge the greatest living authority on Kabbalah, claimed the St Louis Post-Dispatch.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Elizabeth O'Connor (1928-1998)
Letters to Scattered Pilgrims
In 1947 a movement of the Spirit produced the founding of the Church of the Saviour in Washington, D. C., (USA), Pastured by Gordon Cosby, this church demonstrated a radical faith witness to the rest of the world. Elizabeth O'Connor was one of the church's early members and would later join the church staff. her writings would chronicle their story, letting the rest of the world know of the amazing work GOD was doing in their midst. (Foster, Richard J, Smith, James Bryan, editors; Devotional Classics, p275ff)
These impassioned, wry, and deeply committed letters are a summons to move towards the creation of a viable Christian community - a community that can, in turn, work toward the ideal of universal fellowship. Written during the transition period in which the Church of the Saviour was reformed into six new church communities, these epistles reflect an initial uncertainty that grew into joy at the project's successful completion. What began as personal letters of encouragement to her fellow "pilgrims" becomes, in the author's skilled hands, a broad, perceptive exploration of contemporary spiritual themes: Having Time for Reflection, Money, Keeping a Journal, Our Multidimensional Nature (Historical, Intellectual, Emotional), Children in the Wilderness.
Especially pertinent is her discussion of the role of money in assuring the financial stability of the immediate congregation and allowing for outreach to the larger of this subject springs directly from the experiences of the six new faith communities.
Elizabeth O'Connor writes, "None of us has to be an accountant to know what 10 percent of a gross income is, but each of us has to be a person on his knees before GOD if we are to understand our commitment to proportionate giving. Proportionate to what? Proportionate to the accumulated wealth of one's family? Proportionate to one's income and the demands upon it, which vary from family to family? Proportionate to one's sense of security and the degree of anxiety with which one lives? Proportionate to the keenness of our awareness of those who suffer? Proportionate to our sense of justice and of GOD's ownership of all wealth? Proportionate to our sense of stewardship for those who follow after us? And so on, and so forth. The answer, of course, is in proportion to all of these things. Proportionate giving has kept us from mistaking our churchgoing for Christianity, and from looking at our neighbour to see what we should be doing. In our better moments, we desire that each member and intern member work under the guidance of Holy Spirit to determine what proportionate giving means in his or her individual situation. We have, of course, hoped for ourselves and for others that the proportion of giving would increase as we identified with the oppressed and learned to trust GOD at deeper levels for our own future.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data