"Mystical Spirituality" in Second Temple Period Judaism? Light from the Decorated Stone in the Magdala Synagogue
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3270093 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Wally V Cirafesi (0000-0001-7589-2304, Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue | 12 |
| Pages | 1218 |
| Publication date | 2022-12-15 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel13121218 |
| OpenAlex | W4311791787 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 24 |
While "Merkavah mysticism" as a religious movement is a phenomenon of Late Ancient and Medieval Judaism, scholars have debated whether the origins of this movement are traceable to traditions of the divine Merkavah (chariot-throne) preserved in some early Jewish apocalyptic literature from the Second Temple period. Furthermore, scholars have emphasized that these early Merkavah traditions reflect individualistic religious experiences that emerged historically in contexts of small esoteric groups of initiates who claimed a privileged experience and knowledge of the divine. In this article, I wish to do two things: (1) to establish methodologically the point that, from an analytical perspective, we can, indeed, speak of a kind of Jewish "mystical spirituality" present in the Second Temple period akin to later Jewish mystical traditions; and (2) to argue that, in light of some iconographic features on the decorated stone from the first-century synagogue at Magdala, early Jewish "mystical spirituality" was not a phenomenon restricted to the individual but could also involve an assembled community's experience of divine presence
Aesthetics · Ancient history · Art · Chariot · Epistemology · Jewish mysticism · Judaism · Kabbalah · Literature · Mysticism · Phenomenon · Second Temple period · Spirituality · Theology · Throne · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Biblical Studies and Interpretation · History · Law · Mormonism, Religion, and History · Philosophy · Religious studies
The Origins of Jewish Mysticism
Religion, Ethnicity and Identity in Ancient Galilee
The New Metaphysicals
The Apocalyptic Son of Man in the Gospel of John
Synagogues without rabbis or Christians? Ancient institutions beyond normative discourses
A First-Century Synagogue in Capernaum? Issues of Historical Method in the Interpretation of the Archaeological and Literary Data
Missing Magdala and the Name of Mary ‘Magdalene’
The Location of Tarichaea
| Highly cited | No |
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