Jewish Mystical Insights for Christian Anthropologists
OKH Journal Anthropological Ethnography and Analysis Through the Eyes of Christian Faith January 31, 2023 DOI: 10.18251/okh.v7i1.179 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that Kabbalah, as reflected in ethnohistoric documents and contemporary neo-kabbalist and para-Judaic spiritualities, illustrates a cosmological theory of "kabbalistic perspectivism" analogous to Amazonian perspectivism. Proposes that this framework offers religiously committed anthropologists a basis for comparative theology and may serve as a model for "methodological possibilianism," complementing critical realism. |
Abstract
The Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbalah, as reflected in ethnohistoric documents underwriting the beliefs and practices of contemporary neo-kabbalists, practitioners of shamanic Judaism, Jewitchery, and other para-Judaic spiritualities (including Hermetic Qabalah and Christian Cabala) illustrate a cosmological theory of “kabbalistic perspectivism” analogous to the Amazonian perspectivism reported by Eduardo Viveiros de Castro (1998). Consideration of kabbalistic perspectivism provides Messianic Jewish, gentile Christian, and other religiously committed anthropologists opportunity for practicing comparative theology. It also may serve as a model for developing “methodological possibilianism,” an ontologically-oriented complement to the epistemological model of critical realism popularized by Christian anthropologists Paul Hiebert and Charles Kraft.