Jewish Impact on Greek and Western Philosophy?

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1586152/jewish/Jewish-Impact-on-Greek-and-Western-Philosophy.htm

Contemplating your question, I thought that perhaps it would be best to begin by quoting Hermippus of Smyrna, where he accused Pythagoras of doing and saying “things imitating and transferring to himself the opinions of the Jews.”

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Or perhaps I would quote Clearchus of Soli, who related the following from an encounter between Aristotle and a certain Jew: “He conversed with us and with other philosophical persons, and made a trial of our skill in philosophy; and as he lived with many learned men, he communicated more information than he received from us.”

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These motifs have been discovered by archeologists in many “pre-Greek” capitals found in ancient Jewish cities, leading one renowned archaeologist to comment: “One can hardly believe it coincidental [that] not even one [of these motifs] has been found in an adjacent land until several hundred years later, yet we still refer to them as merely ‘Proto-Ionic.’”

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The impact on the Greek alphabet probably needs the least elaboration; after all, its very name is derived from the Hebrew letters “Aleph-Bet.” Even in the letters of the alphabet itself, there are remnants of its origins. For example, the letter Q, which in the Greek and Latin alphabets is a redundant letter and useless on its own, can be traced to the Semitic guttural Quf.

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Hello everyone, I’m starting a new Instagram page where I explore western esotericism & the hermetic tradition through a Christian lens. I’d love if some of you would follow me! I’m curious to see a greater discussion around Hermeticism in Christian circles. My ig is @mercurius.scotus

People who came to know Christ later in life, I’d like to hear your testimonies. Why did you choose to become a Christian, what led up to it, how do you view faith, and how has yours impacted you?

19M, gay, grew up in a southern independent Baptist church with enough abuse in my childhood and hateful rhetoric against gay people to have turned me against Christian doctrine for the entirety of my adolescence. I’ve since dealt with my own spiritual and existential crises, drug and porn addiction, and severe mental health issues. When I was about 15, I started seeing a Christian “therapist” who tried to make every session into an evangelical intervention and quite literally told me he could see angels in the room. Between that, all the doomsday doctrine that was thrown at me, and the abuse from my parents who told me that they were doing what God wanted, as well as my mental health struggles, I’ve been unable to separate real faith from what I’d call a mass psychosis that I’ve grown up in. I’ve searched every major religion and many obscure ones, dug deep into philosophy, and done copious amounts of mushrooms trying to make sense of the world around me, but the truth feels like what must be most familiar to me. I myself actually wanted to be a Baptist preacher when I was younger. I went to a Christian school and was studying the Bible all the time out of my own free will because I felt like it was my calling and I wanted to be just like my grandfather (my grandparents are two of the only “true Christians” I’ve been fortunate enough to grow up with), but that all changed when one night at my church (I may have been 12/13), we had a youth-led week and that Wednesday night I prepared my own sermon about how we were meant to love everyone, establish true fellowship and confess our sins to one another, and show unconditional love through compassion and support to not just other Christian’s but everyone. The congregation didn’t like the fact that I chose such a topic or the fact that I researched the original Greek translations in tandem with the KJV (the only TRUE Bible 😒), and they made it well known, especially to my parents who took out their embarrassment on me. About a year later, my family finds out I’m gay, their attitude towards me goes from bad to worse, and I apostasized immediately. The most Christian people I’ve ever met have been the absolute worst ones in my life. The devil (if he’s real) is far more busy destroying the church from within than he is out in the rest of the world. Humans are good enough at destroying ourselves on our own.

I’m sorry if this is ramble or made no sense, I’m currently a bit tipsy and just trying to make sense of a lot of stuff. I’ve never been one to just “believe” either. Like if I’m being honest I don’t think I was ever even really a Christian. I just went along with what I was told because I wanted to fit in and I assumed it was fact but began doubting when I was ridiculed for seeking evidence. I know there’s something out there, and I want to believe in something. I’ve felt so empty for such a long time and I agree with the messages of the gospels, but that’s about it. I just want to hear new stories, new perspectives.

Serious question.

https://journeytoorthodoxy.com/2024/01/interview-with-justine-alter/

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Hi there,

I present to you my piano sonata and experimental film based on the ideas of alchemist and Christian theosopher Jakob Boehme. In Jakob Boehme's theosophy, Sophia is the bride of the soul, and the mirror that God imagines in. She is the Mirror of Wisdom, her wisdom a pearl. Redolent of Ezekiel's vision, Boehme describes God as akin to a wheel or eye; Sophia is also an eye, the beautiful divine image and reflection. According to Boehme, she resides within one's fiery soul of the heart, in one’s Gemüt. This Theophany also features imagery of Boehme’s conception of the 7 source-spirits, the burning heart, and countless other alchemical symbols. It’s meant to be a theophanic experience—meaning a presentation of the deity in tangible form. Hope you enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIOtmWL2iDY

My girlfriend just had sleep paralysis and saw a ghost going near her. It didnt hurt me since i wear the st benedict medal. My fault by not praying sancte michele angele and three ave maria.

What are your prayers or psalms do use to ward these unwanted spirits off? I do have benedictine cross in my condo i am wandering how it got in.

Does placing a salt line at the door will prevent them from entering? Do you utter prayers at the salt before placing them?

Thank you for answering

What do you guys keep yourself grounded to? What do you do to keep unwelcome entities away? (Serious question).

So I don’t chill with people a lot or go out much obviously, but I’ve been looking into the desert fathers the last two days and there is something appealing about withdrawing from society and immersing one’s self in the occult/most high. That’s pretty much what my life has been like anyway except it’s more comfortable lol. I don’t know what it is but other people knock my energy off and it’s like some just suck it away, so my connection beyond is way better when I’m in solitude, I think I’m an over sensitive empath or something?

There have been sychronicities lately I my life that make me feel asnif she may be attempting to contact me but ima not quite sure as to where to start regarding rituals prayers or invocations to get closer to her I was wondering if anyone had any tips.

Hi,

I recently joined a western mystery school based on the christian-hermetic tradition (Builders of the Adytum a.k.a. B.O.T.A.) and I'm quite happy with it. But given it's focus on practical occultism, I feel like lacking Christian mystical practices. I also struggle a lot to reconcile Hermeticism (as per the Corpus Hermeticum) with Mystical Christianity. So what I am asking for is:

- Any Church where I can access to online Sunday services whose teachings are aligned with the christian-hermetic tradition

- Any book where Hermeticism and Christianity are reconciled, either from an Hermetic point of view adopting Christian symbology, or a Christian point of view turning into Hermeticism. Note that Meditations on the Tarot is 1) a hard to digest book 2) it's based on the french tradition of Tarot and firm about Catholicism with which I don't feel comfortable at all, and given I practice the anglo-american version of Tarot with B.O.T.A., I would not like to get too confused about by approaching christian-hermeticism from two different points of view, as this stuff is difficult already.

I could be completely wrong but that’s how it’s looking

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=684rZttw3N0

We get into Valentin Tomberg, Tarot, why modern philosophy is reactionary and much more. Links in video to the Friday night livestreams