Synthesis philosophica, Vol. 29 No. 2, 2014.
Original scientific paper
A Comparison of Pico’s and Skalić’s Understanding of Christian Cabala
Ivana Skuhala Karasman
orcid.org/0000-0001-7769-5259
; Institute of Philosophy, Zagreb
Abstract
The founder of what was later to be known under the name of Christian Cabala is thought to be the Renaissance philosopher Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463–1494). He has namely written The 72 Cabalist Theses that were published in Rome in 1486 as part of his 900 Theses. The Croatian philosopher Pavao Skalić (1534–1575) wrote on Christian Cabala in his work Encyclopaediae seu orbis disciplinarum, tam sacrarum, quam prophanarum Epistemon as well, where he calls it “symbolic philosophy”. In this paper I will expound on the understanding of Christian Cabala as found in the works of Pico and Skalić and show what similarities and differences underlie their comprehension of it. Based on Epistemon, it is evident that Skalić was familiar with Pico’s understanding of Cabala, but Skalić was far more influenced by the German humanist Johannes Reuchlin (1455–1522) and his work De arte cabalistica, whom, unlike Pico, he actually mentions by name in his own writings.
Keywords
Christian Cabala; Giovanni Pico della Mirandola; Pavao Skalić
Hrčak ID:
142436
URI
Publication date:
24.4.2015.
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