"Elitism and the Approach to God investigates a historical and cultural dichotomy in European history which has not thitherto been satisfactorily explained Why did so many of the most influential "authorities" of the age insist that the nature and mystery of the divine and of God should not be shared with "the vulgar crowd", that is with the ordinary people, although this appears to be the principal purpose of all other religious teaching throughout the period? Robin Raybould gives examples from the works of more than sixty "authorities" who insisted that the mysteries of the divine should remain secret. He then surveys the attempts of other religious and civic leaders, both pagan and Christian, to investigate, understand and by contrast to share their findings on the nature of God. In a final section he attempts to reconcile these opposing views"--
“Elitism” examines the paradox that one tradition of philosophers and theologians throughout European history insisted that the nature of the Divine should not be revealed to the ordinary people, in spite of the fact that during the same period the main thrust of Christian teaching was to do exactly that.
Contents
List of Figures
Introduction
Part 1: The Witness of the Authorities: Reasons to Withhold the Secrets
1 The Ignorant Were Not Initiated
1Origin of the Rites of Initiation
2Orpheus
3The Derveni Papyrus
4The Mysteries: an Experience of the Divine
5Plato and the Mysteries of Philosophy
2 Reasons to Withhold the Secrets: the Ignorant Were Not Sufficiently
Instructed
1Pagan Writers
2Christian Initiation: Jesus Christ
3Collegia
3 Reasons to Withhold the Secrets: the Ignorant Were Not Worthy (I) the
First Millenium CE
1The Christian Fathers: Clement of Alexandria
4 Reasons to Withhold the Secrets: the Ignorant Were Not Worthy (II) the
Renaissance
Part 2: Strategies to Understand the Divine Mysteries
Introduction to Part 2
Section 1: Direct Approaches to the Divine
5 History of the Symbol
6 The Neoplatonists
7 Theurgy, Agalmata and the Divine Names
8 Christian Mysticism
9 Silence as a Medium to Approach God
10 Visions and Dreams
11 The Paradox of Concealing and Revealing
Section 2: Indirect Understanding of the Divine
Introduction to Section 2, Part 2
12 Poetry and Myth
1The Myths
13 Allegory
1Secular and Christian Allegories
2The Scriptures
3The Book of Nature
14 The Literary Species
1Hieroglyphs
2Enigmas
3Bestiaries
4Emblems
Part 3: Why the Secrets Were to Be Withheld
Introduction to Part 3
15 Disdain for the Unlearned
Conclusion
1The Elite
2Profanation and the Love of God
3The Status of Man
Bibliography
Index
Robin Raybould (M.A., LL.M., Cambridge, UK) is an independent scholar studying the symbolic literature of the European Renaissance. He has published, monographs, articles and translations on the subject including a translation and commentary of Karl Giehlows Die Hieroglyphenkunde (Brill, 2015).
