Giovanni Pico della Mirandola
1463 – 1494 Italian philosopher, humanist
Humanist who founded Christian Kabbalah and defended a universal hidden wisdom.
- Religion
- Christian syncretism, arguing that Kabbalah, Hermeticism, and pagan philosophy all confirm Christian truth.
- Affiliations
- Associated with Ficino's Platonic circle in Florence. No secret society; he pioneered Christian Kabbalah.
Pico della Mirandola proposed to defend nine hundred theses drawn from every tradition he could find, including Kabbalah, which he was among the first Christians to study seriously. He argued that Jewish Kabbalah and Hermetic magic, rightly understood, proved the divinity of Christ. The Church condemned some of his theses, but his fusion of Kabbalah with Christian thought shaped centuries of esoteric writing.
Connections
- influenced Johann Reuchlin — Extended Pico's Christian Kabbalah.
- influenced Johann Reuchlin — Reuchlin took up Pico's Christian Kabbalah in Germany.
- associate of Marsilio Ficino — Fellow member of the Florentine Platonic circle.
- associate of Marsilio Ficino — Shared the Florentine Neoplatonic milieu.
In the timeline
- 1486 Pico della Mirandola presents Kabbalist theses mentioned