* Philosophie der Geschichte, oder, Über die Tradition . Section one, Munster, 1834. VI, 455, [1] page. 20 cm. Aging stains. * Philosophie der Geschichte, oder, Über die Tradition . Section two, Munster, 1834. VIII, [2], 261, [1] page. 20 cm. * Philosophie der Geschichte, oder, Über die Tradition , section three, Munster, 1839. VIII, [2], 716, [1] page. 20 cm. German.
Joseph Francis Molitor (1779-1860) was a Christian-German philosopher and author who taught Hebrew, Aramaic, Talmud and studied kabbalah, a subject that was little known to most philosophers of his time. At first he studied law, but then he became interested in philosophic writings and authored I deen zu einer künftigen Dynamik der Geschichte ( Ideas for the Future of History , 1805). Ueber den Wendepunkt des Antiken und Moderne ( The Turning Point from Ancient to Modern Times , 1805). Ueber die Philosophie der Modernen Welt ( Philosophy of the Modern World , 1806) and more.
Molitor drew closer to liberal intellectual factions, and through them came in contact with Jews. He promoted the establishment of a Jewish school in Frankfurt, which was later known as the “Philanthropin,” and was one of its first teachers. Due to his relationships with the Jews and the Freemasons, he promoted Christian-Jewish relations. In 1813, he studied kabbalah in Frankfurt with Jewish teachers, most of whom are unknown to us today, and embarked on a forty years of study of the Zohar .
In the wake of his kabbalistic studies, he published the first volume of his Philosophie der Geschichte (The philosophy of history and the traditions of the Old Testament and its relationship with the church and the New Testament) in 1824. The second volume was published in 1834, and discusses the foundations of kabbalah and the need for Divine revelation. The third volume was published in 1839, and it includes a general description of paganism, Christianity and Judaism and discusses the laws of Jewish impurity. The fourth volume was published in 1853. It emphasizes the importance of kabbalah to Christianity.
These kabbalistic writings were almost completely forgotten, until they were rediscovered by Gershom Scholem in 1915.
Fine condition. Original half-leather and marbleized paper binding.