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Pythagoreanism derives from Judaism, and so do the Baconian idols.

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“The  Jews  are a people of philosophers!”

Theophrastus  of  Eresus (372–287 B.C.E.),
the  successor  to Aristotle as head of the
Peripatetic school, and as historiographer
the  authority on pre-Socratic philosophy.


CHAPTER VII

The Impact of Israel on Western Philosophy*

by Dr. Ed Metzler


Dr. Metzler-Moziani (Photo), The Metzler Formula

       § 1. The history of western philosophy begins
in  ancient Greece with men like Thales of Miletus
and  Pythagoras. Yet, their dependence on Jewish
thought  as  well  as  the  cultural  impact of Israel
on  Greece  during  its  formative period generally,
remained shrouded in mystery as long as no exact
information  was  available  about  the central cult

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            *Dedicated  to  Prof.  Dr. Phil. Johann  Knobloch,  Professor
Emeritus  of  General and Comparative Linguistics at the University
of  Bonn,  Germany,  who  proved  to be a good friend in hard times.

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[64]  
Ed  Metzler
  

object  in  the  Holy  of Holies of the First Temple,
built  by  King Solomon in Jerusalem as depository
for  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant with the two stone
Tablets  of  the  Law  of the Torah of Moses from
the  Sinai.  As a legal scientist I discovered in 1983
all  I  ever  wanted  to  know  about  the  Mosaical
Tablets  of  the  Law,  thus  shedding new light on
the  impact  of  Israel  on  western  philosophy, as
I   already   mentioned  in  my  last  book  entitled
“DISCOVERING MOSAISTICS, Introduction to
the  Scientific  Study  of  the  Law  of  Moses and
Mosaical Antiquity
.”1)
       §  2.   Under  these  circumstances, it appears
legitimate  for  a  lawyer  to inquire into the origins
of  western  philosophy.2)  My  discoveries  in  the

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            1)   Cf.  Ed  Metzler,  DISCOVERING  MOSAISTICS,  Intro-
duction to the Scientific Study of the Law of Moses and Mosaical
Antiquity
, Cumulative Reprint of AMMM (Archives for Mosaical
Metrology and Mosaistics) vol. 1, nos. 1–5 with forewords by the
Rt.  Hon.  Lord  Hailsham  of  St. Marylebone, KG, CH, FRS, DCL,
formerly   Lord  High  Chancellor  of  England,  and  by  Professor
Emeritus  Dr.  Johann  Knobloch,  University  of  Bonn,  Germany
(Herborn 1989) p. 26 Note 25.
            2)   It  is  legitimate  anyhow,  as  exemplified  by  the  great
philosophers Francis Bacon and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, who
were  jurists  by  profession.  For  an  excellent history of western

[4]


 
  
Western  Philosophy
  [65]

field  of  legal  history  led  to  the complete recon-
struction   of  the  Mosaical  Tablets  of  the  Law,
including  the  graphical  details of their inscription,
and  the  original  alphabet, in which it was written,
their   geometry,   and   their   exact   weights  and
measures.3)  This  important  source of ancient law,
which I once called the Magna Charta of antiquity,
exerted  an  influence on western culture that went
far   beyond   the  proper  sphere  of  law.4)  Being
deposited  in  the  Holy of Holies of the Solomonic
temple  in  Jerusalem,  the Mosaical Tablets of the
Law  were  transformed  from  a  legal  document
into  an  object  of  religious  worship,  and  it was

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philosophy see Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy
(New  York  1964),  who  was  a  mathematician.  In Comparative Law
the  contrast  between  Anglo-American  and  Continental European
legal  philosophy  is  obvious,  and  has  its  analogy in Comparative
Religion,  cf.  Ernst  Troeltsch,  Empirismus  und  Platonismus  in der
Religionsphilosophie,  Gesammelte  Werke  (Tübingen  1922)  vol.  2,
pp.   364–85;   and   Ewald   (Ed)   Metzler,   Die   Emanzipation  vom
Kulturinfantilismus  bei  Comenius,  Comte  und  Freud,  in Archives
for   Philosophy   of   Law   and  Social  Philosophy  (ARSP),  vol.  58
(Wiesbaden  1972)  pp.  97–122.
            3)  Cf.  Ed  Metzler,  Discovering  Mosaistics (N. 1) pp. 22–25.
            4)  Ibid.  p.  50  Note  47 and p. 192 Note 8. There is a time-lag
of  about  500  years  between  the  golden  age of Israel under King
Solomon   (ca.  950  B. C. E.)  and  the  golden  age  of  Greece  under
Pericles  in  Athens  (ca.  450  B. C. E.).  During  this period a strong

[5]


 
[66]  
Ed  Metzler
  

in  this  mystified  form  that they were to inspire
the  philosophy  of  future  generations,  both  in
Israel and abroad.5) 


A. The Mosaical Tablets of the Law
as the Jewish Blueprints of
Pythagorean Philosophy

       §  3.  According  to  Hermippus  of Smyrna
Pythagoras owed all of his theories to the Jews.6)
Best  known  are  the  Pythagorean theorem and

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cultural  and  genetic  influx  from Israel must be expected, especially
among the Ionian Greeks on the Mediterranean coast of present-day
Turkey,   reached   when   sailing   northward  along  the  shore  from
Israel.  An  appalling  thought  for a modern philhellenic anti-Semite,
who  would  prefer  to  see  Greek  culture  arising  out of nowhere as
an  original  creation  by  the  Aryan genius of a racially pure Greece,
the  light  of  Israel  which  was  shining  upon  the  gentile  world as
an  Or la-Goyim (Isaiah 49, 6) is readily obscured by the assumption
of   the   so-called   Dark   Ages  of  Greece  (ca.  1200–700  B.  C.  E.),
covering  some  250  years  before  and  after  King Solomon’s reign,
see  below  Notes  24  and  26.
            5)  The  deification  of  the  Tablets  of  the  Law resulted from
their  accommodation  in  the  temple  almost  500  years  after Moses
had  made  them,  thus  idolizing  the  very same stone that prohibits
idol  worship,  and  naming  Israel’s  god  YaHUH  after  its first two
words,  cf.  Ed  Metzler, Discovering Mosaistics (N. 1) pp.arrow139–46.
            6)  See  Encyclopaedia  Judaica  (German  1931)  vol.  7  at 665.

[6]


 
  
Western  Philosophy
  [67]

the  Pythagorean  numbers  3,  4,  and 5, forming
a right triangle. But absolutely nothing was known
about   Jewish  mathematics  at  the  time  of  the
destruction  of  the  First  Temple (586 B. C. E.),
– when Thales lived and Pythagoras was born, –
until  I discovered the three-dimensional structure
of  the Ten Commandments.7) As a legal scientist,
convinced  that  Jewish  legal and scribal tradition
would  not  change  one  jot or tittle of the law of
the  Torah  of  Moses from the Sinai, I found the
distribution  of  the  letters  on  the  original stone
inscription.8)  They were entered into squares like
those  of a crossword puzzle, which disclosed the

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            7)  “There  are no passages of any significant mathematical
interest  in  the  Bible,”  is  the expert opinion, now obsolete of the
article   on   Mathematics  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Judaica  of  1974
(vol.  11  at  1121) written by Barry Spain, Head of the Department
of  Mathematics, City of London Polytechnic; but see Ed Metzler,
Discovering  Mosaistics  (N.  1)  p.  24 Note 18, p. 38 Note 16, p. 81
Note   35,   p.  135  Note  16,  and  p.  195  Note  18,  as  well  as  the
diagram  on  p.arrow21  infra.
            8)  The  Jewish  attitude concerning the Letter of the Law is
well  summed  up  by Jesus of Nazareth in the gospel according to
Saint Matthew (5, 18): “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and
earth  pass,  one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law
(min  ha-Torah),  till  all  be  fulfilled.”  In  our  time, this has been
confirmed  by  the  Dead Sea Scrolls, cf. Ed Metzler, Discovering
Mosaistics  (N.  1)  p.arrow65  Note  4.

[7]


 
[68]  
Ed  Metzler
  

proportions  of  the  Tablets  of the Law containing
the  Pythagorean  numbers,  as  did  their  box,  the
Ark of the Covenant.9)
       §  4. Of course, Pythagoras might have gotten
his  theorem  somewhere  else, if it were not for his
other  teachings,  which  make him look like a man
of   weird   idiosyncrasies.10)   However,  the  bond
which   ties   his  various  theories  together  is  the
fact  that  they  all  refer  to the Tablets of the Law
in   the   Holy  of  Holies  of  the  First  Temple  in
Jerusalem,  such  as the holiness of the ten spheres
(Decalogue), the Tetraktys (Tetragrammaton), and
the  so-called  Pythagorean numbers 3, 4, and 5 of

–––––––––––––– 

            9)  This  point  was emphasized by Prof. Dr. Johann Knobloch
in  his  foreword  to  Discovering  Mosaistics  (N. 1) pp. 9 and 11; see
Ed  Metzler,  ibid.  pp.arrow77  and  135:  Each  tablet  is  1  by 1.5 cubits
(below  p.  21),  and  consists  of  150  squares  of  0.1  cubit,  which is
also   the   thickness  of  the  tablets,  yielding  150  cubic  letter-units.
As  a  new  source  in  the  history of mathematics, my reconstruction
antedates  the  Babylonian  clay  tablet  Plimpton  322, cf. Ed Metzler,
ibid. p. 27 Note 26, and p. 28 Note 30.
            10)  Bertrand  Russell  (N.  2)  p.  31  calls  him  “a combination
of  Einstein  and  Mrs.  Eddy”,  the  founder of Christian Science, and
speaks   of   hisarrow“very   curious  psychology”.  Similarly,  Kabbalah
appeared  to  be  an  incoherent  bunch  of  topics,  until I discovered
that   it   is   a  mystification  of  the  various  graphical  details  of  the
Mosaical Tablets of the Law, cf. Ed Metzler, Discovering Mosaistics
(N.  1)  pp.arrow152  and  153  Note  53.

[8]


 
  
Western  Philosophy
  [69]

the   tablets   and   their  box.11)  The  Pythagoreans
swore  their  holy oath by the Tetraktys, i. e. by the
Tetragrammaton Y.H.W.H. or YaHUH (Yahuweh),
“by  him  who  has  given  to  our  people  the  Ten
Commandments”,   the   ten   boustrophedon   lines
(Devarim  “logoi”  or  Sephirot  “spheres”)  of  the
Torah  “theoria”  of  Moses,  –  as  the  Jews  even
today   bless  “him  who  has  given  the  Torah  to
his  people  Israel.”12)
       §  5.  Obviously,  Pythagoras  was  a  convert
to   Judaism,  as  already  suggested  by  his  name,
“Pytha-”  standing for Israel in the land of Canaan
or  “Put”  (= Phoenicia), and “-goras” for “Giyora”
meaning  a  Ger or proselyte.13) He taught in Greek

–––––––––––––– 

            11)  Cf.  Ed  Metzler,  Discovering  Mosaistics  (N.  1)  pp.  26–27.
            12)  See  the  Siddur  on  the  order  of  Reading  the Law; and on
the   Pythagorean   oath  Jaap  Mansfeld,  Die  Vorsokratiker  (Stuttgart
1987)   pp.   146–7,   who   translates  hameterai  geneai  as  “dem  Men-
schengeschlecht”,    i.  e.  “to   mankind”,   whereas   it   literally   means
Tetragrammaton and Tetraktys    “to  our  people”,  namely  to  the
Pythagoreans  or  Jews  (cf.  infra
Note 13). The adjoining asterisks,
as  on  dice  or dominoes, denote
the   number   10  =  1 + 2 + 3 + 4  in  the  form  of  a  pyramid,  while  the
other   pyramid  has  the  four-letter  name  of  Israel’s  god  YaHUH  at
its   base,   and   the  Hebrew  letter  Yod  (Greek  Iota)  =  10  at  its  top.
            13)  The  first  three  letters  of  Pythagoras  are Peh-Waw-Tet in

[9]


 
[70]  
Ed  Metzler
  

what  he  had  learned  in  Hebrew  about a kosher
life-style,  reminiscent  of  the vegetarianism of his
biblical  contemporary  Daniel  in  Babylon, about
the  geometry  of the Mosaical Tablets of the Law,
and   the   mystification  of  their  graphical  details
known  as Kabbalah, which likened the inscription
on  the  tablets  to  the  creation  of  the world and
their  ten  lines  to  the  celestial  spheres.14) Hence
Pythagoreanism   derives  from  Judaism,  namely
from  an  early  stage  of  Kabbalah,  that was still
closer to its Mosaical roots, especially with respect

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ancient  Hebrew-Phoenician  script  spelling Put (by assimilation of
the  “n”  from  Egyptian  Punt  “Phoenicia”), which is another name
for  the  land  of  Canaan,  whose  firstborn  was  the  city of Sidon
(Genesis  10, 6 and 15), whence the god of the Phoenician seafarers
is  Poseidon  (apo  Sidon)  in  Greek, and Neptunus (by metathesis
from  e  Punt-nus  in  Latin  as  well  as  the  Pythian Apollo, who is
the   Phoenician  (Puntian)  ha-Baal,  cf.  Ed  Metzler,  Discovering
Mosaistics  (N.  1)  pp.  177–8  Note 37; and Idem, Conflict of Laws
in  the  Israelite  Dynasty  of  Egypt,  (Herborn  1991) p. 10 Note 13.
            14)  The  Pythagorean  music or harmony of the spheres has
its origin in the Ten Commandments, the Decalogue or 10 Sephirot,
and  that  is  why  even  the  word “music” derives fromarrowMosheh
(Greek  Musaeus),  the  author  of the Mosaical (“musical”) Tablets
of  the  Law:  If  a  string  has  the  length  of the tablets (1.5 cubits)
subdivided  into  15  vertical letter-units of 0.1 cubit (supra Note 9),
and  produces  the  musical  note  c  =  15/15,  then 14/15 = c sharp;
13/15  =  d;  12/15  =  e;  11/15  =  f;  10/15  =  g;  9/15  =  a;  8/15 = b;
7.5/15   =   c’;   7/15  =  c’  sharp;  6/15  =  e’;  5/15  =  g’;  4/15  =  b’;
3/15  =  e’’;  2/15  =  b’’;  and  1/15  =  b’’’.

[10]


 
  
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  [71]

to  the  geometry  of  the  Tablets  of the Law, and
what seemed Pythagorean in Kabbalah is genuinely
Israelite  in  origin.15) 


B.  The  Transmission  of  the  Alphabet
from  Israel  to  Greece  under  the
House  of  David-Thutmosis  I

       §  6.  As  we  learn  from  Eupolemus,  it was
Moses  who  invented  the  alphabet  in  the  Sinai,
and  taught  the  people  of Israel, the Phoenicians
got  it  from  the  Jews,  and  the  Greeks from the
Phoenicians.16)  Educated in Egypt, he was familiar

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            15)  Cf.  Ed  Metzler,  Discovering  Mosaistics  (N. 1) p. 138
Note  24,  and  p.  149  Note  46  as  well as the accompanying text.
Pythagorean  phrases  like  “all  things  are  numbers” (kol-Davar
Sephirah)
, are “infinite” (Greek apeiron or Hebrew en-Soph), and
“emanate   from   God”  (Yatzo’  wa-Shov)  refer  to  the  graphical
details  of  the  Decalogue,  the  ten words or “things” (Devarim),
which  are  Sephirot  “written  lines”  (from  Sopher “scribe”) with
“no  end”, i. e. tacked together in an uninterrupted chain of letters
proceeding  or “emanating” from ANKIAHUH (Anokhiyahuweh)
“I  shall  be”,  later  reinterpreted  as  “I  am  YaHUH (Yahuweh)”,
the  first  two  words (8 letters) of the Ten Commandments (above
Note  5);  Ibid.  p.  27  Note  27, p. 136 Note 18, and p. 146 Note 40.
            16)  See Encyclopaedia Judaica (German 1930) vol. 6 at 836.

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with  the  24 one-consonant hieroglyphs, which are
often  wrongly  called  an  “alphabet”  and  are not
what  he  invented,  but they inspired the invention
of   simpler   phonetic   scripts  by  eliminating  the
multi-consonant  hieroglyphs.17)  This  was done by
the  Midianites  and Israelites, two Semitic peoples
who  lived  together  in  the Sinai at the time of the
Exodus  (1441  B. C. E.),  whence  the Midianites
migrated  south  along  the  eastern  shores  of  the
Red Sea, leaving the Thamudic inscriptions behind
which  developped  into ancient south Semitic and
modern  Ethiopian  script,  both  non-alphabetic in
the   strict  sense,  although  often  wrongly  called
“alphabets”  even  by  experts.18)

–––––––––––––– 

            17)  Cf.  Sir  Alan  Gardiner,  Egyptian  Grammar (Oxford 1982)
p.  26  §  18  and p. 27, who misuses “The Alphabet” as heading with
no  qualifications,  but  should  have  made  it  sufficiently  clear  that
the conventional order of one-consonant hieroglyphs in Egyptology
is modern and non-alphabetic; see Bundesdruckerei, Alphabete und
Schriftzeichen  des Morgen- und des Abendlandes (Berlin 1969) p. 9.
The  adopted  son  of  Pharaoh’s daughter, “Moses was learned in all
the wisdom of Egypt” (The Acts 7, 22).
            18)   It   is   a  conceptual  monstrosity,  when  Joseph  Naveh,
Early   History  of  the  Alphabet  (Jerusalem  1982)  p.  51  speaks  of
“the   Ethiopic   alphabetic   order”,  which  is  no  alphabetical  order
at  all,  so  that  the  question  of  its origin is avoided, cf. Ed Metzler,
Discovering Mosaistics (N. 1) p. 193 Note 12.

[12]


 
  
Western  Philosophy
  [73]

       §  7.  When and where the alphabetical order
in  the  strict  and  proper  sense  of the word was
introduced,  does  not  concern  hieroglyphic  and
south  Semitic  scripts,  who  do  not  have it, but
only  Hebrew-Phoenician  script  which  takes  its
proper  name  “alphabet” from its first two letters
Alef  and  Bet.19)  The people of Israel carried the
two  stone  Tablets  of  the  Law of the Torah of
Moses  from the Sinai in the Ark of the Covenant
northward  to  their Promised Land of Canaan or
Phoenicia  on the east coast of the Mediterranean
Sea,  and  with  it the alphabetical order, as I was
able to prove.20) The reason for placing the letters

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            19) Doubtless, Hebrew and Phoenician script are identical in
the  first  two  centuries  of  the  first millennium B. C. E., during the
golden  age of Israel, when the empire of King David and Solomon
extended  from  the  Euphrates  to  Egypt, until it disintegrated with
the Assyrian conquest of Israel in 722 B. C. E., and the Babylonian
destruction  of  Jerusalem  in  586  B. C. E., cf. Joseph Naveh (N. 18)
pp.  54–57  and  65–78.
            20) This view was shared in antiquity by Eupolemus (N. 16),
and  in  modern  times  by Hubert Grimme, late professor of Semitic
languages at the University of Münster, Germany, and specialist of
proto-Sinaitic  inscriptions,  cf.  his monograph “Die altsinaitischen
Buchstabeninschriften”   (Berlin   1929)   pp.   21–22   and  100–109.
Contra,  Joseph Naveh (N. 18) pp. 26 and 65, who assumes that the
Hebrews  arrived in Canaan as illiterates adopting the art of writing
from  the  Phoenicians.

[13]


 
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Alef  and  Bet  at  the top of the alphabetical order,
and  thus  the  very  name  of  the alphabet results
from  the  Ten  Commandments, for their first line
begins  on  face  A of the first stone tablet with the
letter  Alef,  and  their  second  line on face B with
the  letter  Bet.21)
       §  8.  At  the  time of Moses Hebrew still had
a   “th”-sound,  represented  by  the  letter  Tzadi,
as  attested  by  the Zakhor-Shamor divergence in
the   text   of   the   Ten  Commandments,  which
changed  into  an  “s”-sound  toward  the  end  of
the  ancient  Israelite  republic.22)  This fact serves

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            21)  Cf.  Ed  Metzler,  Discovering Mosaistics (N. 1) pp. 89–90.
By  paying  attention  to  the fact that the Ten Commandments begin
with  the  letter  Alef,  while  the story of creation in the Hebrew Bible
begins  with  the  letter  Bet, as do the New Testament and the Koran
as   well   as   the  Sefer  Yetzirah,  marking  them  all  asarrowsecondary
literature  in  comparison  to  the  Tablets  of  the  Law,  I  discovered
that  their  second  line  began  with the letter Bet, – and given a well-
preserved  text  like  that  of  the  Ten Commandments (Note 8 supra),
this  turned  out  to  be  the  key  to reconstructing its distribution on
the  Tablets  of  the  Law.  Already  Hubert  Grimme,  Aussehen und
Aufschrift  der  mosaischen  Gesetzestafeln, in Nieuwe Theologische
Studien   vol.   25   (1942)   pp.   81–90   worked  at  this  problem,  but
failed  because  he  neglected  the  geometry  of  the tablets and their
box  as  well as the alphabetical order, characteristic of the people of
Israel rather than thearrowMidianites who migrated south.
            22)  See  Ed  Metzler, Discovering Mosaistics (N. 1) pp. 87–91
on post-Mosaical changes in Hebrew phonology and palaeography.

[14]


 
  
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  [75]

to   prove  whether  and  when  the  alphabet  was
borrowed  from  Israel  by Greece and the Phoeni-
cians  of  Ugarit,  who  must  have  gotten  it from
a  Semitic  people  that no longer had a “th”-sound
at   the   time,   when   the  borrowing  took  place,
i.  e.  the  early monarchy of Israel.23) Since Ugarit
borrowed   its   cuneiform   alphabet  at  this  time,
eighteenth-dynasty  Egypt,  –  being contemporary
with  Ugarit,  –  is not only contemporary with the
golden  age  of Israel under King Solomon and his
Egyptian wife and sister Queen Hatshepsut-Sheba,
but  the  Thutmosids  are  also  identical  with  the
House  of  David-Thutmosis  I.24)

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            23)   Cf.   Ed   Metzler,  Discovering  Mosaistics  (N.  1)  p.  99
Note  5,  p.  112  Note 33, and p. 113 Notearrow34. Similarly, the system
of  Mosaical  metrology  with  its  distinctively  Israelite  fingerprints
came   from   Israel   to   Greece  and  Ugarit  (Ibid.  pp.  52  and  184).
            24)   Cf.   Ed  Metzler,  Conflict  of  Laws  (N.  13)  Notes  6–18
and  44–49.  The name of Israel’s god YaHUH (Yahuweh) or Ehiyeh
“I  shall  be”  (Exodus  3,  13–15) was translated into Egyptian by the
verb  Kheper  “to  become”,  and  is  part  of the prenomen of almost
all  the  pharaohs  of  the  eighteenth  or  Israelite  dynasty of Egypt,
cf.   Jan   Assmann,  Ägypten  –  Theologie  und  Frömmigkeit  einer
frühen  Hochkultur  (Stuttgart  1991)  p.  76.  Thus,  the prenomen of
Thutmosis III, the son and successor of King Solomon-Thutmosis II
is   Men-Kheper-Re,  which  if  translated  back  into  Hebrew  yields
Hezekiah  or  Ezekiel,  since  Men  is  ancient  Egyptian  for Hebrew
Chazak   “firm”,   and   “R”   (Re)   stands   for   “L”   (El),   so   that

[15]


 
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C. Jewish Elements in Greek Philosophy
and Mythology from Prometheus
to Thales of Miletus

       §  9.  In  “The  City of God” Saint Augustine
writes  that Prometheus lived at the time of Moses,
an unususal thought at first sight, however a closer
look  shows  the  similarity  of their stories.25) Both
descendants  of  families  with twelve children, the
12  children  of  Israel  and  the  12 Titans, Greek
mythology  ascribes  to  Prometheus the invention
of  the  alphabet  and the formation of man (Adam

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Kheper-Re   renders   YaHUH-El   (Joel)   or   Eliyahu.   In   Ethiopian
tradition   King   Solomon’s   son   and  heir  is  correctly  remembered
by   his   prenomen   as   Menelik  =  Men(kheper)re,  although  he  is
not  the  son,  but the son-in-law of his wife Queen Hatshepsut-Sheba
of   Egypt   and  Ethiopia,  whom  the  Kebra  Negast  also  remembers
by  her  prenomenarrowMaatkare-Makeda,  cf.  Edward Ullendorff, The
Queen  of  Sheba  in  Ethiopian  Tradition, in James P. Pritchard (ed.),
Solomon and Sheba (London 1974) p. 110.
            25)  Cf.  Aurelius  Augustinus,  De Civitate Dei (XVIII, 8): “Cum
. . .  natus est in Aegypto Moyses, per quem populus Dei de servitute
Aegyptia  liberatus  est,  . . .  fuisse a quibusdam creditur Prometheus,
quem   propterea   ferunt   de   luto  formasse  homines,  quia  optimus
sapientiae  doctor  fuisse perhibetur.” With other words, Prometheus
is   said   to  have  made  “men  out  of dirt”,  because  he  is  believed
to  have been the best teacher of wisdom, as Moses is also known for
his  teaching  or  Torah  from  the  Sinai, see Ed Metzler, Discovering
Mosaistics  (N.  1)  p.  22  Note  12.

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Western  Philosophy
  [77]

Kadmon)  out  of  dirt,  while  Jewish mysticism in
“The  Book  of  Formation”  likens  the inscription
on  the  Tablets of the Law in the original alphabet
by  Moses to the creation of the world.26) The wife
of Prometheus was “Asia”, as Herodotus recounts,
and  the  alphabet  was  invented by pro-Methe-us
in  Asia,  whose  name  is  not Indo-European and
yields  Moses,  if  stripped  of its Aryan prefix and
suffix,  for  the  “th”  in  Methe  becomes  “sh” in
Hebrew  Mosheh,  one  of  the children of Isra-el,
Asherah and El, Uranus and Gaea.27)

–––––––––––––– 

            26)   See  “The  Book  of  Formation”  or  Sefer  Yetzirah  (1,  1);
and  Ed Metzler, Discovering Mosaistics (N. 1) p. 146 Notearrow39. The
transmission   of  the  Hebrew-Phoenician  alphabet  (above  Note  19)
from  Israel  to  Greece  is  correctly  ascribed by Herodotus, Histories
(V,   58–61)  to  Kadmos  (from  Hebrew  Kadmon  “ancient”)  and  the
first  Phoenicians,  who  founded  the Polis (from Baalut “dominion”)
of  Thebes,  named  after  the  city of David-Thutmosis I, the capital of
the   Israelite   dynasty  of  Egypt,  cf.  Ed  Metzler,  Conflict  of  Laws
(N.  13)  Notearrow18.  Hence Linear B was gradually superseded by the
alphabet  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  first millennium B. C. E. without
the  ridiculous  relapse  into  illiteracy known as the Greek Dark Ages,
sic  Yves  Duhoux,  Mycénien  et  écriture  grecque,  in  BCILL vol. 26
(1988)  pp.  31  and  40.
            27)  The  motive  of  a  sexual union between Heaven (Uranus)
and Earth (Gaea) is present in Israel’s dream of the ladder to heaven
(Genesis  28,  12–19),  and  in  the biblical etymology of Israel’s night
of  wrestling  with  a  heavenly  being  (Genesis 32, 25–33; 35, 10–15),
cf.  Ed  Metzler,  Discovering  Mosaistics  (N.  1)  p.  145 Note 37. On
Prometheus and Asia, see Herodotus, Histories (IV, 45).

[17]


 
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       §   10.   Greek   mythology  begins  with  Pro-
metheus-Moses
,  as  the Bible (Genesis 1, 1) begins
with  the  creation  of  the “world” (Hebrew Olam),
which  is  a  mystification  of  the foundation of the
ancient   Republic   (Hebrew  Ol  Am)  of  Israel:28)
In  the  beginning  God (Hebrew Elohim, by haplo-
logy  from  El  ha-Elim  “highest leader”) or rather
the first supreme judge Moses created “the heaven
and the earth”, Uranus and Gaea, Asherah and El,
contracted  into  Israel.29)  After  the Exodus of the
Israelite  pyramid  builders  from Egypt, who were
called  Titans  and  believed  to  be  giants  like the
makers  of  Cyclopian  masonry,  at the end of the
Middle  Kingdom in 1441 B. C. E. Moses founded

–––––––––––––– 

            28)   Cf.   Isaiah   63,  11:  Yemey  Olam  Mosheh  Amo,  literally
“the  days  of  the  Republic  of  Moses and his people,” long ago or
“days of old” for Isaiah, who lived 700 years later.
            29)  The  deification  of  the Mosaical tablets (Notearrow5 supra)
led  to  the  mystification  of  their  graphical  details (above Notes 10
and  15)  as  well  as  the  theological reinterpretation of their juridical
text,  especially  the  proper  name of Israel’s  god  YaHUH  (Note  24
supra),  which  did  not  exist  before  the  tablets  were made (Exodus
6,  2  and  3).  Likewise,  the  generic  Hebrew  term  for “god” Elohim
originally  meant  the  pre-monarchic  head  of  state, the President of
the  ancient  Republic  of  Israel,  and  its Commander-in-Chief of the
Armies  (Elohey  Tzeva’ot),  cf.  Ed Metzler, Discovering Mosaistics
(N. 1) p. 85 Notearrow44; Idem, Conflict of Laws (N. 13) Notesarrow38–39.

[18]


 
  
Western  Philosophy
  [79]

the  popular  “rule”  (Ol)  of  his  “people” (Am) of
Israel  (Asher  ha-El)  by  means  of the ten words
(Decalogue)  of  his  teaching  (Torah),  that  is the
ten  lines  of  his  Tablets of the Law, by which the
world  was  created.30)
       §  11.  Thales  of Miletus probably was a Jew,
because  his  name  means  a  Jewish prayer shawl,
and  Herodotus  reports  that  he was a Phoenician
by  descent,  who  simply  was  quoting  the Torah
(Genesis  1,  1  and  2)  when  he  held that “in the
beginning” (Greek en Arche or Hebrew be-Reshit)
was  the  water,  as did Saint John when he wrote
many  centuries  later  that  “in the beginning” was
the word or “logos” of the Decalogue.31) The same

–––––––––––––– 

            30)  Cf.  Avot  5,  1:  “With  ten  words  (Decalogue)  was  the
world  (Republic)  created;”  similarly  the  Sefer  Yetzirah  (1,  1): He
inscribed (Chakak) the Tablets of the Law, and “created his world”
(Bara’  et-Olamo),  his democracy or rule (Ol) of his people (Amo),
see  above  Note 28; and Ed Metzler, Discovering Mosaistics (N. 1)
p.  196  Note  21.  The Jewish era of creation beginning 3761 B. C. E.
is  also  a  mystification of the actual date of Exodus and Decalogue
(1441  B. C. E.),  cf.  Ed  Metzler, Conflict of Laws (N. 13) Notearrow37.
Before  the Exodus the people of Israel served El Shaddai, the god
of  Fayoum  (ancient  Egyptian Shedet), the Shedetite (Exodus 6, 3),
whence  they  left  on  the  Fayoum  Exodus Route, see Ed Metzler,
Discovering  Mosaistics  (N. 1) p. 37 Notearrow14, and p. 180 Note 43.
            31)  See  Herodotus,  Histories  (I,  170),  for  whom  the Jews

[19]


 
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is  true  of  his  geometry concerning right triangles
in  a  circle, its diameter, and the isosceles triangles
formed  by its radius, which as with Pythagoras is
the  geometry  of the Mosaical Tablets of the Law
and  their  box,  the Ark of the Covenant.32) Hence,
“the  Jews  are  a  people  of  philosophers”  in the
opinion  of  Theophrastus  of Eresus, the father of
the  history  of philosophy, who knew the libraries
of Plato and Aristotle on pre-Socratic philosophy,
that have long since been lost.33)

–––––––––––––– 

are  those  Phoenicians  (above  Note  13) who, by their own account
(Haggadah),   migrated   to  Canaan  (Phoenicia)  from  the  Red  Sea
(Ibid.  VII,  89),  for  Hebrew  and  Phoenician  script  are  as identical
(Note  19 supra) as Hebrew is the language of Canaan (Isaiah 19, 18),
although  in  the  Persian  period,  treated  by  Herodotus, the Jewish
returnees   from   the   Babylonian   Exile  used  the  Aramaic  (Syrian)
language  and  alphabet,  so  that  Herodotus  rightly  calls them “the
Syrians  in  Palestine.”  Both  Thales  and  Hebrew Tallith “scarf” are
spelled  with  an  initial  Tet  (Greek  Theta).  On  Saint John (1, 1), cf.
Claus  Schedl,  Zur  Theologie  des  Alten Testaments (Vienna 1986)
p.  34,  who  points  out  that  his  Logos  is  not a Greek concept, but
refers to the Decalogue and the story of creation.
            32)  See  Jaap  Mansfeld  (N.  12)  pp.  48–9,  52–3,  and  168–9.
After  the  deification  of  the  Mosaical  tablets (cf. Notes 5 andarrow29
supra)  the  Ark  of the Covenant, in which they were carried, became
the  divine  chariot (Hebrew Merkavah) of Jewish mysticism, whence
the  Pythagorean  harmony  (from  Greek  harma “chariot”) of the ten
spheres, Sephirot or Decalogue (Idem pp. 162–3).
            33)  Cf.  Encyclopaedia  Judaica  (German  1931)  vol.  7  at 664.
In  epigrammatic  brevity,  the  neo-Platonist Numenius of Apamea is
also right in calling Plato “a Greek-speaking Moses” (Encyclopaedia

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Western  Philosophy
  [81]

Thales,  Pythagoras,  and   Moses
 
[The printed graphics were replaced by their equivalents from this website]
 
Geometry of the Tablets and the Ark of the Covenant

            The rectanglearrowABCD represents the Ark of the Covenant of
YaHUH  (Yahuweh),  which  is  a  box  made  out  of  acacia  wood at
the  time  of  the  Exodus  of  the  people  of Israel from Egypt in 1441
B. C. E.  (1.  Kings  6,  1)  for  transporting  the  two  stone  Tablets of
the  Law  of  the Torah “theoria” or teaching of Moses from the Sinai
to  the  Promised  Land.  The  Bible  gives  its  precise measurements:
“two  cubits  and  a  half  was  the  length of it, and a cubit and a half
the  breadth  of  it,”  (Exodus  37,  1).  In  it  is  the  circle  later  named
after  Thales  of  Miletus  touching  the  short  sides of the box in the
middle  at  points  E  and  F,  while  cutting  its  long  sides  at  points
K,  L,  M,  and  N.  The  rectanglearrowKLMN  represents the Mosaical
Tablets  of  the  Law  lying  side  by  side,  divided in two by line OP.
The  four  right  triangles  KLM,  KLN,  KMN, and LMN make use of
the  later  so-called  Pythagorean numbers 3, 4, and 5 divided by two
(3 : 4 : 5 = 1.5 : 2 : 2.5),  each  of  the  Tablets  being  1  by  1.5  cubits.

[21]


 
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Ed  Metzler
  

D. The Mosaical Ban on Idolatry and
the Jewishness of the Empiricism
of Francis Bacon

       §  12.  The  Mosaical  ban  on idolatry, which
occupies   considerable  space  in  the  text  of  the
Ten   Commandments,  is  so  central  to  Judaism
that  the  Talmud  calls  him  a  Jew  “who  rejects
idol   worship”,   and,  therefore,  a  philosophy  is
truly   Jewish,   if  the  rejection  of  idolatry  is  its
central  theme.34)  This happens to be the case with
the  philosophy of Francis Bacon in particular and
Puritanism  in  general,  which owes its very name

–––––––––––––– 

Judaica,  ibid.  at 673), since Platonism is in essence Pythagoreanism,
as  Bertrand  Russell  (N. 2) p. 37 remarks, and Pythagoreanism is but
a  Greek  version  of  Judaism,  as  Hermippus of Smyrna claimed, and
I was able to prove. Besides Thales and Pythagoras, of course, other
philosophers  from  Ionia  (above Note 4) were likewise influenced by
Jewish  thought,  such  as  Anaximander’s infinite worlds or spheres
(cf.  Note  15  supra),  and  Anaximenes, who like Thales was quoting
Genesis  1,  1–2,  when  he held that “in the beginning” was the air or
wind  (Hebrew  Ruach),  which  blew  “upon  the  face of the waters,”
as   well   as   the  monotheism  of  Xenophanes,  see  Jaap  Mansfeld
(N.  12)  pp.  70–1,  88–9,  and  224–5.
            34)   Cf.   Exodus   20,   4–6  (=  Deuteronomy  5,  8–10);  Daniel
3,  12–18;  Talmud,  Meg.  13a: “He who denies idols is called a Jew;”
and  the  Supreme  Court  of Israel, who ruled in the Rufeisen case of
1963   that   a   convert   to  Roman  Catholicism  no  longer  is  a  Jew.

[22]


 
  
Western  Philosophy
  [83]

to   the   “purity”   from  pollution  by  the  filth  of
Roman   Catholic  idol  worship,  –  but  apparently
the Jewishness of the empiricism of Francis Bacon
has  never  been  claimed.35)  By  incorporating  the
whole  Hebrew  Bible  into  the  holy  scriptures of
Christianity,  the  church  also  swallowed  the  two
stone  tablets  of  Moses, which proved indigestible
and  incompatible  with Greek Orthodox or Roman
Catholic  idolatry,  inherited  from the paganism of
its Graeco-Roman past.36)
       §  13.  One of the idols rejected by Puritanism
as  opposed  to the less radical Protestantism of the
Lutheran  and  Anglican  church,  who had already

–––––––––––––– 

            35)  See  for  instance  Bertand  Russell  (N.  2) pp. 541–5, who
does  not  even  mention  his Puritan background (below Notearrow41);
and  Encyclopaedia  Judaica,  which has no entry on Francis Bacon,
but  mentions  under  English  Literature  (vol.  6 at 776) that Bacon’s
“The  New  Atlantis”  (1627)  describes  the  utopian Pacific island of
Bensalem,   where  the  Jewish  colonists  have  a  college  of  natural
philosophy  called  “Solomon’s  House”  and  are governed by rules
of  kabbalistic  antiquity.  Similarly,  John Amos Comenius speaks of
Solomon’s  House (Proverbs 9, 1–6) in his “Praeludium Pansophiae”
(Oxford  1637)  chapter  37,  and  calls  science  based  on  experience
(Autopsia)  Solomonic, its opposite vain and gentile, cf. Ed Metzler,
Emancipation from Cultural Infantilism (N. 2) p. 107.
            36)  Neither Jesus was responsible for his own deification nor
was Moses for that of his tablets (Notearrow5 supra), which took place
in  the  centuries  after  their  death, and violated the ban on idolatry.

[23]


 
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done  away  with  the  authority  of  the Pope, and
refused   to  worship  any  of  the  Catholic  saints,
such as Saint Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ as
the  “Mother  of  God” or the “Queen of Heaven”,
is  Saint  Thomas Aquinas, the official philosopher
of the Roman Catholic church, who virtually made
a  Christian  saint  out  of  Aristotle,  although this
pagan   philosopher   lived  in  the  fourth  century
before  the  Christian  era.37)  While  Lutheran and
Anglican  philosophy shared the neo-scholasticism
of the Roman Catholic church, Puritan philosophy
was  fiercely  anti-Aristotelian.38) Its champion was
the  French  Huguenot  Petrus Ramus, who taught

–––––––––––––– 

            37)   Cf.   Bertrand   Russell   (N.   2)   p.   162,   who  describes
Aristotle’s  metaphysics  as  “Plato  diluted  by common sense,” and
observes  (p.  452)  that  “the  Stagyrite has, among Catholics, almost
the  authority  of  one  of  the Fathers.” This explains his rejection by
radical  Protestantism,  see  Hugh  Kearney, Scholars and Gentlemen,
(Ithaca  1970)  p.  50:  “Where  Saint  Thomas  baptized Aristotle, and
the Jesuits canonized him, Ramus exorcized him.”
            38)  After  the  defeat  of  the  Armada  in  1588  (Note 44 infra)
a repressive period began for Puritanism accompanied by the revival
of  scholasticism,  cf.  Christopher  Hill,  Intellectual  Origins  of  the
English  Revolution  (Oxford  1965)  p. 32; and Hugh Kearney (N. 37)
pp.  77–90.  On  Germany  see  Ernst  Lewalter, Spanisch-jesuitische
und  deutsch-lutherische  Metaphysik des 17. Jahrhunderts, ein Bei-
trag  zur  Vorgeschichte des deutschen Idealismus (1935), which has
kept its repressive touch (below Notearrow54).

[24]


 
  
Western  Philosophy
  [85]

at the University of Paris, where he was murdered
for  his  Protestantism  on  August 26, 1572 in the
Massacre of St. Bartholomew.39)
       §  14.  By  distinguishing  four  kinds  of idols
Francis  Bacon outdid Moses who had only three,
but  whatever  their  number,  the point is that one
should  not  bow  to their authority nor serve them
as a slave, least of all the scholastic Aristotelianism
of  Saint  Thomas  Aquinas.40)  There  is no doubt
that  Bacon  got  the  Jewish  concept  of  idolatry
from  the  Puritan biblicism of his home as well as
the  Puritan  philosophy of Cambridge University,
which  was a stronghold of Ramism in the fifteen-
seventies,  when  he  attended  it.41)  Even  though

–––––––––––––– 

            39)  See  Petrus  Ramus  (Latinized from Pierre de la Ramée),
Collectaneae   Praefationes,   Epistolae,   Orationes  (Marburg  1599)
p.  194,  where  he  writes  in  a letter to the Aristotelian philosopher
Schegk  in  Tübingen:  “hardly any idolatry is more worthless in my
judgement  than  your  idolomania  of  Aristotelian  sophisms;” and
Christopher Hill (N. 38) p. 292.
            40)  Whatever  kind of idols, of which Bertrand Russell (N. 2)
p.  544  has even five: “Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them,
nor serve them!” (Exodus 20, 5 = Deuteronomy 5, 9).
            41)  Cf.  James  Spedding et al., The Works of Francis Bacon,
(London  1858–74)  vol.  VIII  pp.  2–5,  who mentions the “puritanic
fervour” of Bacon’s mother; and William Rawley, who writes in his
biography  (Ibid.  vol.  I  p.  4)  that when Francis Bacon was at the

[25]


 
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Francis  Bacon  did  not  like  the Ramist method
of  dichotomizing,  his  philosophy  constitutes  an
eloquent  restatement  of  Ramism:  The very idea
of  writing  a New Organum was prompted by the
attacks  of Petrus Ramus against the old Organum
of  Aristotle  and his Metaphysics, that were to be
replaced by a more modern and useful philosophy
based  on  experience.42) 


E. The Exodus of Israel from Egypt
as Democratic Substratum of
Western Philosophy

       §  15. In politics the rejection of idol worship
meant  the  right of resistance against tyrants, as it
did  already  at  the  time  of the Exodus of Israel

–––––––––––––– 

University  of  Cambridge,  “about sixteen years of age, (as his lord-
ship  hath  been  pleased to impart unto myself), he first fell into the
dislike  of the philosophy of Aristotle.” During this period, “the list
of Cambridge Ramists reads like a list of the most radical Cambridge
Puritans” according to Hugh Kearney (N. 37) p. 61.
            42)  On  the  empiricism  of  Petrus Ramus, cf. his “Scholarum
Dialecticarum  seu  Animadversionum  in  Organum Aristotelis, libri

[26]


 
  
Western  Philosophy
  [87]

from  Egypt,  when  Moses  liberated  the Hebrew
slaves  from  their  house  of  bondage,  and wrote
his  ban  on  idolatry into the Ten Commandments
of  his Torah.43)  The  idol  worship  of the Roman
Catholic  church  went  hand in hand with political
oppression  by  the Catholic kings of Spain, whose
tyranny  William of Nassau-Orange resisted in the
Dutch  war  of  independence, and whose Armada
was  defeated  by  England in 1588.44) The right of
resistance  as practised by William of Orange was
justified  in political theory by Johannes Althusius,
a  Ramist  law professor at the Calvinist university
of Herborn in Nassau, where he published in 1603

–––––––––––––– 

XX,”  edited  by  Johann Piscator, head of the University of Herborn
from    1584–1625    (Frankfurt    1594)    pp.    250–51:   “Utinam   literis
aureis,  atque  amplis  et  illustribus,  pro  foribus  scholarum  omnium,
vel   potius   firma   et   stabili   intelligentia   memoriaque  in  mentibus
magistrorum,  duo  ista  verba essent inscripta et impressa: EMPIRIA,
HISTORIA!”  In  his  view  empiric  research, which should be written
in golden letters over the doors of all schools, is the cause and origin
of  all  true  and  useful  knowledge. On what Ramus had to say about
metaphysics,   see   Hugh  Kearney  (N.  37)  p.  49,  and  on  Bacon’s
dislike   for   dichotomizing,   Idem   p.   99,   although  mathematicians
such   as  Gottfried  Wilhelm  Leibniz  also  liked  the  binary  system,
cf. Jaap Mansfeld (N. 12) p. 103 Note 5.
            43)  See  Jan  Assmann  (N.  24)  pp.  25–35 on the interrelation
between  slavery  and  idolatry  in  ancient  Egypt (cf. Note 30 supra).
            44)  On  July  10,  1584 William of Orange was assassinated in

[27]


 
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Ed  Metzler
  

his  “Politica  Methodice  Digesta”, which inspired
the  political  thought of the Puritan revolution and
the  Pilgrim  Fathers.45)
       §  16.  Another  giant  of  the Herborn School
wasarrowJohn  Amos  Comenius,  whose  pedagogical
realism  like  the empiricism of Francis Bacon had
its   roots  in  Ramism,  as  we  can  see  from  his
Herborn  thesis  of 1613, written under his teacher
Johann  Heinrich  Alsted.46)  The  latter’s encyclo-
paedia  as  well  as  other  books  published  at the
Herborn University Press played an important role

–––––––––––––– 

Delft,  and  in  the  same  month  the  University  of  Herborn  opened,
which  was  founded  by  his  brother  John  VI of Nassau-Dillenburg,
and consisted of a college (Paedagogium) and four graduate schools,
Theology,   Jurisprudence,  Philosophy,  and  Medicine,  until  it  was
closed   by   Napoleon   in   1812,   cf.   Johann   Hermann   Steubing,
Geschichte   der   Hohen   Schule   Herborn   (Hadamar  1823)  pp.  36,
68–73,  and  237.  Besides John Amos Comenius,arrowother well-known
scholars   were  educated  in  Herborn,  such  as  the  great  Hebraists
Johannes  Buxtorf,  the  elder  in  Basle,  Cort Aslakssen from Bergen
in  Norway,  later Copenhagen, and Giovanni Diodati of Geneva, the
famous  translator  of  the  Bible  into  Italian.
            45)  Cf. Johannes Althusius, Politica Methodice Digesta atque
exemplis  sacris  et  profanis illustrata (3rd ed. Herborn, Nassau 1614)
chapter  38  “De  tyrannide  eiusque  remediis” p. 908 § 55, translated
by  my  Dallas  friend  Frederick S. Carney, The Politics of Johannes
Althusius  (Boston  1964)  p.  188.  The  great  jurist  Otto von Gierke
rescued  Althusius  from  oblivion  in  1880,  who was republished by
my  Heidelberg  teacher  Carl  Joachim Friedrich at Harvard in 1932.
            46)  It  bears  the  title  “Sylloge Quaestionum Controversarum

[28]


 
  
Western  Philosophy
  [89]

in  Puritan  America,  where  Governor Winthrop
tried  to  make  Comenius  President  of Harvard
College, and when Puritanism got the upper hand
in the sixteen-forties and fifties, Comenius visited
his  fellow Puritans in England (1641–42), whose
efforts  resulted in the resettlement of the Jews in
England  under Oliver Cromwell.47) The Glorious
Revolution  of 1688 made William of Orange III
King of England, and the philosopher John Locke
returned  from  his  exile in Holland, summing up
the Puritan school of thought.48)

–––––––––––––– 

e  Philosophiae  viridario  depromptarum”  (Herbornae  Nassoviorum
1613)  p.  7,  where  he  answers  question  no.  2,  “Omnisne cognitio
a  sensu  incipiat?”  as  follows:  “Concludimus  ergo  nihil cognosci,
nisi beneficio sensuum.” In the previous year his teacher Alsted had
published  his  “Philosophia  Digne  Restituta”  (Herborn  1612) with
an  impressive  dedication  to the University of Cambridge, the other
stronghold  of  Puritanism  and  Ramism  besides  Herborn,  and  in it
he  quotes  literally  the  Dialectics  of  Petrus  Ramus on "EMPIRIA,
HISTORIA!" (p. 148), see above Notearrow42.
            47)  The  English  Comenian John Dury, a diplomatic agent of
Oliver  Cromwell,  was  first  to  work for admitting Jews to England,
and  corresponded  on  the  subject  with arrowMenasseh  ben Israel in
Amsterdam,  cf.  Christopher  Hill  (N.  38)  pp.  100–109.  It was also
due   to  him  and  other  English  Comenians  that  plans  were  made
which  finally  led  to  the  foundation  of the Royal Society, to whom
John  Amos  Comenius  dedicated  his  “Via  Lucis”  in  1668,  that he
had  already  written  during  his  stay  in  England,  see  Ed  Metzler,
Emancipation   from  Cultural  Infantilism  (N.arrow2)  pp.  102  and  103.
            48)  The  father of John Locke was a Puritan just like Bacon’s

[29]


 
[90]  
Ed  Metzler
  

       §  17.  The French and American Revolution
as  well as their democratic and liberal philosophy
of 18th century Enlightenment is deeply indebted
to  the  Glorious Revolution and its philosophy of
John  Locke,  and thus in final analysis to Puritan
Protestantism  and  Judaism.49)  But  whereas the
democratic ideals embodied in the Declaration of
Independence  of  1776,  and the Constitution of
the  United  States of America are a continuation
of  the  Puritan 17th century New England mind,
this  democratic  substratum  is lacking in France,
where  Protestant philosophy was imported from

–––––––––––––– 

mother  (above  Note  41),  cf.  Bertrand  Russell  (N. 2) p. 604. While
John  Locke  was  in  Holland,  the  Edict  of Nantes was revoked on
October   18,  1685,  and  during  November  and  December  of  1685
he   wrote  the  “Epistola  de  Tolerantia”  in  Amsterdam, which was
published  in  Gouda  in May of 1689 after his return to England, see
Locke’s  “Letter on Toleration” edited by Raymond Klibansky, and
J.  W.  Gough  (Oxford  1968)  pp.  IX–XIX,  and  pp.  1–3  et  passim.
On  the  replacement of scholasticism by empiricism with the advent
of  John  Locke  and  the  Glorious  Revolution, cf. Christopher Hill
(N. 38) p. 126; and Hugh Kearney (N. 37) p. 160.
            49)  This  applies  even  to  the atheism and materialism of the
French encyclopaedists as well as the positivism and pragmatism of
the  19th  and  20th  century.  Perceiving  the interrelation of slavery
and  idolatry  (above  Note  43),  Moses was opposed to any kind of
idolatry, whether worshipping flesh and blood (Jesus) or wood and
stone (YaHUH), cf. Notes 32 and 36 supra; Ed Metzler, Discovering
Mosaistics (N. 1) p. 199 Note 28.

[30]


 
  
Western  Philosophy
  [91]

England  by  men  like  Voltaire and Montesquieu
more than a generation after French Protestantism
had been eradicated in 1685 by the Revocation of
the  Edict  of  Nantes.50)  By relying on the Jewish
rather than Graeco-Roman sources of Christianity
Puritanism  supplied  modern Western Philosophy
with its democratic substratum.51)
       §  18. What the Exodus of Israel from Egypt
was  all  about,  is the emancipation from slavery,
the  liberation  of  Hebrew slaves by Moses being
the  first  great proletarian revolution in the world,
which  led to the foundation of the oldest republic
on earth, the ancient Republic of Israel, and gave

–––––––––––––– 

            50)   Voltaire  lived  in  England  from  1726–29, Montesquieu
from  1729–31,  cf.  Bertrand  Russell  (N.  2)  pp.  605  and  642;  and
George   H.   Sabine,  A  History  of  Political  Theory  (Lodon  1968)
pp.  546–53  and  561–2.  Baconian philosophy had its breakthrough
only  after  1640  with  the  rise  of  Puritanism,  see Christopher Hill
(N.  38)  pp.  96  and  116.  The  triumph of John Locke’s philosophy
is also the triumph of Puritan-Jewish philosophy.
            51)  The  deification  of  the  Mosaical Tablets of the Law had
made  Saul and David from generals “appointed by the commander-
in-chief”  (Elohey  Tzeva’ot)  of  the  Republic  into kings “anointed
by God,” see above Note 29. This divine right of kings reverted into
the  republican  sovereignty  of  the people in the political theory of
Puritan  Protestantism  as  formulated  by  Johannes  Althusius, and
the  great English Puritan John Milton, cf. Carl Joachim Friedrich,
Preface to Frederick S. Carney (N.arrow45) p. XII.

[31]


 
[92]  
Ed  Metzler
  

to  mankind  the  Decalogue  and the Alphabet that
were   to   remain   the  democratic  substratum  of
Western  Culture.52)  The philosophy of the Exodus
as  set  forth  in the Mosaical ban on idolatry of the
Ten   Commandments   prohibits   any  return  into
submission  to  the  authority  of a master, whether
in  politics,  economics  or philosophy, which is the
basis  of  modern  liberalism and empiricism.53) Yet,
the  geometry  of  the Mosaical Tablets of the Law
is  also  the  basis  of  Pythagoreanism,  and  of the
anti-democratic   philosophy   of  the  metaphysical
school,  whence  the  twofold  impact  of Israel on
Western  Philosophy.54)

–––––––––––––– 

            52)  The  political  desirability  of  the  alphabet  in a democracy
was  essential  to  its  introduction  at  the time of the Exodus of Israel
from   Egypt,  making  literacy  and  learning  available  to  everybody,
cf.  Ed  Metzler,  Discovering  Mosaistics  (N.  1)  p.  120 Note 51, and
p. 185 Note 54; see also above Notes 19–22.
            53)   In   his   Dialectics,   the  empiricist  Petrus  Ramus  (N.  42)
p.   30   remarks   with   respect   to  the  medical  empiricism  of  Galen,
whom  he  considers  the  last  to  deserve  being called a philosopher:
“Servi  deinceps,  non  philosophi  fuere!”  Cf.  Ed  Metzler, Emancipa-
tion from Cultural Infantilism (N.arrow2) p. 100 Note 7.
            54)   Servility  to  monarchic  absolutism  as  well  as  dictatorial
totalitarianism   has   characterized   the  metaphysical  mainstream  of
German philosophy from the 17th century onwards (Notearrow38 supra)
down to Hegel and Heidegger, cf. L. T. Hobhouse, The Metaphysical
Theory of the State (London 1960) pp. 21–25.

[32]


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Discovering   the   Two-Dimensional  Structure  of
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Discovering   the   Mosaical   Roots   of  Kabbalah

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KIRJATH  SEPHER
Bibliographical   Quarterly   of   thearrowJewish   National
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VOL.   60,   NO.   1–2   (1986)   pp.   287–88,   *3045–47.

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ISBN  3-924448-10-8
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