| Author Quoted | Martin Buber |
| Title Quoted | Origin and Meaning of Hasidism |
| Date (Year/Month/Day) | 1961/10/01 |
| Imprint | New York : Horizon Press. 1960 |
| Quotation | The first book of Buber that has really gripped me is the one on the Origins and Meaning of Hasidism [New York, 1960]. The point about the seriousness of the Hasidic reaction against Sabbatian Messianism is very convincing. The whole question of the Gnostic trend and temptation. The question of gnosticism is an important one. I am at the same time much taken with H[enry] Corbin's book on Ibn al' Arabi [L'Imagination Creatrice dans Le Soufisme D'Ibn Arabi, Paris, 1958], and his gnostic sufism, this from a favorable viewpoint. The question is-is there an ineradicable opposition between gnostic and prophetic religion? This is stoutly maintained by Buber of course and by Protestants like H. Kraemer. It raises no doubt in the mind of staunch and staid Catholics (who oppose both prophecy and gnosticism). But I am not so sure after all. It is a big question, and the Corbin book shows it is not a simple one. |
| Quotation Source | Turning Toward the World: The Pivotal Years. The Journals of Thomas Merton, Volume 4, 1960-1963.; Edited by Victor A. Kramer. / San Francisco : Harper Collins. 1996, p. 167 |
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| Notes | |
| Link to Merton's Copy |
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