Hypsistarians

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The hypsistarians (Greek ὕψανίσται and ὕψιανοί ) were a pagan- Jewish religious group of the 3rd and 4th centuries, which was mainly effective in Cappadocia .

background

Their syncretistic teaching consisted of elements from Judaism and other oriental religions. The hypsistarians honored fire and light, observed the Sabbath and Jewish dietary laws, but refused to be circumcised. The name hypsistarian is derived from the veneration of only one supreme being, the Theos Hypsistos ( Greek ὕψιστος - hypsistos , the highest).

The hypsistarians were mentioned in Orationes theologicae by Gregory of Nazianz , whose father had belonged to the sect, and in Contra Eunomium libri by Gregory of Nyssa .

The hypsistarians were brought into the public consciousness of the modern age by Goethe , who dealt with sects and religious figures in the course of the writing of the West-Eastern Divan . In a letter to Sulpiz Boisserée , he confesses

“To the sect of hypsistarians, who, sandwiched between pagans, Jews and Christians, declared themselves to appreciate, admire and venerate the best, most perfect thing they knew, and in so far as it must stand in close relation to the deity to worship. "
"[...] Please note the enclosed request from time to time. Hypsistarian is a sect that one would like to join when they declare that they only want to appreciate the highest. [...] "
“[…] No one will resist religious feeling, but it is impossible for him to process it in himself, that's why he looks for or makes proselytes. The latter is not my kind, but I have faithfully carried out the former and, from the creation of the world onwards, have found no confession, to which I, however, in my old days from a sect of hypsistarians, who, caught between Gentiles, Jews and Christians, declared themselves to appreciate, admire, and to worship the best, most perfect, what they knew, and, in so far as it must stand in close relation to the deity, to worship. Suddenly from a dark age I felt a happy light, for I felt that I had endeavored all my life to qualify myself as a hypsistarian; but that is no small effort: for how, in the limitation of one's individuality, can one come to be aware of what is most excellent? [...] "

literature

  • Anton Kippenberg: The hypsistarians. Goethe Society 1943, OCLC 72561284 .
  • Georg Rudolf Wilhelm Böhmer: Origin and Character of the Hypsistarians. F. Perthes, Hamburg 1826, OCLC 9704963 .
  • Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Letters from and to Goethe. Leipzig 1846, ISBN 3-598-50924-3 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wilhelm Koch : Hypsistarians. In: Michael Buchberger (Ed.): Kirchliches Handlexikon. A reference book on the entire field of theology and its auxiliary sciences. Volume 1: A-H. Allgemeine Verlags-Gesellschaft, Munich 1907, Sp. 2068.
  2. ↑ Hypsistarians. in: Pierers Konversations-Lexikon. Spaarmann, Berlin 1875-1893.
  3. ^ Wilhelm Koch (1907), Col. 2068.
  4. ↑ Hypsistarians. in: Herders Conversations-Lexikon. Volume 3, G - Lindenau. Herder, Freiburg i. Br. 1855, OCLC 313803472 .
  5. ↑ Hypsistarĭer. in: Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon.
  6. ^ Wilhelm Koch (1907), Col. 2068.
  7. ↑ Merlin or the old Goethe - the last years (1823–32) on fleig-fleig.de, accessed on March 2, 2014.
  8. ↑ Goethe's letter to Friedrich Wilhelm Riemer of October 7, 1826 (41/162)
  9. ↑ Goethe's letter to Sulpiz Boisserée of March 22, 1831 (48/146)