On the Nobility and Excellence of the Female Sex

HEINRICH CORNELIUS AGRIPPA

According to the mystical symbols of the Cabalists Scholars of Jewish mysticism. Agrippa was a famous proponent of "Christian Cabala," which used these ancient traditions to interpret Christian doctrine., the very name of "woman" has more affinity with the ineffable name of divine omnipotence—the Tetragrammaton original: "τετραγράμματου" (tetragrammatou). This is the "four-letter" name of God (YHWH) in Hebrew, considered too sacred to be spoken aloud.—than the name of "man" does; for the name of man agrees with the divine name neither in its characters, nor in its shape, nor in its numerical value. But we shall set these things aside for now, for they are read by few, understood by even fewer, and require a more extensive explanation than would be appropriate to include here.

In the meantime, we will investigate the excellence of woman not only from her name, but from the actual facts, her duties, and her merits. Let us therefore "search the scriptures" (as they say) and, taking our beginning from the very start of creation, let us discuss what dignity woman herself was granted in the primary order of production over man.

We know that whatever was made by God—the Best and Greatest—differs chiefly in this: that some of these things remain forever incorruptible, while others are subject to decay and change. In creating these, God proceeded in such an order that, starting from the more noble of one kind, He ended with the most noble of another.

Therefore, He first created the incorruptible angels and souls; for Augustine Augustine, On Genesis, Book 7. St. Augustine of Hippo (354–430 AD). Agrippa is referencing Augustine's theory that souls were created all at once at the beginning of time, rather than at the moment of birth. argues that the souls of our first parents were created together with the angels before the production of their bodies. Furthermore, He created incorruptible bodies, such as the heavens and the stars, and the elements—which are indeed incorruptible in essence but subject to various changes—out of which He established all other things that are subject to decay. He began with the baser things and ascended through individual degrees of dignity toward the univer...