Magic, or the Secret System

V

...[seek], there are, on the contrary, others who recognize points of rest only in the most secret and hidden depths of things—resting places that are worthy of the immortal human being. While some of our scholars Original: Schriftgelehrten; literally "those learned in the Scriptures." In this period, it often carried a pejorative tone, referring to theologians who focus on the "letter" of the law rather than its spiritual "spirit." turn the almost lost spirit of the Scripture into the most changeable shell of earthly trivialities, so that it does not appear as if anything remains hidden in the sanctuary for which they have no sense, and so that they may all the more conveniently serve the god of this world A biblical allusion to 2 Corinthians 4:4, usually referring to worldly interests, vanity, or even the devil, as opposed to the divine. and political vanity, others open a holy perspective. In this view, even the most sublime truths appear in full clarity and harmony, refreshing the languishing earth like a balsamic dew from above. If the former must make the holy commonplace and degrade the divine in order to bring it into balance with their own lowly thoughts, the latter demonstrate a true wisdom, beauty, and strength of the divine from within itself, as well as its harmony with the forgotten—

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