Secret conversions to Judaism in early modern Europe [electronic resource]

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Martin Mulsow, Richard Henry Popkin
BRILL, 2004 - Religion - 237 pages
This volume deals with conversions to Judaism from the 16th to the 18th century. It provides six case studies by leading international scholars on phenomena as crypto-Judaism, "judaizing," reversion of Jewish-Christian converts and secret conversion of non-Jewish Christians for intellectual reasons. The first contributions examine George Buchanan and John Dury, followed by three studies of the milieu of late seventeenth-century Amsterdam. The last essay is concerned with Lord George Gordon and Cabbalistic Freemasonry. The contributions will be of interest for intellectual historians, but also historians of political thought or Jewish studies. Contributors include: Elisheva Carlebach, Allison P. Coudert, Martin Mulsow, Richard H. Popkin, Marsha Keith Schuchard, and Arthur Williamson.

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Contents

Introduction
1
George Buchanan CryptoJudaism and the Critique
19
Can one be a True Christian and a Faithful Follower
33
Amsterdam
51
Francis Mercury
71
Cartesianism Skepticism and Conversion to Judaism
123
Beating
183
Index of Names
233
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About the author (2004)

Martin Mulsow, Dr. (1987) in Philosophy, University of Munich, is Privatdozent at the University of Munich. Habilitation (2000) with a book Moderne aus dem Untergrund. Radikale Frühaufklärung in Deutschland 1680-1720 (Meiner, 2001). Further books on Renaissance Philosophy, Enlightenment, and the Republic of Letters. R.H. Popkin, Ph.D. (1950), Columbia, is Professor Emeritus at Washington University, St. Louis, and Professor Emeritus in History and Philosophy, U.C.L.A. He is the author and editor of over 30 books and 300 articules, including The History of Scepticism (OUP).

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