I Saw Visions of God: A History of Jewish Apocalypticism & Mysticism

Facilitated by Scholar David Armstrong

Journey into mystery! Dreams, visions, sudden epiphanies, altered states of consciousness: sometimes, people have experiences they cannot fully explain, in which they feel they receive special knowledge about God, heaven, the universe, the afterlife, and the future. Sometimes they even go looking for them: we want to know how it all works, that it’s all going to be okay, and that intimacy with the divine is possible, especially when we suffer. We describe these states, and the literature written to encode them, with the terms “apocalypticism” and “mysticism.” Both have had a huge influence on the Abrahamic religions in general and the history of Judaism in particular. In this class, we’ll explore the history of apocalyptic and mystical texts, ideas, worldviews, communities, and sentiments from antiquity to the present.

Registration required.