Knowledge in Plotinus is a complex yet unified phenomenon. His most general term for it, gnōsis (‘cognition’), covers a broad range of phenomena from sense-perception (aisthēsis) via discursive reasoning (dianoia) to intuitive intellectual insight (noēsis).1 The general framework of his epistemology is unambiguously Platonic. Plotinus shares Plato’s conviction, prominently voiced in the Timaeus, that only unchanging intelligible Being admits of real understanding, whereas perception of sensibles only yields opinion or belief.

The epigraph that opens this chapter quotes the statement with which Proclus, one of the last heads of the Platonic Academy in Athens, opens his Platonic Theology, a six-volume elaboration of the metaphysics of the divine as found in Plato’s dialogues. According to Proclus, the history of philosophy is a ‘golden chain’ of Platonic succession, which starts with the Gods, Pythagoras, and Plato, and then, after a period of retreat, finds in Plotinus a ‘coming back into the light’.1

According to Plato’s Timaeus, a benevolent divine craftsman creates the cosmos, guided by his intellect’s reasoning and his ‘forethought’ or ‘providence’ (pronoia, Tim. 30b) about how to make it as good as possible. Similarly, in Laws 10, a wise god is said to exercise oversight over the cosmos, and to have devised laws of fate that promote virtue by assigning souls to positions in the cosmos according to their deserts. These and other Platonic texts were important sources for later Platonist theories of providence, according to which beneficent divine thought ensures the best possible arrangement and management of the cosmos.

This essay analyzes antisemitism in modern German literature from the Enlightenment to post-Holocaust times. It shows how antisemitic stereotypes and theological elements were encoded in fictitious stories and how Jews were portrayed as foreign and demonic by both left-wing and right-wing writers. Both sides fabricated claims that it was the Jews who were responsible for the shortcomings of all forms of modern society.

In this chapter, changing attitudes toward Jews in the countries of Western and Central Europe are discussed, beginning with the early fight for equal rights in the latter part of the 18th century, and continuing up to the First World War. The rise of new forms of anti-Jewish sentiment and ideology during this era is described, including the Romantic-Conservative rejection of Jewish participation in the life of bourgeois society, Jews’ definition as foreigners within the emerging nations, and, finally, their designation as a separate, inferior race – all constituting aspects of a modern form of antisemitism that grew parallel to the process of Jewish integration in contemporary society and culture.

In what sense and to what extent did antisemitism (or anti-Judaism) exist in the pre-Christian world? The attitudes of numerous pagan writers and various episodes of oppression are explored in order to ascertain whether Jews encountered hostility on ethnic, religious, ideological, or political grounds, and whether any of these experiences amounted to antisemitism.

The meaning, the uses, and the function of antisemitism have been rather varied on the left, as elsewhere on the political spectrum. while specific socialists, Communists, and radicals have made use of antisemitic rhetoric, many important leftists have perceived political antisemitism as reactionary, and have combatted it in a variety of different ways.

American Protestants forcefully employed education in their efforts to Christianize America. Those efforts included not only the forming of publicly provided schools but a vast and impressive array of educational platforms, institutions, purveyors, and popularizers that have had a wide-ranging effect on American history and culture. Protestants in America have practiced their faith educationally at home, in schools, and through professional associations and confessional ministries; taken together, these tell the story of persistent, generous, engaging, and inclusive Protestantism in America – aiming not only to read, but to read the Bible written into the fabric of the nation.

One of the largest branches of Protestantism, Lutherans have been in North America for more than 400 years. Lutheranism was established on this continent initially by immigrants from the historically Lutheran areas in Europe, notably Germany, Scandinavia, and Eastern Europe. More recent Lutheran immigrants have come from younger Lutheran churches in Asia and Africa. In the United States, these immigrants formed congregations and denominations mainly based on language and ethnicity, although they were also divided by theological and religious differences. As these immigrant communities acculturated to the use of English and to the American religious culture, they began a long process of denominational consolidation, as well as moving into the mainstream of national life. American Lutherans still dominate a number of regions of the United States, maintain a quality system of educational institutions and social service agencies, and play a leadership role among Lutherans around the world.

Brethren and Mennonites are diverse and complex bodies with long interconnected histories. Some historians have argued that religious radicals, such as Mennonites and Brethren, were the essential shapers of the distinctive contours of American Christianity. The Brethren–Mennonite sibling rivalry has often been intense. But during times of stress, such as war, they have worked together, often along with Quakers. In America, they have both been creators and products of a culture that has occasionally persecuted them but has more often romanticized and idealized their attempts to serve Christ and their neighbors.

In Early America Protestant believers on one hand tried to continue and root their traditions in the New World, while on the other their practice was constrained, shaped, and transformed by their setting. American Protestantism in early America developed from many significant dynamics: planting European Protestantism in the New World, encountering Native American religion, reckoning with slavery, experiencing the Great Awakening and the rise of evangelicalism, defining roles for women, engaging American enlightenments, and interacting with politics. In the process, American Protestantism took on many characteristics that would long influence its course and identity.