Jews and Christians in London between 1753 and 1790. The Challenge of Religious Syncretism from Rabbi Falk, the Moravians, Swedenborg and Blake Chapter 3 Christian and Jewish Syncretism and Mysticism in London. The Historical Dilemma of Christian Cabala and Freemasonry. Working chapter for the book above 1 March 2022 10,241/19 At the heart of this study is an examination of religious syncretism in London. This fuller definition of syncretism will be adopted: The combination of various belief systems or mixing of discrete thought forms. Religious syncretism implies a merging of faith traditions, often also suggesting an essential unity of all faiths. The focus will be upon the attempts to combine Judaism and Christianity in various ways in London, as well as other belief systems, which also impacted upon these two established religious faiths. In the earlier chapters, this issue has been focussed on Jewish-Christian relations by highlighting, in particular, the fluid religious status of the conversos. When Iberia witnessed the dramatic experience of forced conversion and the attempt to ‘merge’ Judaism and Christianity until 1492 and then within the context of the Inquisition. When the decree by Ferdinand and Isabella to expel the Jews prompted the escape of the Jews from persecution in Spain and Portugal. The refugees fled from Iberia, spreading to Amsterdam in particular, and then to London, as well as widely within the Ottoman empire. These conversos could be described as an example of ‘mild syncretism’, as they already shared common Hebrew roots with Christianity. The conversos were forced to attend Mass, but many maintained a hidden cultural and spiritual Jewish practice in their homes. Throughout history, the Hebrew foundation of Christianity and the jointly respected Hebrew Bible, had already clearly established a substantial area of common ground between Judaism and Christianity. But in London during our period, the attempt to merge Christianity with other religions, as well as various other mystical influences became starkly apparent. Earlier in the C16, when Christian scholars were eager to master the Hebrew language and Jewish Rabbinics; the new discipline of Christian Hebraism was established as a distinct scholarly pursuit, and Jewish studies became very popular. Yet mixed within this scholarship was an almost hidden interest by some Christians in Jewish mysticism, especially incorporating the Kabbalah, including the foundational teaching of the Zohar. This chapter will introduce the oxymoron known as Christian Cabala; it will also reveal the early fascination with the seminal contribution of the Christian mystic Jacob Bohme (dates) particularly in Germany, who strongly influenced the Pietist movement. Bohme had been strongly affected by the teachings of the Kabbalah and by Christian mysticism. This kind of syncretism strayed far beyond traditional Protestant theology, but it was remarkably popular amongst some Lutherans. Bohme had his followers in London too, but the strongest link with him in our 1