Son of God. Between Ashkenazi Hasidim and Meister Eckhart

Abstract

This paper explores the notion of divine sonship

in both Eckhart and the Askhenazi Hasidim. Though we ignore if there was any

intellectual interaction between them, it remains interesting that in both the

motif of sonship plays a crucial role. Being, or rather, becoming son of God entails a spiritual breakthrough that connects theology and anthropology. However, if Eckhart allows for the birth of God’s son in the individual soul as the possibility of eternal rebirth, for the Ashkenazi Hasidim, becoming a son of God entails the eternal task of self-completion and attraction of the Godhead.