¹ See _p._ 157, _The Secret Doctrine in Israel_, by A. E. Waite, 1913. (1) The human soul is endowed with special gifts fitting it for an intimate union with the Divinity――the Stoic “particle of God,” corresponding to the _Hebrew_ “_Chelek Eloha Mimaal_”; (2) The gifts or graces through which every man is equipped for his perfection form his Life, Spirit and Soul into an organized whole, whose parts are knit together; (3) Through contemplation and piety the human soul enters into that higher heavenly soul, into the mystical cosmos whose parts are united in divine eternity. This is, to his mind, the meaning of the Biblical teaching that man is made in the image and likeness of God. The _Cabbalistic_ ideas once accepted, Manasseh accepts also the transmigration of souls, physical resurrection, expelling of demons, and so on. He indulges in theosophical visions and metaphysical speculations. All these seem strange from a modern point of view, but he should be considered in the light of his time. He believed in miracles. Did not the Fathers of the Christian Church believe in them? Origen (185?‒253(4)) says that he has seen examples of demons expelled.¹ St. Athanasius (293‒373) writes in the Life of St. Anthony (251(2)‒356(7)) from what he himself saw and heard from one who had long been in attendance on the saint. Justin Martyr (100?‒163‒7), in his second apology to the Roman Senate appeals to miracles wrought in Rome and well attested. Tertullian (155?‒222?) challenges the heathen magistrates to work the miracles which the Christians perform²; St. Augustine (354‒430) gives a long list of extraordinary miracles wrought before his own eyes, mentioning names and particulars. And even in the time of the Reformation, did not Johann _von_ Reuchlin (1455‒1522) adhere to _Cabbalistic_ mysticism in his _De arte cabalistias_ and _De verbo mirifico_? Paradoxical as it may seem at first sight, Manasseh even in his metaphysical beliefs was somewhat of a rationalist, in the sense that he accepted only evidence of trustworthy authority. The _Safed_ authorities, who were supposed to have witnessed the miracles of Luria, of course impressed him in the same way as Montezinos’ reports, because they were in harmony with his theory. At any rate, it is characteristic of his way of thinking that he was anxious to build upon facts and evidence. ¹ _c. Celsum_, i. 2. ² _Apol._, xxiii.