Epicurus - Epicurus and The Epicursim

Epicurus and The Epicursim

In Judaism, Epicursim are ones which do not have a share in Olam Haba -- the afterlife and the world to come.

In Rabbinic literature the term Epikoros is used, without a specific reference to the Greek philosopher Epicurus, yet it seems apparent that the term was derived from his name.

Epicurus's technically hedonistic views and philosophical teachings, though opposed to the Hedonists of his time, countered Jewish scripture, the strictly monotheistic conception of God in Judaism and the Jewish belief in the afterlife and the world to come.

The Talmudic interpretation is that the Aramaic word is derived from the root-word פק"ר (PKR; lit. licentious), hence disrespect.

The Christian censorship of the Jewish Talmud in the aftermath of the Disputation of Barcelona and during the Spanish Inquisition and Roman Inquisition, let the term spread within the Jewish classical texts, since the church censors replaced terms like Minim ("sectarians", coined on the Christians) with the term Epikorsim or Epicursim, meaning heretics, since the church had heavily persecuted heretics at that time.

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