Jacob Boehme Online
BIO
THE
LIFE AND DEATH
of
JACOB B E H M E N
By Abraham von Franckenberg
Translated by Francis Okely, 1780
Transcribed by Wayne Kraus for
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TO describe the Life of JACOB BEHMEN, a Man so pious a Witness of God, so highly favoured, and a Wonder of the German Nation so extraordinary; might justly require the Pen of the most able, judicious, and eloquent Biographer: But as no Person, even of his own Province, has hitherto been inclined to engage in such a Work; I, who am of a neighbouring one, how inconsiderable so ever for my own Person, intend with Brevity and Simplicity, and yet with Solidity and Fidelity, to present my Reader with such real Facts and Anecdotes Concerning the Deceased, as my Memory still retains from the frequent personal Conversations I have had with him, between the Years 1623 and 1624.
To begin then,
The happily deceased Subject of these Memoirs, JACOB BEHMEN, was born in the Year after the Nativity of our Lord Christ, 1575, at Old Seidenberg; formerly a Market-Town, about eight or nine (English) Miles distant from Goerlitz in the Upper Lusatia. His Father JACOB, and his Mother URSULA, were both of them poor mean Peasants, of the good old German Stamp: And having been thus the Issue of a Christian and undefiled Marriage-Bed, and born into the Light of this World, they gave him the Name of JACOB; a Supplanter (as the Event was to verify) of the Esau-Birth.
Being now grown up a pretty big Lad, he, in Company with the other Boys of the same Village, was obliged to tend the Cattle in the Fields, and in this Way to be serviceable, under due Subjection, to his Parents.
During the Time of his being a Herd's-Boy, he met with a curious and remarkable Occurrence. Having one Day, about Noon, been rambling to a great Distance from the other Lads, and climbing up alone by himself on the adjacent Mountain, called Land’s Crown; being arrived at the Summit, (the Story I have heard from his own Mouth, and he has pointed me to the Place) he espied amongst the great red Stones a Kind of Aperture or Entrance, over-grown with Bushes, and inclosed in a Manner not much unlike that of a Door-Case, or Passage. This, in his Simplicity, he penetrated into, and there descried a large portable Vessel, or wooden Pannier, full of Money; the Sight of which set him into a Shudder. This also prevented his meddling with any of the Money, and put him upon making the very best of his Way out again, without taking so much as a single Piece along with him.
And what is very remarkable, tho' he had frequently climbed up to the same Place afterwards, in Company of the other Herd’s-Boys, yet he could never hit upon this Aperture again. To me it appears, that it might be a Sort of emblematic Omen, or Presage of his future spiritual Admission to the Sight of the hidden Treasury of the Wisdom and Mysteries of God and Nature. This very Treasure, by JACOB's Account, was some Years afterwards carried off by a Foreign Virtuoso; but it brought this Treasure-Hunter to a shameful End, there having been a Curse annexed to it.
[Nor need we be so greatly surprized at JACOB BEHMEN's Entry into this Cavern in the Mountain; for Henry Kornman’s Tract, entitled Venus-Berg; the Writings of that extensive and experienced Traveller, Leonard Thurnheisser; Hammelman in his Chronicle of Holftein; Theophrastus Paracelsus, Agricola, Maltheus, Aldrovandus, Theobald, Kircher, Zeiller, &c. and also the so-called Wahlen-Schatz, and the little Treatise concerning Mines, attest, that such Sort of curious and amazing Places have been here and there discovered. As is in Fact visible upon the Giant-Mountains, near the Warm-Baths of Hirschberg, in Silesia; especially upon the AVENTROT-HILL under the septangular Stone, and in many other Places. Yea, moreover that good and learned, tho’ very obscure Man, John Beer, of Schweidniz, came so far, in the Year 1570, as, thro' divine Permission, to be able to make several Excursions to the Zotts, and other circumjacent Mountains in those Parts, (yet under certain Restrictions, and not without the Fear of God) where he descried the Curiosities and Treasures of the Earth, and was allowed to make Use of them at an Exigency. All which may be seen at large in the little Book concerning the Gain and Loss of spiritual and temporal Goods, printed not many Years since at Amsterdam; as well as in the memorable Narrative concerning the three Spirits laid in the Zott-Mountains, with whom the above-said worthy John Beer has had personal Interviews.]
But now we return to our JACOB; His Parents, having observed that this Son of theirs gave Proofs of an excellent, good, and sprightly Genius, kept him to School; where together with daily Prayers, and common good Behaviour, both at Table and in the Family, he learnt to read tolerably well, also a little Writing, till he left them to be apprenticed out to a Shoe-Maker. Having served his Time out faithfully and reputably, and then [as is usual in Germany] travelling a While in the Exercise of his Trade; he, in the Year 1594, married Catharine, the Daughter of John Kunschman, a Butcher and reputable Citizen of Goerlitz, a young Woman of a virtuous Disposition; and at the same Time he also set up his Trade of a Shoe-Maker. With her he lived thirty Years, in the matrimonial State with Peace and Quietness; and, by God’s Blessing, had Issue by her four Sons; one of which was a Gold-Smith; the second a Shoe-Maker; and the other two were put out to other Trades.
Whereas now JACOB BEHMEN, the Subject of these Memoirs, had, in all Humility and Simplicity, walked from his very Youth up in the Fear of God, and taken peculiar pleasure in attending Sermons; he, in Process of Time, through the consolatory Promise of our Saviour, (Luke xi. 13.) “Your heavenly Father shall give the holy Spirit to them that ask him,” was awakened in his own Heart; and thro' the Multiplicity of Controversy and scholastic Wrangling about Religion, which he never could take in, or tell what to make of, he was so alarmed and stirred up, that in Order to know the Truth, and yet with Simplicity of Spirit, he set him-self upon fervently and incessantly praying, seeking, and knock-ing; until, being at that Time with his Master on their Travels, he, thro' the Father's Drawings in the Son, was, in Spirit, translated into the Holy Sabbath and glorious Day of Rest to the Soul; and thus of Consequence had his Request granted him. Here, (to use the Words of his own Confession) “Surrounded with the divine Light for the Space of seven Days successively, he stood possessed of the highest beatific Vision of God, and in the extatic Joys of his Kingdom."
[In which truly Apocalyptical School of God's Spirit it was (tho' now, thro' Blindness and Malice, this be decried and reprobated) that the Holy Patriarchs, Kings, Prophets, Apostles, and Men of God, have at all Times studied; and therefore afterwards (like as Christ, the eternal Wisdom of the Father did himself also do) by Means of various Parables, and Figures, sublime and profound Sayings and Discourses, and with Miracles and mighty Works, have disclosed and set forth to the World the Mystery of the Kingdom, and of the Judgment of God and of Christ: And which they have also denounced with the greatest Earnestness and Firmness; tho' at the Hazard, and even with the actual Sacrifice, of their own Limbs and Lives.]
Nor is the Supposition improbable, that even externally, and by Means of a certain Magic-Astral Operation of the constellated Spirits, a Kind of secret Tinder and Glimmer might have been laid for, and at the same Time have concurred and contributed unto, this holy Love's Fire: For, according to the blessed Man's own Narrative made to myself, it fell out on a certain Time during his Apprenticeship, that a Stranger, plain and mean indeed in his Dress, but otherwise of a good and respectable Presence, comes to the Shop, and asks to buy a Pair of Shoes: But as neither Master nor Mistress were within, he, JACOB BEHMEN, the Prentice-Boy, would not venture to sell them, till the Stranger, with much Importunity, insisted upon his letting him have them: Now, then, he having more of a Mind to put the Buyer off than to sell the Shoes, set a somewhat enormous unequitable Price upon them. The Man however paid down the Money demanded without the least Demur or Objection; and, taking up the Shoes, went away.
But being got at some small Distance from the Shop, and then stopping short, he called out, with an audible and serious Tone of Voice, “Jacob, come out hither to me.” An Address like this from a Person unknown, and made by his Christian Name too, startled the Boy; but, upon recovering himself again, he got up and went out into the Street to him. The Man then, whose Mien was serious and loving, with sparkling Eyes, taking him by the right Hand, and looking him full in the Face, said,
"JACOB, thou art little, but thou shalt become great, and a Man so very different from the common Cast, that thou shalt be the Wonder of the World. Be therefore a good Lad; fear God, and reverence his Word: Let it especially be thy Delight to read the Holy Scripture, wherein thou art furnished with Comfort and Instruction; for thou shalt be obliged to suffer a great deal of Affliction, Poverty, and Persecution also: Nevertheless be thou of good Comfort, and firmly persevere, for God loveth thee, and he is gracious unto thee!"
Upon which the Man, after squeezing him by the Hand, and looking him full in the Face, went of Course his own Way.
But JACOB, as may be easily supposed, was not a little surprized at this Incident. Both the Prediction and the Exhortation, together with the Mien of the Man, were ever in his Thoughts, nor could he forget them. The Effect of it was also visible afterwards in a renewed Seriousness and Attention amidst all his Doings; and it was also followed in a little Time after by the Spiritual Call, and Sabbatic Day above-mentioned.
Out of which Extasy being returned to himself again, and of Course having laid aside the trifling Lusts of foolish Youth, and kept constantly to his Church, together with reading the Holy Bible, a regular Attendance upon the Word preached, and Participation of the holy Sacraments; a Zeal of God moved him so that he was not able either to hear, or to endure, obscene and foolish Conversation, and least of all blasphemous Expressions and Curses: Nay, he could not refrain from checking and rebuking them in his own Master with whom he now worked as Journeyman. Moreover, his Love to genuine Godliness and Virtue made him addict himself to a modest and retired Life, bidding Adieu to and shaking off all Wantonness and bad Company; which, being a Turn entirely contrary to the Way and Custom of the World, of Course drew their Ridicule and Reproach upon him; and at length he was, by the very Master he now wrought with, (unable to brook a Family-Prophet like this) discharged and sent about his Business elsewhere.
In the mean While being for some Time, as a faithful and industrious Man, set up for himself, and having maintained himself with the Sweat of his Brow; he was in the Beginning of the 17th Century, viz. 1600, being in the 25th Year of his Age, enraptured a second Time with the Light of God, and with the astral Spirit of his Soul, by Means of an instantaneous Glance of the Eye cast upon a bright Pewter Dish, (being the lovely Jovialish Shine or Aspect) introduced into the innermost Ground or Center of the recondite or hidden Nature. Being however somewhat dubious, in Order to rid his Mind of such a supposed imaginary Conceit, he went to the Green before Neys-gate at Goerlitz, where his House was near the Bridge; and where, in Spite of all his Efforts to the contrary, this Sensation of the Glimpse he had received grew stronger and stronger in him continually; to such a Degree, that by Means of the Signatures formed upon them, or by their Figures, Lineaments, and Colours, he was enabled to look as it were into the Heart and into the most intimate Nature of all the Creatures. Which Ground, thus impressed within him he has also amply expressed and illustrated in his Treatise de Signatura Rerum.
This Discovery overspread him with Joy; but he said nothing, thanked God, minded the Affairs of his Family and the Education of his Children, and lived in Peace and Friendship with all Men; mentioning little or nothing of this Light he had received, and of his interior Conversation with God and Nature, to any Person whatsoever.
But in Consequence of the holy Counsel and Will of God which operateth in Secret, ten Years after, viz. 1610, by the Over-shadowing of the Holy Ghost, he was touched by God for the third Time, and endowed and strengthened with new Light and Right: In Order then not to let a Favour and Grace, so great as this now imparted to him had been, slip out of his Memory, and not to prove refractory against a Tutor so holy and consolatory; he set Pen to Paper (yet only for himself) with inconsiderable Helps, and furnished with no Books at all but the Holy Bible.
In the Year 1612, he wrote his first Book, the Morning Redness at Sun-Rise, which Dr. Balthazar Walter afterwards entitled Aurora, which he did not chuse to consult with any Man, till a Gentleman of some Rank, an Intimate of his, having got Sight of it by Chance, with some Difficulty, at last, prevailed upon him so far only as to indulge him with the Perusal of it: And tho' he would not have wished it should have come out of its Retreat, much less be published; yet this said Gentleman, over-eager after such a recondite Ground, immediately took it to Pieces, and with his own Hand, assisted by several other Transcribers, who wrought at it Day and Night, copied it out with amazing Dispatch.
Hereby the Knowledge of it began to transpire to one and another, till at last Gregory Richter, Principal or Upper Minister at Goerlitz, came to know of it; who, carried away by the common or depraved Genius of the Schools, without any sufficient Examination or Knowledge, publicly vilified from the Pulpit, and condemned it in the highest Degree: And this he also repeated and urged so often and so long, and with so many bitter personal Invectives and Fulminations levelled at the innocent Author's Head, that the Senate of Goerlitz themselves at last took Cognisance of the Affair, summoned JACOB BEHMEN as their Citizen before them, took the Book under their own Custody into the Senate-House, and forewarned the Author to content himself with sticking to his own Cast, and to let his scribbling of Books quite alone: As these Proceedings are elsewhere described at large; and especially the indecent and disagreeable Zeal of this unseasonable and precipitant Judge [Richter is German for Judge], as well as the extraordinary Meekness and Humility of the blessed JACOB BEHMEN; together with other very considerable and weighty Testimonies of some principal Divines of the Electoral Dominions of Saxony; and may be seen in all their Circumstances in a Letter from Dr. Cornelius Weissner, a celebrated Physician and Chymist. The Autography, or original Copy of this Book in JACOB BEHMEN’s own Hand-Writing, was, after having been under a seven and twenty Years Custody of the Senate, on the 26th of November 1641, presented by Dr. Paul Scipio the then Burgomaster there, to Mr. George Pflug, Marshall of the House to the Prince Elector of Saxony at Dresden. He was at Goerlitz on a Visit at the Time, and was also a well-affected Patron of our JACOB BEHMEN. This Gentleman dispatched it further, by the Hands of H. P. H. to Abraham William Van Beyerland, a Citizen and Merchant of Amsterdam.
[We have here an Instance and pregnant Proof in what Manner the Prince of Darkness, as a declared and inveterate Enemy of the true divine Lights, doth in his Members and Instruments, thro’ his Mystery of Iniquity, which is now opening and unravelling itself more and more every Day, outrageously, audaciously, and maliciously, yet blindly, set himself against all that is called God, Good, or of God; yea against and over Christ himself, the essential Life-giving Word, as the Lord his God; never resting, till he has wreaked his vengeful Anger and Malice upon, and destroyed the Innocent, which he will however smart for with eternal Wrath, Fretting, and Fuming, in the infernal Flames of Wrath and Fire, being doomed and consigned to a Deprivation of the beatific Light and Sight of the lovely Face of God to all Eternity. Wo to him, and his infernal Children, the calumnious and implacable Adder-Tongues and Tyger-Hearts!]
Hereupon the holy patient Man did, in Obedience to his Superiors and Governors, keep a complete Sabbath of seven Years, without having for that whole Space of Time written any Thing. But having been by a further, viz. by a fourth Stirring of the Ground divinely laid in him, strengthened and roused with superabundant Grace; and having been withal, at the Instance and by the earnest Entreaty of several Men of Piety and profound Knowledge of Nature, very pressingly admonished not to bury in the Earth a Talent and Trust of so high and precious a Nature, but to make a good Improvement of it to the Honour of God, and Benefit of his Church; he, in the Name of God, resumed his Pen, and in the Progress of his Writing did very leisurely and without Distraction (for he had no Stock to prosecute his own Business with) write the following glorious and most excellent Pieces, which will last as long as the World endures.
In the Year 1619.
No. 2. Concerning the three Principles, together with an Appendix, concerning the three-fold Life of Man.
In the Year 1620.
3. Concerning the threefold Life of Man.
4. An Answer to the forty Questions concerning the Soul.
5. Concerning the Incarnation of Christ; concerning his Sufferings. Dying, and Resurrection; also, concerning the Tree of Faith.
6. A Tract concerning six Points.
7. Concerning the heavenly and earthly Mystery.
8. Concerning the last Times, to P. K. [Paul Kaym or Keym]
In the Year 1621.
No. 9. De Signatura rerum.
10. Concerning the four Complexions,
11. An Apology addressed to Balthazar Tylken.
12. Serious Reflexions upon Isaiah Stiefel
In the Year 1622.
13. Concerning true Repentance.
14. Concerning true Resignation.
15. Concerning Regeneration.
16. De Poenitentia.
In the Year 1623.
17. Concerning divine Providence, & Election.
18. Mysterium Magnum upon Genesis.
In the Year 1624.
19. A Table of the Principles, addressed to John Siegmund de Schweinich and Abraham de Franckenburg.
20. Concerning the supersensual Life.
21. Concerning the divine Contemplation or Vision.
22. Concerning the two Testaments, or Ordinances of Christ.
23. A Dialogue between an enlightened and an unenlightened Soul.
24. An Apology against Gregory Richter, the Principal of Upper
Lusatia Minister at Goerlitz.
In the Year 1624.
No. 25. Concerning 177 Philosophical Questions.
26. An Extract of the Mysterium Magnum.
27. A Manual of Prayers.
28. A Table of the Divine Revelation of the three Worlds, being
an Appendix to the 47th Epistle.
29. Concerning the Error of Ezekiel Meth.
30. Concerning the Last Judgment. [Said to be consumed at the
Burning of Great-Glogau in Silesia; & no other Copy of it
is yet found.]
31. Letters to various Persons.
Here it must be remarked, that the forty Questions concerning the Soul were drawn up with extraordinarily deep and mature Consideration and Reflexion by Dr. Balthazar Walter of Great Glogau, in Silesia. This Gentleman was a good Physician and Chymist; who after having travelled through Europe, Africa, and Asia, spent three Months with JACOB BEHMEN at his poor Habitation near the Ney-Bridge at Goerlitz, and had many private and intimate Conferences with him there. They were afterwards translated into Latin by the noble and very learned John Angelius Werdenhagen, a Civilian and Counsellor to the Principality of Lunenberg, and published at Amsterdam in the Year 1632, in [the 8th month] under the Title of Psychologia Vera, with a Dedication to ten eminent Statesmen, and afterwards, in the Year 1650, at the very same Place, in the German, in [the 12th month].
This very worthy Dr. Balthazer Walter above-said (who afterwards died at Paris, having shewed and made our Teutonicus’s Writings known to many Persons of Eminence there, as well as elsewhere, and left them behind him) has on different Occasions and often protested, that altho' on his many and extensive Travels, and particularly for six successive Years in Arabia, Syria, and Egypt (where he was in Quest of the genuine occult Wisdom, under the Denominations of Cabbala, Magia, Chymia, or perhaps, in its true Sense, Theosophia, which he pursued with extraordinary Care and Diligence;) he did indeed meet with some Relics and Fragments of it, intermixed and blended with other Things; yet he no where found it in such a consummate Sublimity and Profundity, Solidity, and Purity, as in this simple Man, and rejected Corner-Stone; how much so ever he might have thereby given Offence to, and incurred the high Displeasure of the logically-learned School-Gentry, and the Metaphysical Church-Luminaries.
And yet this very Dr. B. W. (during his sojourning with our God-taught Man; whom, whether from the old Canon, John Teutonicus, or by Way of national Distinction, and on Account of the superlative Gift of such Writings penned in the German Language, he denominated the Teutonic Philosopher;) did otherwise, in his Diet and whole Behaviour, observe so much Rigour and Austerity, that J. B. termed it very Mosaic, sour, and morose; not being however sufficiently aware that JACOB BEHMEN was on the other hand more easy, free, and mild-spirited, or indifferent, and without the Observation of any self-chosen Traditions.
[For indeed the mere Light of Art and Nature, without that holy and amiable one of Grace, is ever a Matter more external, rigorous, partial, and legal, than internal, sweet, mild, Catholic, and Evangelical. And for this very Reason must the Gifts of the Spirit, in Equity and with due Care and Judgment, be well distinguished according to the Diversity of their original Ground and first Descent, and also by their Fruits and Out-Births: And thus we are properly and suitably to appropriate and communicate to each Person that which belongs to him, according as he may be, either a Member of the Body, or a Vessel and Instrument in the House: In quite another Way than that which is usual in Babel where one and the same Comb, or Card must do for all Sort of Wool; or one and the same [Shoe] for every Foot; and every Thing which does not every where tally with this Plummet, and prove in Unison with one and the same String, is directly to be cried down as heretical and reprobated: All which is to be met with solidly and sensibly discussed in this our Teutonicus’s Writings.
Furthermore it deserves especial Notice, that our deceased Teutonicus had not those Latin Words and Technical Terms, which more especially occur in his later Writings, either from himself, or from the reading of Books, in another Language: But they are such as he picked up in the Acquaintance he cultivated, both by Conversation and Correspondence, with Men of Learning; especially with Physicians, Chymists, and Philosophers. And I have often heard him earnestly wish, that at least he had learned the Latin Tongue; which Maximilian the First has also regretted: Because he was not able to find, in his own German Mother-Tongue, Words and Expressions sufficiently adapted to utter the curious and amazing Things which hovered before his Eyes: Which laid him under a Necessity of borrowing, according to the Analogy of the Language of Nature, some further Assistance towards a greater Elucidation from what he heard of others.
Thus the Greek Word Idea, which I helped him to, proved vastly agreeable to him; and, to use his own Expressions, was as it were an uncommonly beautiful, heavenly, chaste Virgin, and a Sort of Goddess exalted to spiritual Corporality. (i Cor. XV. 44.)
By which Occasion, I am also farther bound to give him the Testimony, that, whereas he wrote but slow, tho' in a plain and legible Hand, he was not apt to alter or strike out a single Word in his Writing, but just as it was suggested to his Mind by the Spirit of God, so it stood clear and untranscribed upon the Paper: A Talent which many a highly celebrated Scholar may not be possessed of. [Of such Importance is it to have the right Tutor to dictate to us; I mean the Spirit and the Consolation of the Wisdom and Truth of God. But of this our modern self-started and self-grown Witlings chuse to hear, believe, and know, little or nothing; and are therefore, with no Injustice spared and remain exempted from the right, solid Knowledge of the secret Wisdom and hidden Truth.]
The following Anecdote is also well worth relating, which I had from his own Mouth. One Day there came a Stranger to his Door, a Man little in Stature, cunning in his Look, and quick in his Understanding. After an Overture of Civilities, he began by acquainting J. B. that, whereas he had been informed of his being endued with a singular Spirit, such as is not to be met with in common, and it was incumbent upon every Man, in all Equity, to be inclined to let his Neighbour share in the Good which had been communicated to himself; he [said] therefore, J. B. should do him the Favour of either freely bestowing the same singular Spirit upon him, or of making it over to him (as in Simon Magus‘s Case) for a Sum of Money. Upon which, after a suitable Return of Civilities, J. B. on his Part, and by Way of Check, gave the Man to understand, that as he esteemed himself absolutely unworthy of the supposed extraordinary Gifts and Arts; so he found himself quite devoid of such as he, the Stronger, might perhaps imagine him possessed of. That he could lay Claim to nothing more than to a Life and Conversation grounded upon the plain and simple Catholic Faith and Alliance in God, and the brotherly Love to his Neighbour: And in Sum, that he was as little acquainted with as he was fond of any such singular, or as the Stranger imagined, FAMILIAR Spirit. But that, if he would needs be possessed of a Spirit, he must take the very same Course that himself had taken; which was, earnestly and sincerely to repent of his Sins, fervently imploring the heavenly Father to give the Holy Spirit it of Grace unto him; I in which Case he would surely give it him, and thereby lead him into all Truth.
Which Advice this poor besotted Creature was so far from taking, that without more Ado, yea, with an almost false magical Conjuration, he wanted to extort this supposed familiar Spirit out of J. B. till he, being chagrined in his Spirit at such Behaviour, catched hold of and held him fast by his right Hand, and stared him full in the Face, meaning an Imprecation upon a Soul so perverse as this. Upon which the Conjurer, trembling and astonished, begged Pardon; which made J. B. remit his Zeal, and after a very serious and smart Reprimand for, and Advice against, such Simony and Devilism, immediately to dismiss and discharge him.
His great Meekness, Patience, and Humility, and his no less penetrating Gift of searching out the Spirit of Man, and exposing all its Closeness and Reserve, is evident both from the foregoing and following Incident. The blessed Man, together with Mr. David de Schweiniz, and others, happened to be at the House of some Gentleman of Quality. Now at Mr. David de Schweiniz 's setting out from thence, he desired the said Gentleman at whose House they were, that, after his Dismission of J. B. he would be so kind as to forward him on his Journey to him at his Estate in Seifersdorf; which the Gentleman also did. But a Physician, who was much disaffected to the good BEHMEN, promised the Lad, who was to conduct him, a Shilling, upon Condition of his shoving him into some Bog; which the Lad faithfully executed. For being come to a great Bog in the Neighbour-hood of Seifersdorf, he pushed the good Man into it; who in Consequence was not only miserably bedaubed, but having had the Misfortune to pitch his Head upon a sharp Stone, he broke it so terribly, that he lost a great deal of Blood. When the Lad saw this, being greatly terrified, he set up a Crying, and ran to the Gentleman's Mansion-House to tell what had passed. No sooner had Mr. David de Schweiniz been made acquainted with what had happened, but he ordered our good BEHMEN into the Sheep-Stall or Barn, and there to have his Wound dressed, and his Cloaths cleaned: He also sent him other Cloaths to put on in the mean Time. Being now in a Condition to come out, and make his Appearance in the House-Parlour, he shook Hands with all there present: And as all Mr. David de Schweiniz’s Children were there placed in Order by each other, and he was come to one of the Daughters, having presented his Hand to her, he said, “This Girl is the best of all that are together in this Room;" upon which he laid his Hand upon her Head, and pronounced a special Blessing over her.
And indeed, according to the above-said Mr. David de Schweiniz’s own Confession, this was the very best of all his Children. It happened, that Mr. David de Schweiniz's Brother-in-Law, together with his Lady and Children, were there on a Visit at the same Time; who having been a great Enemy to our now happily deceased BEHMEN, made a Fool of him, called him by Way of Derision a Prophet, and challenged him to utter some Prophecy. JACOB greatly excused himself, alledging that he was no Prophet, but a simple Man. He declared that he had never given himself out for a Prophet, and humbly entreated, that he would be pleased to excuse and let him alone. Still the Gentleman went on to make a Fool of him, and several Times insisted upon his uttering some Prophecy to him. And altho' Mr. David de Schweiniz interposed, and entreated his Brother-in-Law to let this Man alone, yet all was to no Effect.
At last, after our good BEHMEN had been so long instigated to it, he began thus: Since you will needs have it so, and I can have no Rest for you, I shall be forced to tell you what you will not like to hear. The Gentleman, turning pale, rejoined, that he might say whatever he pleased. Where-upon he began and related what an ungodly, scandalous, and lewd Life be had here and there lived to this Time; how Matters had gone with him on that Account hitherto; and how they would go hereafter; all which actually ensued. This put the Gentleman sadly to Shame, and he became so enormously embittered and enraged, that he wanted to fall foul upon poor BEHMEN, had it not been prevented by the Interposition of Mr. David de Schweiniz; who, that the poor Man might be at Quiet, sent him with proper Provisions to Pastor P. T.’s, with a Request, to harbour and entertain him. Which he accordingly did; and, having staid all Night there, he was brought the next Day back again to Goerlitz.
[A few Years ago a Native of Goerlitz gave a more circumstantial Account of this Gentleman of Quality: For Instance, that having at this Time worked himself up to a horrible Pitch of Passion and Wrath, he afterwards made no long Stay at Mr. Mr. David de Schweiniz’s; but in the Midst of this violent Perturbation of Spirits, mounting his Horse, he would have rode Home; but having fallen from his Horse, broke his Neck, and Was found dead: The very Fate, viz. that his End was very nigh at Hand, which his own rash Importunity had extorted the Prediction of from BEHMEN.]
Let me, now I am about it, still add a few more incidental Remarks. The Seal ordinarily made Use of by our dear J. B. was a Hand reached out from Heaven with a Stalk of three full-blown Lilies,
[being the Raptum Magicum: {illegible Greek text}Virga: the Rod of Aaron, which budded!] the Kingdom of the Lily, in the Paradise of God; which is to be manifested and displayed in the last Time, when the End shall have been brought back to its Beginning, and the Circle closed. Noah's Dove with her pacific Olive-Branch after the spiritual Deluge is overpast. Aeneas's golden Twig, and that of Hercules, broke off from the golden Apple-Tree in the Orchard of the Hesperides, after his having subdued the Dragon; as a Testimonial and Trophy of the Victory and Seal obtained in the wonderful Conflict of the Soul, by the breaking-off this noble Twig, Concerning which the occult Philosophy with its Champion's Crown of Pearl teacheth further; and which our Author in his Treatise upon Repentance, or the Way to Christ, and also in his other Writings (by Way of Mystery) gives us an Intimation of: A Thing understood by such, as have in this spiritual School of Exercise, similar to the Wrestling of Jacob’s obtained the precious Wreath and the Blessing.
The Motto, which he usually prefixed to his Letters, consisted of these eight Words:
Unser Heil Im Leben Jesu Christi Im Uns.
Our Salvation In the Life of Jesus Christ In Us.
Or with the Initials,
U. H. I. L. J. C. I.U.
O. S. L. L. J. C. I. U.
With Design to intimate Man's exalted Union with God, thro' Faith in the Love of Jesus Christ. Wherein the genuine and most ancient, or original Nobility, and the most sublime Consolation of the believing Soul, is with inconceivable Joy, and everlasting Peace, to be found, as in its Genealogical Root and Tree, according to the most consummate Degree of the divine Grace and Favour.
In the little blank Books, designed for Remembrancers, much in Use amongst Friends in Germany; [Album amicorum] he was used to inscribe the following Stanza or Verse:
Who Time treats like Eternity,
Eternity like Time, is free
From Wormwood, Gall,
And Conflicts all.
Which, in a most lovely Manner, and in the true Resignation of Christian Faith, very blessedly concurs and harmonizes with one of similar Sense, being a Rhythmical Maxim of the much-illuminated German Teacher, Thauler; viz.
When Grief's like Joy to thee,
And Joy like Grief can be,
Praise God for th’ Equanimity.
Both these Stanzas imply and give us to understand, that in the genuine and one-only Truths, and eternal Wisdom, in, with, and before God, the truly omnipresent and one-essential Good, there is not the least Degree of any such Thing as Division, or Contrariety; so far from it, that it is One with One; yea, all Things are an eternal, intimate, and one-only Unity; which is the supersensual and supersubstantial Peace of God himself.
[To which universal Ground of the eternal Unity, and one-only Eternity, Nicholas de Cusa, Udalricus Pindar, John Picus Mirandula, Paul Scalichius, Jordan Brunus, Francis George Venetus, the Author of Natural Philosophy restored, John Kapnion, Menasseh Ben Israel, Francis Patricius, Archangelus de Burgenovo, Dionysius the Areopagite, Maximilian Sandaeus, Alvares, Thauler, Rusbroch, Henry Harphius, Oculus Sydereus, and others, give us a sufficient Attestation.]
Provided Men had but an Inclination now and then to hear and respect Authors of this Stamp also; and not to be so for ever devoted to Aristotle, (the Heathen Idol of the Schools, a Creature so wretched and so blind to the Mysteries both of God and Nature) together with his sophistical Wrangling and Jangling.
With Respect to the external Form of J. B.'s Body, it appeared to be in a declining State; his Presence was mean, his Stature small, his Forehead low, his Temples prominent, his Nose a little crooked, his Eyes grey and rather of an Azure-Cast, otherwise bright and clear, like the Windows of Solomon’s Temple; his Beard was short and thin; And altho' the Tone of his Voice was low, yet he was mild and affable in his Discourse; modest in his Deportment, discreet and judicious in his Words, humble in his Walk and Conversation, patient in Sufferings; also meek and lowly in Heart: His Spirit, so highly illuminated of God beyond any Thing Nature could produce, and his extremely pure and very intelligible Stile, according to the highest and best German Standard, are left to the Reader’s Sagacity to examine and recognize in the divine Light, by these his unsophisticated Writings.
We are now come to his happy Departure out of this World; which has however been elsewhere described more at large: Suffice it to anticipate here the most material and necessary Circum-stances of it.
Having, in the Year 1624, been several Weeks with us in Silesia, and having together with other edifying Conferences upon the supremely-happy Knowledge of God and his Son, especially from the Light of occult and disclosed Nature, and at the same Time finished the three Tables concer-ning the divine Revelation, (dedicated to John Siegmund de Schweinich and myself, A. de F.) he was, after my Departure, seized with a burning Fever, and much swelled and bloated by an immoderate Drinking of Water, so that, at last by his own Desire, he was brought in this sick Condition to his own House at Goerlitz. Where, upon having first made a pure and Evangelical Confession of his Faith, and worthily enjoyed our Saviour's last Legacy in the holy Communion, he departed this Life on Sunday the 17th of November following. A little before his Departure, calling his Son Tobias to him, he asked him, Whether he did not hear the charming Music too? Upon his answering in the Negative; he bid them set the Door open, that the Singing might be the better heard. Afterwards he enquired, What o'clock it was? And being answered, that it had struck Two, he said, My Time is not yet come; my Time will be three Hours hence; and in the mean While he once uttered these Words,
"O thou mighty God of Zebaoth! deliver me, according to thy Will! O thou crucified Lord Jesus Christ, have Mercy upon me, and take me into thy Kingdom!" But before it was quite Six o'Clock in the Morning, having taken Leave of his Wife and Son, he Blessed them, and then said, "Now I'm departing hence to Paradise!" Then bidding his Son turn him in the Bed, he fetches a deep Sigh and falls asleep; thus departing out of this World quite softly and calmly, and in Peace.
[By Occasion of which Circumstance it may not be improper to alledge at the same Time what John Rud. Camerarius, a Doctor of Physic, in his Centuria 2nd Memorabilium Medicinalium, Articlo 94, Pag. 134, relates from the very learned Daniel Heinsius’s Tribute of Praise, left to the Memory of the much-celebrated Janus Dousa's Departure out of this World: The said Janus Dousa was Lord and Proprietary of Nordwyk and Kattendyk: Now before he departed this Life, and whilst he was yet in Health, he was in a sort of Extasy admitted into the Place which Souls go first to out of the Body; where he tasted the Powers of the World to come, or the Joy of Immortality; and of Consequence, in a devout Preparation for the Hour of his Death, foresaw and anticipated the very same Bliss and Enjoyment with disembodied Souls; which however, Men do not usually obtain till after they are departed this Life: For as this blessed Soul, without any Sort of Pain, approached nearer and nearer to his Departure, behold! without the By-Standers being aware of any such Thing, this holy Man broke out with a loud Voice, O what is that I hear! Or, do I only hear it? What a Voice is that! What charming Singing is that! Now whilst they were long engaged in Admiration at this unexpected Incident, and could not for all that perceive any Thing, they discovered, that this Man, beloved of God, and admitted to the divine Wonders and Mysteries, was no longer living in the Way of other Men on Earth, but in the Way and Manner of Heaven; and was now re-entering into his Mansion, and into his ever-lasting Place of Rest and Abode there, which heretofore he in Adam had forsaken and forfeited.
This Sort of Euthanasia cum Athanasia (Joh. xi. 26.) or beatific Glimpse and Antepast, has doubtless been much more usual and familiar to the primitive, pious, and Ample Christians, than now it is to the freakish and conceited World in our Days; who are hurried and misled into mere external Entanglings and Branglings: As the many different Examples of Souls holily and happily fallen asleep in God, their holy Sabbath and Zebaoth, do, in various other Places, evince to full Satisfaction.]
Hereupon the Corpse of our dear BEHMEN was laid out, dressed, and then put into his Coffin; and his Funeral Procession Conducted in a decent, reputable, and Christian Manner being interred in the Burying-Ground at Goerlitz, with the same Solemnities of tolling the Bell and Singing which were in that Place usual. This did not however pass without his Friends having, quite counter to the Calumnies of the now also deceased Principal or Upper Preacher, or Chief Priest, first obtained of the Senate a Grant for a Sermon, (which then actually was preached) and for a reputable Funeral. Upon his Grave a Monument was erected, being a Present sent from Silesia as an honorary Memorial to his Name; but which was afterwards, through the Instigation of calumnious Tongues, actuated by the Devil, bespattered with Filth, mangled, and mutilated.
It was a black wooden Cross, with the Hebrew Name JHSVH, illustrated all round with twelve golden Solar Beams. Under it was a little Child reposed on its Arm, and supported by a Death’s Head; with these eight Initials under written, U. H. I. L. J. C. I. U. Which have been already explained, Page 21.
On a broad oval Circle, or Field, the following Words were subscribed,
Born of God
Died in JHSVH,
sealed with the Holy Ghost,
Doth rest here
JACOB BEHMEN,
Of Old-Seidenberg; who in
the Year 1624, on the
17th of November,
About 6 o'Clock in the Forenoon
In the 50th Year of his
Age, blessedly departed.
To the right Hand, from the South Side, a black Eagle, perched on the Summit of a high Hill, was painted on the Cross. He trod with his left Shank or Foot upon the Head of a large enfolded Serpent, In the right Foot he held a Palm-Branch, and with his Beak he received a Lily-Stalk, reached to him out of the Sun; under which, with no Impropriety, stood the Word VIDI.
To the Left of the Cross, from the North Side, stood a Lion, crowned with a golden Crown and Cross; With his right Hinder-Foot on a Cube, but with his Left on the Tut, or Imperial Orb, inverted. In his right Fore-Paw he grasped a flaming Sword, in his Left a burning Heart; which the Word VICI was well adapted to.
But in the Middle, under the broad oval Field containing the Epitaph, stood upon the Stock of the Cross a Lamb with a Bishop's Mitre, (as the like may be sound elsewhere, amongst the 29th and 32d Magical Figures of Theoph. Paracelsus) under a Palm-Tree near a Fountain, feeding amongst the Flowers in a verdant Meadow; where stood VENI. Which three Words are to be understood of Christ, the only Word, in Manner following,
In Mundum VENI! Sathanam descendere VIDI!
Infernum VICI! VIVITE magnanimi!
or
Into the World I CAME, and Satan SAW
Descending quick; I now HAVE Hell SUBDU'D!
Ye Heroes, bold in Faith, LIVE and rejoice!
Last, from beneath, next the Ground, on the Stock of the Cross, stood his last Words; to be read upwards,
”I am now departing hence to Paradise.”
There Thanks to God from him incessant rise;
We waiting thither turn our Face,
Till we have also run our Race:
Lord Jesus, come, and fetch us to that Place!
Thus much then concerning the simple Life of this great Wonder of the German Nation, JACOB BEHMEN; a Man taught of God, and now happily resting in God: As much as appeared to me, for Instance, necessary to this End, either from what I had gathered from his own Mouth, or from the Gleanings picked up from the Reports of intimate Friends; exclusive of what may be recorded by others besides, or even forgotten and left out by myself.
But in Case there should now be any Person, who being either stumbled at the Simplicity of the Person, or at the most respectable Gift of the Author, might entertain a Suspicion, as if some other Person besides was with him behind the Curtain; who, cloaked under this Name, wanted to amuse the over-curious and inquisitive World with something new and extraordinary; or it may be to vamp up afresh some old reprobated Heresy, or visionary Piece of Devilism from the bottomless Pit, (which, by the Way, is nothing uncommon amongst the doating Dreamers of the World, and in particular amongst the Heathenish Aristotelian School-Wranglers, and your young mody [callow] Church-Gentry) let such a Person be in this Behalf, for the Sake of God and his ever-enduring Truth, faithfully fore-warned, and withal needfully apprized, not to suffer himself to adopt such entirely groundless Surmises and calumnious Defamations, or to be drawn away by them.
Seeing it hath so pleased God, according to his own wise Counsel and gracious Will, to chuse, not that which is high and mighty, that which is noble, that which is wise, that which is rich, that which is something, &c, but that which is low, that which is weak, that which is ignoble, that which is foolish, that which is poor, and nothing in the World's Eyes; in Order to baffle and confound that which is high and mighty. For "God resisteth the Proud, and putteth down the Mighty from their Seat." But "the Beggar he raiseth from the Dunghill, and to the Lowly he giveth such and all other Grace;" and "the Secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he sheweth them his Covenant."
All which is abundantly attested and confirmed by a Multitude of spiritual and worldly Examples and Stories, and that too beyond all Contradiction; namely, that God is no Respecter of Persons; but amongst every Sort of People, Kindred, Tongue, and Condition, he that feareth him and worketh Righteousness is accepted with him: Insomuch that to him it is easy out of an Herd's-Man, like Amos, to raise up and constitute a Prophet, or out of a David a King: Also out of a Toll-Gatherer, like Matthew, an Evangelist; out of unlettered common Men, or Fishermen, such as Peter and Andrew, James and John, enlightened Apostles; or out of a Persecutor and Handicraft-Man, like Saul, a Paul, and a chosen Vessel: In like Manner out of a poor lame Shoe-Maker, as happened under Julian the Apostate, an Intercessor, and Worker of Miracles, (for this Man must by his Prayer remove and cast a Mountain into the Sea) or as it was the Case, a few Years since, at Wittmund in East-Friesland, a Man wise in the Scriptures; an Account of which John Ang. Werdenbagen gives us in his Psychologia, Pag. 365: In a Word, out of a Nothing to make a Something; yea, every Thing that himself pleases.
Or has not then the ALMIGHTY the Liberty of doing what he will with his own? Dost thou, O thou proud Pharisee, thou envious High-Priest, thou pragmatical Scribe, frown and scowl, because the LORD, our merciful God and Father, is so good and gracious towards his Children? Well, go then, and for Wrath and Pride, and out of Heart’s Chagrin, bite off thy Tongue with thy own gnashing Teeth; and in thy infernally splenetic, galling Indig-nation, tear out and consume thy own envious and ungodly Heart in thy Body; then wilt thou give us full Proof, that thy Birth is from the old Serpent, and revengeful Hell; and all thy Art and Skill from proud Lucifer and the wrathful Dragon-Devil; but in no Shape or Degree from God in Christ, and from his Holy Spirit and Word of Grace and Truth.
Or should there then, amidst Times so very perilous, or amidst a Christendom laid so terribly waste and desolated, be no Necessity for God to visit and inspect into it, and with other Lips to speak with these fascinated and seduced Nations and their blind Guides? Seeing however that all Flesh corrupteth his Way in the Sight of the Lord; and more especially hath the Wicked One, with the greatest Dexterity, Address, and Elegancy, cloaked and disguised every Thing in his so called spiritual and Christian, but notoriously carnal and un-christian, false, and hypocritical Luminaries of a besotted and preposterous human Literature: And moreover, under all this Disguise, has withal awakened, stretched out, and set the fiery, bloody, and vengeful Sword of one Brother against another; yea, amongst Christians, and such too as stile themselves Evangelics, or Lutheran Protestants, more than amongst any others.
Upon which I will no further spend my Zeal, but leave the universal Revelation, and the extremely pungent and afflictive Experience in Matter of Fact, to speak and judge for itself in the Minds of such as are Lovers of God and Children of blessed Peace; there being but too, too many Testimonials and pregnant Proofs thereof in written and verbal Accounts, and within the Circle of our own personal Acquaintance: He that hath an Ear to hear, or an Eye to see, let him hear and see what the Word and Light of Truth in his thereunto-called and chosen Witnesses say and discover, and then will he find, that both Heaven and Earth militate against the present Generation of Men; and that another and far different Sort of TIME and BIRTH is at Hand; such, like the Lightning shining from the East to the West, will at last break in upon us, and open itself in a certain NOW over the Face of the whole Earth; ushering in and introducing together with itself the seventh Holy and Fiery Day, that last Judgment and Sabbath Day, which the holy Prophets, Apostles, and other enlightened Men of God, have at all Times descried in the Spirit, and from the very Beginning till now have all along announced and predicted to the last World: Therefore, happy is the Servant who is found watching when his Lord cometh. (Luke xxi. 25—36.)
In brief, let no one stumble over this Corner-stone of Simplicity, lest he be broken in Pieces; but let him rather thereby help himself to stand upon a firmer Basis; deeply pondering, that there Heaven is the highest, where the Earth is lowest; and that, according to the Word of the Lord, “Every Mountain and Hill shall be made low, and every Valley shall be exalted;” that it may be every where level and smooth, and Men may henceforth walk without stumbling in the Land of the Living.
The LORD, the Most High, be praised, who hath made one Man low and exalted another; imparting his Spirit, when and to whom so ever he pleases, that no Flesh may glory in his Sight.
But us touching this Talent in particular, which, as a Gift of Grace, God the Most High, and the only Giver of all good Things, has communicated from above, and deposited as a choice Treasure and a Pearl of great Price, in this earthen Vessel, so despicable in the Sight of the wise and haughty World; it is of such a Worth and Value, that in my Opinion, without denying that there have been open Windows towards Jerusalem elsewhere; such a sublime and profound Ground of the essential Knowledge of the super-latively and supremely Holy Trinity of God, and of the Light of occult and manifested Nature, of Grace and Glory, has never since the Days of the Apostles been before opened and displayed to the human Inhabitants of the Surface of this Earth.
Which especially and naturally lead us to a deep, and serious Reflexion, why God should however deign and open a Gift of Grace so excellent just to our High-Dutch Nation; the Country of our Nativity, a Land so desolated and so much wasted both spiritually and temporally; and yet more, thro’ a Person so mean and inconsiderable in Man's Eyes, and at a Time so embroiled and confused, that all was sunk down in a Lethargy, nay, as in a Death, of Supineness, in the Mire, and Anxiety of temporal Cares, Sensuality, and Provision for the Flesh: And even to such a Degree as on that very Account to forget the everlasting and invisible Grace, and the heavenly Kingdom of God and Christ; and being misguided by such as should have been their Leaders, only to quarrel, war, fight, rob, murder, burn, persecute, banish, and condemn, merely on Account of the external Husk and Shell of the dead Letter, and the transitory Life of this earthly Body; and for the Sake of a scandalous, paultry, and vain Self-Honour, Lust, and Profit, with the most aching Distress to plunge one another into the utmost Perdition demeaning ourselves in such a Manner; if there had never been any such Thing as either Law or Judgment, either Salvation or Damnation, either Faith or Science, either Heaven or Hell, either Angel or Devil, either Life or Death; yea, that so much as a God had ever existed heretofore, or were to be expected hereafter.
Whereas then, on the other Hand, in the above-mentioned extremely precious Writings of our blessed High Dutch Prophet, and Remembrancer of Times Apostolic, a competent and ample Ground, a consistent and steady Information, together with
Such an Explanation, is opened and evinced, as may not only justly put an infatuated Blindness, and a preposterous Malignity to the Blush; but also display the great Goodness, Wisdom, and Omnipotence of God towards Men in the brightest Colours. And of Consequence these Writings will prove a sufficient and powerful Incentive and Instigation to effect an earnest and genuine Repentance; a Point, which the Holy Ghost has in this his faithful Witness, as a modern Noah and Preacher of Repentance, more especially for these last Days, much in View, and directeth unto: Which the diligent and impartial Reader of them (provided he does but so far deign them his Attention) will, by his own Experience, find every Day more and more to his full Satisfaction, and not without a fructifying Edification in true and undisguised Christianity.
And yet, if after all, certain Matters should be contained in these Writings, especially with Respect to the hitherto unknown Mysteries and abstruse Points concerning the divine and human, the heavenly and earthly, the angelical and diabolical Birth, Nature, and Property; and which might not at once be intelligible and comprehensible to every Reader; these ought to be left to the Spirit of God in his own School, and be for that Time passed over, till one and another of these Mysteries might, by some future Evolution, become better understood, and be disclosed to such as are worthy of them. For God, according to his eternal Wisdom, is not wont to manifest every Thing instantaneously and at once, but gradually; and from one Time to another, bestows and brightens his holy Light and Knowledge.
Of Course then, we are in this Case well to consider, that with Regard to Writings of this Sort, inspired by God, the common Heathenish pedantic, and over-bearing Method of bringing to the Bar, arraigning, and passing Sentence upon them (in the same Manner whereby the Mouth and Hand of the Holy Ghost himself have, in the holy and divine Scriptures, been hitherto with the most presumptuous Arrogance and Conceit, and even with Blasphemy, scanned and controuled, according to the Rules, laid down in a God-less and Spirit-less Aristotle’s subtil and fine-spun Logic babbling Rhetoric and doating Metaphysics) is absolutely here both incompatible and inapplicable. For I would fain ask, how should the blind Scythian judge of the divine Light? How should the indolent and depraved Jew judge of the living Word? Or the foolish Greek be able to form any solid Judgment, consistent with God, Nature, Scripture, and Faith; concerning that eternal Wisdom, which he has neither seen, nor heard, nor understood? It is absolutely out of his Power: For it necessarily supposes and requires a very different Sort of School, Birth; and Criterion, which is no other than that of the divine Revelation and Renovation in the Spirit of the Mind; being the Light of the hidden Grace and Truth of Jesus Christ, together with the Opening of God's Kingdom, and also with a Light and Antepast of the Powers of the World to come, and of the good Word of God, in our own Hearts: As the Author of these glorious Writings very clearly and copiously attests and indigitates every where throughout.
Yea moreover, the Persons, who amongst Heathens, Jews and Christians, have had Light from God into the universal and fundamental Principle of the everlastingly-moving and living Word, study and practise their Wonders, Words, Works, and Acts, (or, their Oracula, Spiracula, and Miracula) in a Manner very different from what has been above described: Which yet our modern Synagogues and Dignitaries in Babel and Israel (especially the prepossessed self-pious, self-wise, self-sagacious, and self-rich Madam PHILAUTY [Self-Love], of Laodicea) will not deign either to hear, see, know, or to believe and adopt; how loudly soever God himself may have dinned it in their Ears, and glaringly pourtrayed it before their Eyes; insomuch that it might, one should think, have been palpable to them.
Of which, with God's Help, we might be able to exhibit an authentic and credible Induction and Specification' were it with any Propriety here requisite. Yet there have been Hints abundantly sufficient for a further Investigation of the genuine Theosophic Ground already given, in the Pieces following, viz. The Oculus Sydereus; Trias Mystica; Via Veterum Sapientum; Evangelium Exultantum; Plenty of the Abomination of Desolation; Judicium Theomanticum; Sepherial; Raphael, &c. Wherein also (and especially in the Oculus Sydereus) other Authors, modern and ancient are quoted, together with the Holy Scriptures, in which both Solidity and Circumstan-tiality may be found.
And should any Person have an Inclination to peruse, with special Attention and Diligence, tho Psychologia Vera J.B.T. of the very worthy, pious and Christian Civilian and Statesman, J. Ang. Werdenhagen, of whom an honourable Mention has been made in Page 13, &c. such a one would find this Subject and principal Point concerning the Theodidacti, or God-taught in Contradistinc-tion to the Cosmodidacti, or World-taught, satisfactorily opened and discussed; together with the Distinction between the Spirit from God, and the Spirit of this World; and how the Friendship and Wisdom of this World are Enmity and Folly with God; ay and finally imply, and thro' the Deceit and Craft of the Devil, that old Serpent, necessarily involve us in Death, Judgment, and ever-lasting Damnation: Which is all corroborated by Allegations from the Holy Scripture, Dr. Luther, and other Men of Eminence for Literature. Especially where, in his Dedication addressed to ten eminent Statesmen (as were they more equitable Judges than many of the Divines or Clergymen so called usually are;) he makes Mention of our Teutonicus with distinguishing Regard and Honour.
Moreover there are still other good Writings besides extant, which are fit and proper for the Lovers of divine Wisdom, or of the genuine Theology, or Literature of God; for Instance, the Harmonia, or the Concordance between those whom the World now denominates Catholics, Lutherans, and Calvinists, or Reformed; which was printed at Augsburg, in the Year 1613: Which, also, could it but meet with due Audience, would furnish ample and sufficient Testimonies of such a School of Fundamentals, even in the Works of those of their own Denomination: Which, after all, we have but too much Reason to suppose their modern, luke-warm, and indolent Successors and Scholars are themselves not at all acquainted with, altho' they still persist in bearing and being Sticklers for the same Name. Just like the Jews, who boast indeed of their being the Seed and bearing the Name of Abraham, but have none of his Faith, Life, and Works. Nor is it of any Avail, that with so much Nicety one decks and adorns the Graves of the Saints and Prophets deceased from without; if notwithstanding there is merely the Fume and Stench of Death and Hell from within; as Christ the eternal Truth and Wisdom doth himself attest; when (Matt, xxiii). he, even eight Times successively, denounces a Wo upon such Scribes and Pharisees: Which it were to be wished our delicate and dainty Novices would look more narrowly into, as into a Mirrour; very seriously considering, and in his Light and Judgment laying to Heart, the Figure they make before God: For they would then find out, the ancient Generation of Vipers, and the crafty Rogue of Nature, or the all-corrupting Antichrist, not only at Rome and Constantinople, but even within their own Bosoms, Brains, Houses, and Hearts; and who is also not merely lurking, but working, and at Times making the most outrageous Havock there too.
Furthermore, a small spiritual Tract of Daniel Friederics has been also printed in 1643. He evinces, that all Christians, from the greatest to the least, must necessarily, in their respective Measures, be taught of God; and it contains 32 Queries, with their Answers, upon this Ground and Supposition. And no less in Maximilian Sandaeus's Clavis and Theologia Mystica, 1640, compiled out of 120 Authors, concerning the genuine spiritual Birth, holy Life, and heavenly Walk with Christ in God: And not there only, but else where also; particularly in John Thauler, John Rusbroch, Henry Harphius, Henry Suso, Thomas a Kempis, (or John Gerson), the Germanic Theology, Luther, John Arndt, and others, especially in the old German enlightened Men, is such a Praxis or Exercise of the true essential Theology, or Divinity contained; as we now, in the public Discourses of our Oratorical Sermonising Gentry of modern Times, hear very little, or seldom, or even nothing, and never of: And yet, forsooth! their Words must needs be pure Holiness and Divinity itself; nay, dictated from the third Heaven: Which we must own to be entitled to great Honour indeed, could we but in Truth feel them such, or even, by the Preacher’s Lives and Conversations, discern and recognize them under this Character: But here let Experience, and each Individual's Conscience itself speak, and give Evidence of the Fact.
We have our Eye stedfastly fixed upon Eternity, and build upon the most simple and undivided Unity,* concluding these our Reflexions with the Prayer of our most exclusively true Teacher and Master, Jesus Christ; at a Time when, rejoicing in Spirit, he (Matt. xi. 25. Luke x. 21.) thus expressed himself,
“I thank thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, that thou hast hid these Things [the Mystery of Godliness] from the Wise and Prudent (of this World) and hast revealed them unto (the believing Ones and) Babes (of thy Kingdom.) Even so, Father! for so it seemed (right and) good in thy Sight."
Written on the 13th-23d of September, Enoch, Sol in Libra,
Year 1651.
By
ABRAHAM DE FRANCKENBERG:
(A Man, at once and as well justified and rejoiced,
as convicted and condemned, in the Faith)
* In Faith we’re eying
Our final, blessed, eternal Habitation;
Thus too relying
On th’ ONLY-ONE, the one tried Foundation.
ALSO SEE
THE LIFE OF JACOB BOEHME a Timeline by the International Jacob Boehme Institute
THE LIFE AND DOCTRINE OF JACOB BOEHME by Franz Hartmann
MIND ON FIRE by Wayne Kraus