Concerning the Three Principles of the Divine Essence
not manifest, until awakened." The division between heaven and hell is not in terms of space. " Heaven is in " hell and hell in heaven, and neither manifest to the " other " (Mysterium Magnum, viii. 28). In the place of the rejected Lucifer — here Boehme expounds the Mosaic creation story — God created man in His own likeness, more perfect than the Angels, destined to rule over all things. " Heaven, earth, stars and elements, all, as well " as the divine Trinity, are represented in man, and " nothing can be named that is not in man." — " The soul " of Adam was from the eternal will, out of the centra " natures, where light and darkness divide. Understand ! " he is no separated spark, as a part from the whole ; " for he is no part, but the whole altogether ; just as " every point is a whole " (Threefold Life, vi. 47, 49).
Man was placed between the kingdoms of light and darkness, free to choose. " The will of the soul is free, " either to sink in itself and heed nothing, but to grow " as a branch on a tree and eat of God's love, or to lift " itself in the fire, in its own will and be an own tree " " (Forty Quest, ii. 2). " But the will of life broke itself " away from the Divine Essence, and went into percep- " tion [experience], out of unity into variety [complexity], " and resisted the unity as the eternal rest and only " good " (Divine Contemplation, ii. 7). " The soul's " essence became enamoured with the creation of the " formed word in its freedom of choice, and lifted itself " in longing for freedom " (Election, vi. 73). " When the " longing for the spirit of this world became uppermost " in Adam, he sank into sleep." — " The sleep denotes " death and an overcoming." — " But with the sleep, time " became manifest in man ; he fell asleep to the angelical " world, and awakened to the external world." The Virgin, the Divine Wisdom, who hitherto had dwelt in him, now fled from him, and in her stead, the earthly wife was given him, with whom the fall into sin was consummated and extended to the whole of mankind; " for the souls of men are altogether as if they were one
INTRODUCTION Ixiii
" soul " (Threefold Life, xvi. 13). But redemption also remained, hidden as a germ in humanity (Boehme conveys this through allegories of the deepest meaning, by following up the idea throughout the Old Testament), until it was born, as the Saviour from Mary, into whom had also passed [entered] the eternal Virgin, the Divine Wisdom.
But " the historical belief in Christ is a mere spark (of " the fire) that must first be set alight." — " None is a " Christian, unless Christ lives and works in him." — " When Christ arises, then Adam dies with his serpent- " substance ; when the sun rises, the night is swallowed " up in the day and there is no more night." — " Whoso- " ever has Christ in himself is a Christian, is crucified " and dead with Christ, and lives in His resurrection." — " Zion is not born first outwardly, but interiorly ; we " must seek and find ourselves within ourselves." — " No " one need run anywhere .... but in himself is the gate " to the Divinity. . . . Whither shall the soul lift itself, " since it is itself the source of Eternity ? "
A newer theologian (Harless, J. Boehme and the Alchemists) affirms, on account of these statements, that Boehme has wiped out Christ for us, and left only Christ in us. We would remark in answer that, if those who possess Him yet miss anything, then must their conception of Christ in us be very inadequate.
not manifest, until awakened." The division between heaven and hell is not in terms of space. " Heaven is in " hell and hell in heaven, and neither manifest to the " other " (Mysterium Magnum, viii. 28). In the place of the rejected Lucifer — here Boehme expounds the Mosaic creation story — God created man in His own likeness, more perfect than the Angels, destined to rule over all things. " Heaven, earth, stars and elements, all, as well " as the divine Trinity, are represented in man, and " nothing can be named that is not in man." — " The soul " of Adam was from the eternal will, out of the centra " natures, where light and darkness divide. Understand ! " he is no separated spark, as a part from the whole ; " for he is no part, but the whole altogether ; just as " every point is a whole " (Threefold Life, vi. 47, 49).
Man was placed between the kingdoms of light and darkness, free to choose. " The will of the soul is free, " either to sink in itself and heed nothing, but to grow " as a branch on a tree and eat of God's love, or to lift " itself in the fire, in its own will and be an own tree " " (Forty Quest, ii. 2). " But the will of life broke itself " away from the Divine Essence, and went into percep- " tion [experience], out of unity into variety [complexity], " and resisted the unity as the eternal rest and only " good " (Divine Contemplation, ii. 7). " The soul's " essence became enamoured with the creation of the " formed word in its freedom of choice, and lifted itself " in longing for freedom " (Election, vi. 73). " When the " longing for the spirit of this world became uppermost " in Adam, he sank into sleep." — " The sleep denotes " death and an overcoming." — " But with the sleep, time " became manifest in man ; he fell asleep to the angelical " world, and awakened to the external world." The Virgin, the Divine Wisdom, who hitherto had dwelt in him, now fled from him, and in her stead, the earthly wife was given him, with whom the fall into sin was consummated and extended to the whole of mankind; " for the souls of men are altogether as if they were one
INTRODUCTION Ixiii
" soul " (Threefold Life, xvi. 13). But redemption also remained, hidden as a germ in humanity (Boehme conveys this through allegories of the deepest meaning, by following up the idea throughout the Old Testament), until it was born, as the Saviour from Mary, into whom had also passed [entered] the eternal Virgin, the Divine Wisdom.
But " the historical belief in Christ is a mere spark (of " the fire) that must first be set alight." — " None is a " Christian, unless Christ lives and works in him." — " When Christ arises, then Adam dies with his serpent- " substance ; when the sun rises, the night is swallowed " up in the day and there is no more night." — " Whoso- " ever has Christ in himself is a Christian, is crucified " and dead with Christ, and lives in His resurrection." — " Zion is not born first outwardly, but interiorly ; we " must seek and find ourselves within ourselves." — " No " one need run anywhere .... but in himself is the gate " to the Divinity. . . . Whither shall the soul lift itself, " since it is itself the source of Eternity ? "
A newer theologian (Harless, J. Boehme and the Alchemists) affirms, on account of these statements, that Boehme has wiped out Christ for us, and left only Christ in us. We would remark in answer that, if those who possess Him yet miss anything, then must their conception of Christ in us be very inadequate.