It is stated that this Cross was soon removed and destroyed by the Townspeople ; whose descendants have, however, done ample honour to Jacob Boehme’s memory. In the year 1875, on the tercentenary of his birth, a Great Festival was held at Qoerlitz, at which thousands were present. His Portrait has been received and hung with honour in the Council Hall ; his House is distinguished by having a plate affixed to it, recording the fact that he lived and died therein; and over his Grave there has been placed a huge monumental block, which is, like his Works, sufficiently substantial to endure for Ages to come.
“ %
I T has frequently been asserted by very able Commentators upon Jacob Boehme, that to no one are-his works essential — -with the exception of his “ Way to Christ,” which is the least metaphysical of any of thdtn — any further than a knowledge of Physics is essential to an Agriculturalist; who without any such knowledge can cultivate the ground and reap its fruits. In like manner the Christian can cultivate an
Prefatory {Memoir .
holy Spirit and reap its fruits without any knowledge of the Mysteries of Nature such as Boehme has penetrated and revealed to us.
a Jacob Boehme’s Works are, as the Rev. W. Law long ago asserted, “just as they should be for those that are fit for them,” and this is the true standpoint from which to regard them. No one has ever studied them in vain ; and Freher , who is regarded as one of Jacob Boehme’s most able Commentators, read all Boehtne's books in the original more than ten times over, though not without the greatest disgust imaginable in the beginning.
During Jacob Boehmd’s lifetime he was frequently questioned by his friends and followers in their anxiety respecting the state of the soul immediately after death ; and upon this subject he has written, some very impressive passages, as in a case where the Soul, not having passed through regeneration in this life, had at a the hour of its departure clung by Faith to the Promise of Forgiveness and Salvation. He writes : “ When the hour of Death approaches and the Conscience awakens, such a Soul trembles in great Fear of Hell, and would like to be saved ; but there is only very little of the saving power of Faith within her, while before her is nothing but (a past of) injustice and falsehood, earthly lust, and the tears and sighs of the downtrodden. *Her desire turns to a certain extent towards God, but the sins she has committed are in her way, and there arises in her a great doubt and unrest. Many a Soul then clings to the saving power, as it were by a thin thread. When, then, .death actually occurs and separates the Soul from the Body, the poor Soul will then cling to that thread and refuse to let go her hold of it, but all her essences are still deeply immersed in the Wrath of God. She is tormented by her gross sins, and the thread of Faith (the umbilical cord) of the new-born being is vqjy feeble. Therefore when the Bridegroom says ‘ Come !’ the poor Soul answers * I cannot, my lamp is not yet ready but she clings to the thread, and puts her imaginaion into the Heart of God, and thus she becomes ultimately redeemed by the suffering of the Christ in her from the pool of putrefaction.*
It is stated that this Cross was soon removed and destroyed by the Townspeople ; whose descendants have, however, done ample honour to Jacob Boehme’s memory. In the year 1875, on the tercentenary of his birth, a Great Festival was held at Qoerlitz, at which thousands were present. His Portrait has been received and hung with honour in the Council Hall ; his House is distinguished by having a plate affixed to it, recording the fact that he lived and died therein; and over his Grave there has been placed a huge monumental block, which is, like his Works, sufficiently substantial to endure for Ages to come.
“ %
I T has frequently been asserted by very able Commentators upon Jacob Boehme, that to no one are-his works essential — -with the exception of his “ Way to Christ,” which is the least metaphysical of any of thdtn — any further than a knowledge of Physics is essential to an Agriculturalist; who without any such knowledge can cultivate the ground and reap its fruits. In like manner the Christian can cultivate an
Prefatory {Memoir .
holy Spirit and reap its fruits without any knowledge of the Mysteries of Nature such as Boehme has penetrated and revealed to us.
a Jacob Boehme’s Works are, as the Rev. W. Law long ago asserted, “just as they should be for those that are fit for them,” and this is the true standpoint from which to regard them. No one has ever studied them in vain ; and Freher , who is regarded as one of Jacob Boehme’s most able Commentators, read all Boehtne's books in the original more than ten times over, though not without the greatest disgust imaginable in the beginning.
During Jacob Boehmd’s lifetime he was frequently questioned by his friends and followers in their anxiety respecting the state of the soul immediately after death ; and upon this subject he has written, some very impressive passages, as in a case where the Soul, not having passed through regeneration in this life, had at a the hour of its departure clung by Faith to the Promise of Forgiveness and Salvation. He writes : “ When the hour of Death approaches and the Conscience awakens, such a Soul trembles in great Fear of Hell, and would like to be saved ; but there is only very little of the saving power of Faith within her, while before her is nothing but (a past of) injustice and falsehood, earthly lust, and the tears and sighs of the downtrodden. *Her desire turns to a certain extent towards God, but the sins she has committed are in her way, and there arises in her a great doubt and unrest. Many a Soul then clings to the saving power, as it were by a thin thread. When, then, .death actually occurs and separates the Soul from the Body, the poor Soul will then cling to that thread and refuse to let go her hold of it, but all her essences are still deeply immersed in the Wrath of God. She is tormented by her gross sins, and the thread of Faith (the umbilical cord) of the new-born being is vqjy feeble. Therefore when the Bridegroom says ‘ Come !’ the poor Soul answers * I cannot, my lamp is not yet ready but she clings to the thread, and puts her imaginaion into the Heart of God, and thus she becomes ultimately redeemed by the suffering of the Christ in her from the pool of putrefaction.*
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