Church History, Volume 3 (of 3)Kurtz, J. H. (Johann Heinrich)
History
Church History, Volume 3 (of 3)
Kurtz, J. H. (Johann Heinrich)
Church history
call any one from the dead for the good of the church, it would
be J. V. Andreä.” His later devotional work was almost completely
forgotten until attention was called to it by Herder.[469]
§ 160.2. =Mysticism and Theosophy.=--A mystico-theosophical
tendency, partly in outward connexion with the church, partly
without and in open opposition to it, was fostered by the
alchemist writings of Agrippa and Paracelsus, the theosophical
works of Weigel (§ 146, 2) and by the profound revelations of
the inspired shoemaker of Görlitz, =Jacob Boehme=, _philosophus
teutonicus_, the most talented of all the theosophists. In a
remarkable degree he combined a genius for speculation with the
most unfeigned piety that held firmly by the old Lutheran faith.
Even when an itinerant tradesman, he felt himself for a period
of seven days in calm repose, surrounded by the divine light. But
he dates his profound theosophical enlightenment from a moment in
A.D. 1594, when as a young journeyman and married, thrown into an
ecstasy, he obtained a knowledge of the divine mysteries down to
the ultimate principles of all things and their inmost quality.
His theosophy, too, like that of the ancient gnostics, springs
out of the question about the origin of evil. He solves it by
assuming an emanation of all things from God, in whom fire and
light, bitter and sweet qualities, are thoroughly tempered and
perfectly combined, while in the creature derived by emanation
from him they are in disharmony, but are reconciled and reduced
to godlike harmony through regeneration in Christ. Though opposed
by Calov, he was befriended by the Dresden consistory. Boehme
died in A.D. 1624, in retirement at Görlitz, in the arms of his
family.[470]--In close connexion with Boehmists, separatists, and
Pietists, yet differing from them all, =Gottfried Arnold= abused
orthodoxy and canonized the heretics of all ages. In A.D. 1700 he
wrote “The Mystery of the Divine Sophia.” When Adam, originally
man and woman, fell, his female nature, the heavenly Sophia,
was taken from him, and in his place a woman of flesh was made
for him out of a rib; in order again to restore the paradisiacal
perfection Christ brought again the male part into a virgin’s
womb, so that the new creature, the regenerate, stands before God
as a “male-virgin;” but carnal love destroys again the connexion
thus secured with the heavenly Sophia. But the very next year he
reached a turning-point in his life. He not only married, but in
consequence accepted several appointments in the Lutheran church,
without, however, signing the Formula of Concord, and applied his
literary skill to the production of devotional tracts.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account