BÖHME, Jacob. – Protestant theosophist, b. at Altseidenberg in 1575, d. at Görlitz in 1624. A shoemaker by trade, he wandered at first, then in 1594 settled at Görlitz. Of mystical temperament, he formed his ideas from the Bible and from the writings of the Reformers and German mystics, particularly under the influence of Paracelso, V. WEINGARTEN, and the alchemists. An ecstatic vision (1600) convinced him of divine confirmation of his ideas. In 1612 he completed his masterpiece, *Aurora, oder die Morgenröthe im Aufgang*, an unpublished work. Yet his doctrine, widely known, aroused opposition among his coreligionists, who forbade him to write. At the invitation of admirers, he composed his other works between 1619 and 1624.
In Böhme’s system, the religious ideas of the Reformation and the pseudo-scientific natural philosophy of the Renaissance intertwine in a dark, cosmic theosophical system that oscillates between the eternal and the temporal. A wild imagination prevails, lacking order or logical rigor. Obsessed by the problem of sin, Böhme makes the antithesis of Good and Evil the keystone of his system. The Divinity, primordial abyss, All-Nothing, contains the seeds of both Good and Evil; both are essential so that revelation may occur. Looking into itself, the Divinity splits into the Will as the sap of the world (Father) and into Force-Consciousness-Word (Son); the Father, loving the Son, brings forth the Spirit (Holy). The world (Mysterium magnum) is born from the opposition of the Trinity to the divine Nature, “matrix et centrum naturae.” The first stage gives rise to the angels, represented by Michael, Lucifer, and Uriel, divided into three categories (in opposition to the three Persons).
In the second stage, the primordial qualities separate from the Divinity, unfolding into seven forms; the last is ideal corporeality. Lucifer falls in love with the “centrum naturae,” aspires to equal it, sins by leaving love and entering into the wrath of God. To Lucifer’s hatred-darkness, God opposes the Son’s love-light. Thus concrete earthly reality comes into being; from this point the Bible begins. In man, the microcosm that is the synthesis of all things, the antithetical process of Good and Evil is lived out consciously and dramatically. Super-sensible mystical intuition is true knowledge, and moral redemption lies in detachment from the world so as to attain II. Böhme’s pessimistic chaos interpreted and powerfully influenced the German spirit. Schelling and Hegel were among those who underwent his influence and spread his ideas.