The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme · 14 of 159 · tr. Franz Hartmann
Chapter 2 (part 1)
p.
58 CHAPTER II.
THE UNITY OF THE ALL.
"We are all one body in Christ, and have all the Spirit of Christ within our reach.
If, then, we enter into the Christ, we may see and know everything by the power of His Spirit." ( Forty Questions , xxvi.
5.) That which is finite cannot conceive of the infinite; that which has a beginning cannot conceive of that which is without beginning and without an end.
Who has measured space?
Has it an end?
and if so, what is there beyond the utmost limits of space?
But if, there is no end to space, does not thought lose itself in seeking to penetrate into its depths?
We cannot conceive of infinite space, but we can conceive of limited forms, which are space rendered objective; and in describing a form we describe space in a certain state or condition.
Likewise, we cannot describe that which exists eternally in God, nor the eternal processes continually taking place within the divine life, in any other way than by speaking of them as if they had a beginning in time, and by using terrestrial terms, all of which are necessarily inadequate to produce a conception of that which cannot be conceived by the terrestrial mind, because it is infinitely above all terrestrial things.
"I cannot describe to you the whole of divinity as it were in a circle, because God is immeasurable; nevertheless the Godhead is not inconceivable to the spirit resting in the love of God.
Such a spirit may grasp eternal truth, one part after another, and in this way it may end in perceiving the whole." ( Aurora , x.
26.) "If I am to make comprehensible the eternal generation, unfolding, or evolution of God out of His own self, p.
59 [paragraph continues] I cannot speak otherwise than in a devilish (knowingly erroneous) manner, making it appear as if the eternal Light had ignited itself in the darkness, and as if the Godhead had a beginning.
In no other way can I instruct you, so that you may form an approximate conception of it.
There is nothing first and nothing last in this generation and evolution, nevertheless in describing it I have to put one thing after another." ( Aurora , xxiii.
17–33.) We do not mean to say that the Deity had a beginning; we merely wish to show the way in which the Godhead has revealed itself by means of nature.
God has no beginning in time; He has an eternal beginning and an eternal end." ( Signature , iii.
i.) "The Godhead is an eternal band, which cannot perish.
It generates itself from eternity to eternity, and the first therein is always the last, and the last the first." ( Three Principles , vii.
14.) 1 .
That which is subject to the conditions of time may conceive of temporal things; only that which is eternal in man can realise the existence of the eternal.
"We cannot speak the language of the angels, and even if we were to speak it everything would appear to the inhabitants of this world as if it did refer to created beings, and before the terrestrial mind it would represent itself as terrestrial.
We are ourselves only parts of the whole, and we can conceive and speak only of parts, but not of the whole." ( Threefold Life , ii.
66.) "I advise the reader, whenever I am speaking of the Godhead and its great mystery, not to conceive of what I say as if it were intended to be understood in a p.
60 terrestrial sense, but to regard it from a higher point of view, in a supernatural aspect.
I am often forced to give terrestrial names to that which is celestial, so that the reader may form a conception, and by meditating about it penetrate within the inner foundation." ( Grace , iii.
19.) God is self-existent, self-sufficient, infinite Will, having no origin.
Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.
[auto] The passage extensively discusses the inability of the finite mind to conceive or describe the infinite God, stating 'We cannot describe that which exists eternally in God'.
A chain of divine beings or principles flowing downward from a single transcendent source (the One or the Father), each level less perfect than the one above.
The text mentions the 'eternal generation, unfolding, or evolution of God out of His own self', hinting at emanation.
The doctrine of the universe as boundless and without center or circumference, populated by innumerable worlds — Bruno's rejection of the closed Aristotelian sphere; the divine and the cosmos as ontologically infinite.
The passage questions the limits of space ('Who has measured space? Has it an end?') and discusses the concept of infinite space.
The human being as a small-scale image of the entire cosmos; the body, soul, and intellect mirroring the structure of the heavens and the divine — distinct from correspondence in that it makes the human the privileged mirror.
The text states 'We are ourselves only parts of the whole', linking human existence to the divine totality.
The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy.
The concept of being 'one body in Christ' with the Spirit within implies participation in the divine nature.
The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.
[auto] The chapter title is 'THE UNITY OF THE ALL' and the text repeatedly emphasizes that 'We are all one body in Christ' and God is an 'eternal band'.