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The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme · 94 of 159 · tr. Franz Hartmann

Chapter 10 (part 1)

p. 198 CHAPTER X. THE CHRIST. "The inner element which holds the whole body of this world has become the eternal body of Christ; for the whole of Divinity in the word and heart of God has entered therein in eternity; and the same Divinity has become a created being; but such a creature, as can be everywhere, like Divinity itself." ( Princ . xxiii. 20.) " Without special divine aid, humanity would have gone to eternal perdition on account of the sin." 1 ( Hamberger .) "Adam would have been lost eternally if the heart of God with the word of promise had not entered his soul, awakening the spiritual hope which maintained him." ( Forty Questions , viii. 5.) "If the divine principle of love were not still pervading all nature in this terrestrial world, and if we poor created beings had not with us the warrior in the battle, p. 199 we would all be sure to perish in the horror of hell." 1 ( Aurora , xiv. 104.) God, on account of His infinite mercy, desired to aid mankind. 2 "God desires that all mankind shall be saved. He does not desire the death of the sinner, but that he become changed, and turning again to God, find life in Him." ( Three Principles , Preface, i. 6.) "(Superficial) reasoning represents God as an unmerciful being, and teaches that He has thrown His wrath upon man, and cursed him to death, because He found disobedience in him. But you should not believe this. God is love and goodness, and in Him there is no angry thought. Man would be all right if he had not punished himself." ( Three Principles , x. 24.) There was no other way to save mankind, except that the Son or the Light of God should enter into them. 3 "When the soul went out of the light of God and entered into the spirit of this world, then began the torment p. 200 of the first principle. She saw and felt herself no longer in the kingdom of God, until the heart of God came and appeared between her and that kingdom, so that she could enter therein and become regenerated." ( Three Principles , ix. 6.) "There was no other salvation for the divine image in man unless divinity had moved according to the second principle, i.e. , according to the light of eternal life, and by the power of love rekindled the substantiality (of the soul) that was imprisoned in death." ( Menschwerdung , i., 11, 22.) "The soul has separated her will from the will of the Father and entered into the lust of this life. There could have been no other way of redemption, except that the pure will of the Father should again enter into her substance and bring her again into the state which she formerly occupied, so that her will would be directed again into the heart and light of God." ( Three Principles , xxii. 67.) "If the soul was to be aided, the heart of God with its light, and not the Father Himself, had to enter her, for in the Father she was anyhow; but she was turned away from the entrance to the generation of the heart (the beginning of the divine self-consciousness) of God, and her desires were directed towards this external world." 1 ( Three Principles , xxii. 68.) The preparations for that redemption were already made before the creation of this world, as the name of Jesus was embodied in man. 2 p. 201 "The name of Jesus embodied itself into the tincture of the soul in Paradise when Adam fell, and even before Adam was created; as Peter mentions in his first letter (i. 20), where he says that we have been provided for in Christ, even before the foundation of the world was laid." ( Menschwerdung , i.
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Themes
Anthropomorphismtheology

Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.

[auto] The text attributes human characteristics to God, such as having a 'heart' and acting as a 'warrior in the battle'.

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Covenanttheology

A binding agreement or relationship between the divine and a people or individual, establishing mutual obligations.

[auto] The mention of the 'word of promise' entering Adam's soul implies a binding divine agreement or covenantal relationship.

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Divine Hiddennesstheology

The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.

References to the 'inner element' and 'heart of God' imply a divine presence that is concealed within rather than externally obvious.

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Divine Lighttheology

The uncreated luminous quality of the divine, sometimes experienced directly in mystical states; illumination as revelation.

[auto] References to the 'Light of God' and 'light of eternal life' are frequent and central to the mechanism of salvation described.

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Divine Sparkscosmology

Fragments of divine light or spirit trapped inside material bodies, awaiting liberation and return to their source.

The 'divine principle of love' pervading all nature suggests fragments of divinity within creation, though not explicitly trapped.

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Inner Lightanthropology

The divine spark or luminous quality residing within the human person, potentially recognisable through introspection.

[auto] The passage speaks of an 'inner element' and the 'heart of God' entering the soul, suggesting a divine presence within the human person.

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Kingdom Withinanthropology

The claim that the divine realm is present inside the individual, accessible without external mediation.

[auto] The 'inner element which holds the whole body of this world' becoming Christ suggests the divine realm is accessible internally.

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Living Godtheology

The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.

[auto] God is described as having desire, mercy, and active will to aid mankind, portraying a dynamic personal reality.

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Logoscosmology

The divine reason, word, or ordering principle through which the universe was created; mediates between the transcendent God and the material world.

[auto] The passage explicitly references the 'word and heart of God' and the 'word of promise' entering the soul as a mediating divine principle.

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Mystical Unionsoteriology

The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.

[auto] The text describes the 'heart of God' entering the human soul and Divinity becoming a created being, indicating a union between divine and human.

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Paradox As Teachingethics

Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.

[auto] The text presents the paradox that Divinity has become a created being yet remains everywhere like Divinity itself.

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Return To Sourcesoteriology

The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination.

The theme of salvation from 'eternal perdition' implies a journey back to the divine source through God's aid.

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Separation From Sourcesoteriology

The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive.

[auto] The text explicitly describes the soul separating its will from the Father and entering into the lust of this life.

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Unity Of Beingtheology

The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.

The statement that Divinity has become a created being suggests a theological unity between the divine and created realms.

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