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The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme · 127 of 159 · tr. Franz Hartmann

Chapter 12 (part 7)

All this He gave up entirely into the Father's hands as being the end of nature, the great mystery of the Father; but not so that it should be dead, but so that the Spirit of God should be therein all its life, and the divine regimen exist in the personality of Christ." ( Signature , xii. 1.) Neither did the external being of the Redeemer become lost by His corporeal death, but it entered thereby into its true and exalted substantiality. 1 "When Christ died He did not throw away the body which had been in His possession while upon the earth, or left it to be consumed by the four elements, thus keeping (or taking up) a body entirely foreign (to the terrestrial form); but He merely laid aside the suffering (the external consciousness) of this world, and clothed Himself in immortality, so that His body might live in divine power, and not in the spirit of this world." ( Three Principles , xxv. 53.) "Christ assumed indeed earthly substance, but in His death—that is to say, as He overcame death—the divine being caused the earthly state to disappear and took away from it its supremacy. Not that Christ had laid aside something (which He did not), but so that the external being was conquered and, so to speak, consumed." ( Menschwerdung , i. 8, 11.) "The true essentiality in Christ did not take away the earthly consciousness, but entered into the latter as its lord and conqueror. The true life was to be led first p. 256 into death and the wrath of God. This took place on the Cross, on which occasion death became destroyed and the wrath imprisoned and extinguished by love, and thus conquered." ( Menschwerdung , ix. 16.) "When Jesus broke up death in (His) humanity and took away the sense of self, He did then not throw away the human quality wherein dwelt death and the wrath of God, but He now accepted them to the fullest extent; that is to say, He only now took the external realm within the interior one." ( Signature , xi. 41.) "The external active and feeling life, wherein the wrath of God was burning, died, but not in such a way that it would have become a nothing, but it descended into nothing; that is to say, in this case, into the will of God, into His acting and feeling. Thereby it became free of the will of the external world, which will is evil and good, and it lived no longer within the world and the constellations with the four elements, but after the nature of the Father and within the pure and divine element. Thus the true human life came to occupy again the position which had been lost by Adam, and entered again into Paradise." ( Signature , xii. 5.) The earthly being of the Redeemer was sanctified by His celestial blood, and thereby it was prepared for the resurrection. 1 "When Christ poured out His celestial blood, then the fiery desire kindled in humanity became transformed into a love-desire, and out of the anguish of death there was born a joy and strength of divine power." ( Signature , xi. 5.) "When the Son of God poured out His holy blood in Christ, then did the poison of the wrath in Adam's p. 257 flesh, soul, and spirit, which He took upon Himself, become sanctified and transformed into love. Thus the enmity ceased then and there, and God became Immanuel; that is to say, man with God and God with man. Then the flesh of Adam became tinctured and prepared for the resurrection." 1 ( Stiefel , ii. 209.) By the power of the glorification at which the Redeemer arrived through His entering into death He overcame the power of hell, so that now the life again issued from death.
Themes
◆Detachment Gelassenheitpraxis

Eckhart's Abgeschiedenheit/Gelassenheit — radical letting-go of will, image, and grasping that opens the soul to God; distinct from inner_silence (quietness) and from material renunciation, and adjacent to Sufi tark and Buddhist non-grasping as a practice rather than a metaphysical claim.

Christ 'laid aside the suffering (the external consciousness) of this world', indicating a letting go of worldly attachments.

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◆Divine Marriagesoteriology

The reunification of complementary divine principles (male-female, spirit-matter) as a symbol of wholeness and salvation.

The concept of Immanuel is defined as 'man with God and God with man', signifying the reunification of divine and human principles.

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◆Divine Sparkscosmology

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

Suggests the Spirit of God resides within the material life form as its source of life.

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◆Fana Annihilationsoteriology

Sufi self-effacement in God — the via by which the lover is unmade as a separate ego and recovered as God's act; specifies the practice/event rather than mystical_union's resulting state.

The external life 'descended into nothing... into the will of God', describing a self-effacement into divine will.

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◆Kingdom Withinanthropology

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

The passage describes taking 'the external realm within the interior one', placing the divine reality inside the human.

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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 text describes the true human life entering 'again into Paradise' and occupying the position lost by Adam, indicating a return to the divine origin.

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◆Spiritual Ascentpraxis

A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.

The movement from death and wrath into Paradise represents a staged journey upward toward the divine source.

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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 phrase 'God with man and God with man' asserts an ontological unity between the divine and human natures.

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◇Alchemical Workpraxis

The transformation of base substance — outer matter or the inner soul — into a purified, perfected, or 'gold' state; the magnum opus as both laboratory practice and spiritual allegory.

[auto] The text uses distinct alchemical terminology such as 'tinctured', 'transformed', 'celestial blood', and the sanctification of poison into love to describe spiritual transformation.

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◇Anthropomorphismtheology

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

[auto] Uses human imagery such as the Father's hands and the personality of Christ to describe divine action.

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◇Cosmic Dualismtheology

Ontological opposition between two primal principles (light/darkness, truth/lie, spirit/matter) as the fundamental structure of reality.

[auto] The passage contrasts divine power and immortality against the spirit of this world and the earthly state.

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◇Inner Lightanthropology

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

[auto] States that the Spirit of God should be therein all its life, indicating divine presence within.

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◇Living Godtheology

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

[auto] Emphasizes the Spirit of God as active life within the Redeemer rather than a dead principle.

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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] Christ is described as the personality where the divine regimen exists, mediating between the Father and creation.

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◇Mystical Unionsoteriology

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

[auto] Describes the divine regimen existing in the personality of Christ, uniting the divine and human.

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◇Opposites Transcendedanthropology

The dissolution of binary oppositions (male/female, inner/outer, above/below) as a mark of spiritual completion.

[auto] Describes overcoming death and the disappearance of the earthly state's supremacy through divine power.

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◇Paradox As Teachingethics

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

[auto] Presents the paradox that giving up nature into death results in exalted substantiality and life.

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◇Theosis Deificationsoteriology

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.

[auto] The passage explicitly describes the transformation of Adam's flesh into a state prepared for resurrection and the union of man with God (Immanuel), central to the doctrine of deification.

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◇Tripartite Soulanthropology

Division of the human being into three principles: spirit (pneuma), soul (psyche), and body/matter (hyle or soma).

[auto] Distinguishes between the external being, corporeal body, and the Spirit of God as distinct principles.

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Related passages · 12 parallels
◆egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 6 (part 3)
“The khat or physical body. The physical body of man considered as a whole was called khat , a word which seems to be connected with the idea of something which is liable to decay. The word is also applied to the mummified body in the tomb…”
Both passages discuss the concept of the afterlife and the transformation of the physical body into a spiritual or divine form. They share a theme of resurrection and the preservation or transformation of the body, though they come from different religious traditions.
◆egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 6 (part 18)
“It reapeth the wheat, it cutteth the barley, and it giveth it unto thee. Now, therefore, O Pepi, he that hath given unto thee life and all power and eternity and the power of speech and thy body is Ra. Thou hast endued thyself with the fo…”
Both passages describe a transformative process where a central figure (Christ in Passage A and Pepi in Passage B) undergoes a profound change that leads to a state of divine union or power. Both texts emphasize the overcoming of death and the attainment of eternal life through this transformation.
◆egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 43 (part 5)
“3300-3166), it would seem that, even at that remote date, the scribes were perplexed and hardly understood the texts which they had before them.[2] The most moderate estimate makes certain sections of the Book of the Dead as known from thes…”
Both passages discuss the transformation and glorification of the body after death, emphasizing the transition to a new, divine state of existence. The Egyptian Book of the Dead focuses on the rituals and texts ensuring a blessed afterlife, while the Christian passage describes the resurrection and glorification of Christ's body, highlighting the overcoming of death and the entry into divine life.
◆egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 43 (part 45)
“Homage to thee, O my father Osiris, thy flesh suffered no decay, there were no worms in thee, thou didst not crumble away, thou didst not wither away, thou didst not become corruption and worms; and I myself am Khepera, I shall possess my f…”
Both passages discuss the concept of the preservation and transformation of the physical body in relation to eternal life and resurrection. The Egyptian Book of the Dead emphasizes the preservation of the physical body (khat) to ensure eternal life, while the Christian passage describes the transformation of Christ's earthly body into an immortal form through divine power.
◆egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 43 (part 59)
“It reapeth the wheat, it cutteth the barley, and it giveth it unto thee. Now, therefore, O Pepi, he that hath given unto thee life and all power and eternity and the power of speech and thy body is Ra. Thou hast endued thyself with the fo…”
Both passages discuss the transformation and elevation of the individual (Pepi in Passage A and Christ in Passage B) through a mystical process that involves the absorption of divine qualities and the attainment of eternal life. They share the theme of the deceased or divine figure gaining power and immortality through a sacred ritual or event.
◆egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 43 (part 60)
“The whole passage reads:--[2] "(496) The heavens drop water, the stars throb, (497) the archers go round about, the (498) bones of Akeru tremble, and those who are in bondage to them take to flight when they see (499) Unas rise up as a soul…”
Both passages discuss the transformation and elevation of the individual (Pepi in Passage A and Christ in Passage B) through a mystical process that involves the consumption or transcendence of divine elements, leading to eternal life and divine power.
◆greek_mystery|Orphic Hymns|Hymn LXXXVI. DEATH (part 1)
“LXXXVI. TO DEATH. The FUMIGATION from MANNA. HEAR me, O Death, whose empire unconfin'd, Extends to mortal tribes of ev'ry kind. On thee, the portion of our time depends, Whose absence lengthens life, whose presence ends. p. 225 Thy sl…”
Both passages explore the concept of death and its transcendence, with Passage A focusing on Christ's resurrection and conquest of death, and Passage B discussing the philosophical separation of the soul from the body. Both emphasize the transformative and liberating aspects of death.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 8
“Section 4 4. Let us consider, then, the hypothesis of a coalescence. Now if there is a coalescence, the lower is ennobled, the nobler degraded; the body is raised in the scale of being as made participant in life; the Soul, as associated wi…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the spiritual and the material, discussing how the spiritual (Soul in Plotinus, Christ in the second passage) interacts with and transcends the material body. They both delve into the idea of the spiritual overcoming the limitations of the physical.
◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori)|Third Dialogueg
“Such over-boldness rarely grief escapes." "Fear not the utmost ruin then," I said, "Cleave confident the clouds and die content, That heaven has destined thee to such illustrious death." Cic . I understand when you say: "Enough that thou h…”
Both passages discuss the transcendence of the soul or divine being from the physical or earthly realm. They explore the idea of overcoming the limitations of the body or earthly existence to achieve a higher, divine state, though they do so within different theological frameworks.
◆taoism|Tao Te Ching|Chapter 16
“The (state of) vacancy should be brought to the utmost degree, and that of stillness guarded with unwearying vigour. All things alike go through their processes of activity, and (then) we see them return (to their original state). When thin…”
Both passages discuss the transformation and transcendence of the human condition through a process of returning to a primordial state or overcoming death. The Tao Te Ching emphasizes returning to stillness and the unchanging rule, while the Christian mysticism passage describes Christ's overcoming of death and the transformation of human nature through divine power.
2 more
◆taoism|The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters)|Book 128 (part 12)
“All things begin from nothing and end in nothing. Their birth and their death are only the creations of our thought, the going and coming of the primary ether. When we have penetrated to the non-reality of life and death, what remains of…”
Both passages explore the themes of life, death, and the transcendence of the physical body. They discuss the idea of the body's composition and the transformation that occurs after death, though from different mystical traditions (Taoism and Christian mysticism).
◆western_esoteric|Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi)|20. The Universal Medicinea
“CAPUT RESURRECTIO CIRCULUS THE MAJORITY of our physical complaints come from our moral diseases, according to the one and universal dogma, and by reason of the law of analogies. A great passion to which we abandon ourselves corresponds alw…”
Both passages discuss the transformation and transcendence of the human condition through divine intervention. Passage A focuses on Christ's resurrection and the overcoming of death, while Passage B discusses the spiritual and moral transformation leading to immortality and the nature of death and rebirth.