The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme · 142 of 159 · tr. Franz Hartmann
Chapter 13 (part 10)
281 "The inner man continually kills the outer one by means of the love and sweetness of God, so that the external one cannot introduce into the soul-fire his earthly poisonous desire, which is infected by the devil; but the external man cannot be entirely destroyed, for if this were to take place the kingdom of this world would depart from him entirely." ( Stiefel , i.
51.) "Even if Christ is born in us, nevertheless we cannot say, in speaking of ourselves as a whole, 'I am Christ,' for the external man is not Christ.
We can only say honestly, 'I am in Christ, and Christ has become human in me.'" ( Stiefel , i.
54.) For the great majority of people the celestial inner man is either not perceived at all, or assumes a merely vague and nebulous appearance; but there are others who are aware of the divine qualities of the inner man, and who desire to enter into harmony with him, but they are often so constituted as to be powerfully attracted by the outer life, and they do not know how to overcome the external and sinful man of flesh.
"Sometimes a person is externally so badly constituted by the influence of the stars as to experience much trouble therefrom.
Whenever he stops to consider, he then enters within himself and abstains from sin.
Nevertheless he does not know how to get rid of the outer malicious man." ( Three Principles , xx.
83.) In external nature we see that the more the sunlight and rain favour a field the richer will be the vegetation growing thereon, not only in regard to wholesome plants, but also in regard to such as are noxious.
Thus the power of the spiritual sun, acting within the soul of man, will cause the germs therein, whether good or evil, to sprout and grow.
For this reason persons endowed with great spiritual power are sometimes inclined to evil practices, while there are others leading a blameless life merely p.
282 because they have no power or virtue in them, neither for evil nor good.
"Many of the saints that were driven on by the Spirit of God went afterwards from that state of submission again into selfishness; namely, to their own reasoning and self-will." ( Calmness , i.
34.) During our terrestrial life it is not possible for us to become entirely rid of the old sinful Adam, but we should continually try to live above his plane; that means to say, we should maintain our point of gravitation in God.
"Man's life during his present existence is like a turning wheel, which suddenly turns uppermost what was below.
It kindleth itself in every substance and defileth itself thereby; but it is purified in the water of meekness, wherein moves the heart of God, and out of that its fire-life may evolve celestial substance." ( Six Mysterious Points , ii.
13.) "Our whole life ought to be a continual repentance, because it is also a continual chain of sin.
Truly the noble lily-branch, newly born in Christ, does not sin; nevertheless the terrestrial man sins in body and soul, and seeks to spoil the noble flower." 1 ( Stiefel , xi.
537.) "A true Christian hates the will of the flesh and rejects it.
He is continually his own accuser, and considers himself unworthy, and with his whole heart will he wish to enter into the mercy of God.
He will never boast and say, 'I am a Christian;' but he will strive to enter into the mercy of God and desire His grace, so that he may become a true Christian.
His whole life is a continual repentance, and he continually desires to grasp p.
283 divine grace as that grace grasps him." ( Communion , iv.
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.
Spiritual transformation is described using alchemical imagery like purification in water and evolving celestial substance from fire-life.
Malevolent planetary rulers or demiurgic powers that govern the material world and obstruct the soul's ascent.
[auto] The text mentions individuals being 'badly constituted by the influence of the stars' which causes trouble, aligning with planetary obstruction.
Eckhart's signature doctrine that the Father eternally begets the Son in the ground of the soul; the human interior as the actual site of the divine generative act, distinct from inner_light's static indwelling.
The text explicitly states 'Christ is born in us', aligning with the doctrine of the divine Son being begotten in the soul's ground.
The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others.
The text explicitly compares external nature (sunlight/rain) to internal spiritual growth, illustrating the 'as above, so below' principle.
Ontological opposition between two primal principles (light/darkness, truth/lie, spirit/matter) as the fundamental structure of reality.
[auto] The passage centrally contrasts the inner man with the outer man, divine love with devilish desire, and spirit with flesh as opposing ontological forces.
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 human soul is described as containing the spiritual sun and reflecting cosmic forces like vegetation reflects sunlight.
Eckhart's radical reading of Matthew 5:3 — the saint as one who wants nothing, knows nothing, and has nothing, having emptied even the will and the self with which to receive God; distinct from renunciation_of_wealth (material poverty).
The true Christian considers himself unworthy, never boasts, and continually desires grace rather than claiming status.
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 soul evolves celestial substance through purification, becoming a partaker of divine nature via Christ's birth within.