Genius of the Transcendent: Mystical Writings of Jakob Boehme

by Jakob Böhme, Jeff Bach, Michael L. Birkel

Here, for the spiritual adventurers of our own age, is an accessible introduction to one of the most important of the Christian mystical writers. Jakob Boehme (1575–1624) was a humble shoemaker of Görlitz in eastern Germany who, in response to the visionary experiences that began for him as a teenager, wrote a series of theosophical treatises that explore the nature of God and humanity. His ability to give words to the ineffable has never been surpassed, and his influence can be felt in the generations of mystics who followed him, as well as in Pietists, German Romantics, Quakers, and American utopianists, among many others. Five of Boehme's most essential works are presented here in fresh translations that demonstrate why Underhill called him "one of the most astonishing cases in history of a natural genius for the transcendent."

Genres: Philosophy, Mysticism, Christianity, Theology, Religion, Spirituality, Christian

208 pages, Paperback

First published May 11, 2010

About the author

Jakob Böhme (probably April 24, 1575[1] – November 17, 1624) was a German Christian mystic and theologian. He is considered an original thinker within the Lutheran tradition, and his first book, commonly known as Aurora, caused a great scandal. In contemporary English, his name may be spelled Jacob Boehme; in seventeenth-century England it was also spelled Behmen, approximating the contemporary English pronunciation of the German Böhme.

Reviews

[Internet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boehme's writings had a big influence on German Idealism, and that's clear in just these short extracts. You'll find some very dialectical imagery here, a Trinitarian model of reason, notions of absolute identity, the movement from unity to disunity and back again, and an emphasis on knowledge through negation. It's amazing how much the ideas in this collection resemble Schelling's System of Transcendental Idealism. Hegel gives Boehme short shrift in his History of Philosophy, describing his mode of expression as 'barbaric', but it's obvious reading this that he owes a lot to Boehme. This is a very accessible introduction, with a lucid English translation and helpful introductions for each extract.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am only 35 pages into this book so far, Jakob's insights and account is incredible. many will disagree with some of his writing, possibly vehemently, afterall, he was considered a heretic. Then again, so was Jesus.

[Lelia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have a hard time believing with the medieval mystics that the body is evil and we must “make enmity” against the earthly flesh, as Boehme suggests. And since the emphasis in many of these teachings is on loathing the creaturely, and much of the rest describes the (overly) complex symbolic world Boehme developed, I found this book tedious and unappealing.

[Aleksander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introduction to the philosophy of Jakob Bohme. The concepts are, at first explained really generally, so the reader can grasp them easily in "normal language". Once they are explained we dive in the fragments of Bohme's writing so we can see how these ideas actually were presented.

Recommended for everyone who want to get to know Bohme

[andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

A challenging adventure to read but a fascinating Christian mystic perhaps a Rosicrucian.

[Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved The New Birth and True Yieldedness. Think I need to develop more of a vocabulary and knowledge of alchemy to fully appreciate what's going on in the other writings.

[Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome

[EIJANDOLUM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Desire is the Pivot between Light & Darkness.

They are the same origin, a piece from divine knowledge of divine will, originating from divine word and led into a pattern of divine love. They are from the ground of eternity from which light and darkness arise.


Oui, chéri.