,transcribed from the #ahie ,oliphant ,anderson ,ferrier edition by ,david ,price1 email ccx#jgd;coventry4ac4uk ,jacob ,behmen an ,appreciation by ,alexander ,whyte author of ',characters and ,characteristics of ,william ,law' etc4 ,oliphant ,anderson ,ferrier #cj ,st4 ,mary ,street1 ,edinburgh1 and #bd ,old ,bailey1 ,london #ahie ,this lecture was delivered at the opening of my ,classes for the study of the pre-,reformation1 ,reformation1 and post-,reformation ,mystics during ,session #ahid-e4 ,a ,lecture on ,,william ,,law was delivered at the opening of a former ,session as an ,introduction to the whole subject of ,mysticism4 ,a4 ,w4 ,,st4 ,,george',s ,,free ,,church1 #eth ,november #ahid4 ,jacob ,behmen ,jacob ,behmen1 the greatest of the mystics1 and the father of ,german philosophy1 was all his life nothing better than a working shoemaker4 ,he was born at ,old ,seidenberg1 a village near ,goerlitz in ,silesia1 in the year #aege1 and he died at ,goerlitz in the year #afbd4 ,jacob ,behmen has no biography4 ,jacob ,behmen's books are his best biography4 ,while working with his hands1 ,jacob ,behmen's whole life was spent in the deepest and the most original thought2 in piercing visions of ,,god and of nature2 in prayer1 in praise1 and in love to ,,god and man4 ,of ,jacob ,behmen it may be said with the utmost truth and soberness that he lived and moved and had his being in ,,god4 ,jacob ,behmen has no biography because his whole life was hid with ,,christ in ,,god4 99 99 99 99 99 ,while we have nothing that can properly be called a biography of ,jacob ,behmen1 we have ample amends made to us in those priceless morsels of autobiography that lie scattered so plentifully up and down all his books4 ,and nothing could be more charming than just those incidental and unstudied utterances of ,behmen about himself4 ,into the very depths of a passage of the profoundest speculation ,behmen will all of a sudden throw a few verses of the most childlike and heart-winning confidences about his own mental history and his own spiritual experience4 ,and thus it is that1 without at all intending it1 ,behmen has left behind him a complete history of his great mind and his holy heart in those outbursts of diffidence1 deprecation1 explanation1 and self-defence1 of which his philosophical and theological1 as well as his apologetic and experimental1 books are all so full4 ,it were an immense service done to our best literature if some of ,behmen's students would go through all ,behmen's books1 so as to make a complete collection and composition of the best of those autobiographic passages4 ,such a book1 if it were well done1 would at once take rank with ,the ,confessions of ,,st4 ,,augustine1 ,the ,divine ,comedy of ,,dante1 and the ,grace ,abounding of ,,john ,,bunyan4 ,it would then be seen by all1 what few1 till then1 will believe1 that ,jacob ,behmen's mind and heart and spiritual experience all combine to give him a foremost place among the most classical masters in that great field4 ,in the nineteenth chapter of the ,aurora there occurs a very important passage of this autobiographic nature4 ,in that famous passage ,behmen tells his readers that when his eyes first began to be opened1 the sight of this world completely overwhelmed him4 ,,asaph',s experiences1 so powerfully set before us in the seventy-third ,psalm1 will best convey1 to those who do not know ,behmen1 what ,behmen also passed through before he drew near to ,,god4 ,like that so thoughtful ,psalmist1 ,behmen's steps had well-nigh slipped when he saw the prosperity of the wicked1 and when he saw how waters of a full cup were so often wrung out to the people of ,,god4 ,the mystery of life1 the sin and misery of life1 cast ,behmen into a deep and inconsolable melancholy4 ,no ,scripture could comfort him4 ,his thoughts of ,,god were such that he will not allow himself1 even after they are long past1 to put them down on paper4 ,in this terrible trouble he lifted up his heart to ,,god1 little knowing1 as yet1 what ,,god was1 or what his own heart was4 ,only1 he wrapped up his whole heart1 and mind1 and will1 and desire in the love and the mercy of ,,god3 determined not to give over till ,,god had heard him and had helped him4 ',and then1 when ,i had wholly hazarded my life upon what ,i was doing1 my whole spirit seemed to me suddenly to break through the gates of hell1 and to be taken up into the arms and the heart of ,,god4 ,i can compare it to nothing else but the resurrection at the last day4 ,for then1 with all reverence ,i say it1 with the eyes of my spirit ,i saw ,,god4 ,i saw both what ,,god is1 and ,i saw how ,,god is what ,he is4 ,and with that there came a mighty and an incontrollable impulse to set it down1 so as to preserve what ,i had seen4 ,some men will mock me1 and will tell me to stick to my proper trade1 and not trouble my mind with philosophy and theology4 ,let these high matters alone4 ,leave them to those who have both the time and the talent for them1 they will say4 ,so ,i have often said to myself1 but the truth of ,,god did burn in my bones till ,i took pen and ink and began to set down what ,i had seen4 ,all this time do not mistake me for a saint or an angel4 ,my heart also is full of all evil4 ,in malice1 and in hatred1 and in lack of brotherly love1 after all ,i have seen and experienced1 ,i am like all other men4 ,i am surely the fullest of all men of all manner of infirmity and malignity4' ,behmen protests in every book of his that what he has written he has received immediately from ,,god4 ',let it never be imagined that ,i am any greater or any better than other men4 ,when the ,spirit of ,,god is taken away from me ,i cannot even read so as to understand what ,i have myself written4 ,i have every day to wrestle with the devil and with my own heart1 no man in all the world more4 ,oh no6 thou must not for one moment think of me as if ,i had by my own power or holiness climbed up into heaven or descended into the abyss4 ,oh no6 hear me4 ,i am as thou art4 ,i have no more light than thou hast4 ,let no man think of me what ,i am not4 ,but what ,i am all men may be who will truly believe1 and will truly wrestle for truth and goodness under ,,jesus ,,christ4 ,i marvel every day that ,,god should reveal both the ,divine ,nature and ,temporal and ,eternal ,nature for the first time to such a simple and unlearned man as ,i am4 ,but what am ,i to resist what ,,god will do8 ,what am ,i to say but1 ,behold the son of thine handmaiden6 ,i have often besought ,him to take these too high and too deep matters away from off me1 and to commit them to men of more learning and of a better style of speech4 ,but ,he always put my prayer away from ,him and continued to kindle ,his fire in my bones4 ,and with all my striving to quench ,,god',s spirit of revelation1 ,i found that ,i had only by that gathered the more stones for the house that ,he had ordained me to build for ,him and for ,his children in this world4' ,jacob ,behmen's first book1 his ,aurora1 was not a book at all1 but a bundle of loose leaves4 ,nothing was further from ,behmen's mind1 when he took up his pen of an evening1 than to make a book4 ,he took up his pen after his day's work was over in order to preserve for his own memory and use in after days the revelations that had been made to him1 and the experiences and exercises through which ,,god had passed him4 ,and1 besides1 ,jacob ,behmen could not have written a book even if he had tried it4 ,he was a total stranger to the world of books2 and then1 over and above that1 he had been taken up into a world of things into which no book ever written as yet had dared to enter4 ,again1 and again1 and again1 till it came to fill his whole life1 ,behmen would be sitting over his work1 or walking abroad under the stars1 or worshipping in his pew in the parish church1 when1 like the captive prophet by the river of ,chebar1 he would be caught up by the hair of the head and carried away into the visions of ,,god to behold the glory of ,,god4 ,and then1 when he came to himself1 there would arise within him a 'fiery instigation' to set down for a 'memorial' what he had again seen and heard4 ',the gate of the ,divine ,mystery was sometimes so opened to me that in one quarter of an hour ,i saw and knew more than if ,i had been many years together at a university4 ,at which ,i did exceedingly admire1 and1 though it passed my understanding how it happened1 ,i thereupon turned my heart to ,,god to praise ,him for it4 ,for ,i saw and knew the ,being of all ,beings2 the ,byss and the ,abyss2 as1 also1 the ,generation of the ,son and the ,procession of the ,spirit4 ,i saw the descent and original of this world also1 and of all its creatures4 ,i saw in their order and outcome the ,divine world1 the angelical world1 paradise1 and then this fallen and dark world of our own4 ,i saw the beginning of the good and the evil1 and the true origin and existence of each of them4 ,all of which did not only cause me great wonder but also a great joy and a great fear4 ,and then it came with commanding power into my mind that ,i must set down the same in pen and ink for a memorial to myself2 albeit1 ,i could hardly contain or express what ,i had seen4 ,for twelve years this went on in me4 ,sometimes the truth would hit me like a sudden smiting storm of rain2 and then there would be the clear sunshine after the rain4 ,all which was to teach me that ,,god will manifest ,himself in the soul of man after what manner and what measure it pleases ,him and as it seems good in ,his sight4' ,no human being knew all this time what ,jacob ,behmen was passing through1 and he never intended that any human being should know4 ,but1 with all his humility1 and all his love of obscurity1 he could not remain hidden4 ,just how it came about we are not fully told2 but1 long before his book was finished1 a nobleman in the neighbourhood1 who was deeply interested in the philosophy and the theology of that day1 somehow got hold of ,behmen's papers and had them copied out and spread abroad1 to ,behmen's great surprise and great distress4 ,copy after copy was stealthily made of ,behmen's manuscript1 till1 most unfortunately for both of them1 a copy came into the hands of ,behmen's parish minister4 ,but for that accident1 so to call it1 we would never have heard the name of ,,gregory ,,richter1 ,first ,minister of ,goerlitz1 nor could we have believed that any minister of ,,jesus ,,christ could have gone so absolutely mad with ignorance and envy and anger and ill-will4 ,the libel is still preserved that ,behmen's minister drew out against the author of ,aurora1 and the only thing it proves to us is this1 that its author must have been a dull-headed1 coarse-hearted1 foul-mouthed man4 ,richter's persecution of poor ,behmen caused ,behmen lifelong trouble2 but1 at the same time1 it served to advertise his genius to his generation1 and to manifest to all men the meekness1 the humility1 the docility1 and the love of peace of the persecuted man4 ',pastor-,primarius ,richter1' says a bishop of his own communion1 'was a man full of hierarchical arrogance and pride4 ,he had only the most outward apprehension of the dogmatics of his day1 and he was totally incapable of understanding ,jacob ,behmen4' ,but it is not for the limitations of his understanding that ,pastor ,richter stands before us so laden with blame4 ,the school is a small one still that1 after two centuries of study and prayer and a holy life1 can pretend to understand the whole of the ,aurora4 ,,william ,,law1 a man of the best understanding1 and of the humblest heart1 tells us that his first reading of ,behmen put him into a 'perfect sweat' of astonishment and awe4 ,no wonder1 then1 that a man of ,gregory ,richter's narrow mind and hard heart was thrown into such a sweat of prejudice and anger and ill-will4 ,i do not propose to take you down into the deep places where ,jacob ,behmen dwells and works4 ,and that for a very good reason4 ,for ,i have found no firm footing in those deep places for my own feet4 ,i wade in and in to the utmost of my ability1 and still there rise up above me1 and stretch out around me1 and sink down beneath me1 vast reaches of revelation and speculation1 attainment and experience1 before which ,i can only wonder and worship4 ,see ,jacob ,behmen working with his hands in his solitary stall1 when he is suddenly caught up into heaven till he beholds in enraptured vision ,the ,most ,high ,himself4 ,and then1 after that1 see him swept down to hell1 down to sin1 and down into the bottomless pit of the human heart4 ,jacob ,behmen1 almost more than any other man whatsoever1 is carried up till he moves like a holy angel or a glorified saint among things unseen and eternal4 ,jacob ,behmen is of the race of the seers1 and he stands out a very prince among them4 ,he is full of eyes1 and all his eyes are full of light4 ,it does not stagger me to hear his disciples calling him1 as ,,hegel does1 'a man of a mighty mind1' or1 as ,,law does1 'the illuminated ,behmen1' and 'the blessed ,behmen4' ',in speculative power1' says dry ,,dr4 ,,kurtz1 'and in poetic wealth1 exhibited with epic and dramatic effect1 ,behmen's system surpasses everything of the kind ever written4' ,some of his disciples have the hardihood to affirm indeed that even ,,isaac ,,newton ploughed with ,behmen's heifer1 but had not the boldness to acknowledge the debt4 ,i entirely accept it when his disciples assert it of their master that he had a privilege and a passport permitted him such as no mortal man has had the like since ,,john',s eyes closed upon his completed ,apocalypse4 ,after repeated and prolonged reading of ,behmen's amazing books1 nothing that has been said by his most ecstatic disciples about their adored master either astonishes or offends me4 ,dante himself does not beat such a soaring wing as ,behmen's2 and all the trumpets that sound in ,paradise ,lost do not swell my heart and chase its blood like ,jacob ,behmen's broken syllables about the ,fall4 ,i would not wonder to have it pointed out to me in the world to come that all that ,gichtel1 and ,st4 ,martin1 and ,hegel1 and ,law1 and ,walton1 and ,martensen1 and ,hartmann have said about ,jacob ,behmen and his visions of ,,god and ,nature and ,man were all but literally true4 ,no doubt1--nay1 the thing is certain1--that if you open ,jacob ,behmen anywhere as ,gregory ,richter opened the ,aurora2 if a new idea is a pain and a provocation to you2 if you have any prejudice in your heart for any reason against ,behmen2 if you dislike the sound of his name because some one you dislike has discovered him and praised him1 or because you do not yourself already know him and love him1 then1 no doubt1 you will find plenty in ,behmen at which to stumble1 and which will amply justify you in anything you wish to say against him4 ,but if you are a true student and a good man2 if you are an open-minded and a humble- minded man2 if you are prepared to sit at any man's feet who will engage to lead you a single step out of your ignorance and your evil2 if you open ,behmen with a predisposition to believe in him1 and with the expectation and the determination to get good out of him1--then1 in the measure of all that2 in the measure of your capacity of mind and your hospitality of heart2 in the measure of your humility1 seriousness1 patience1 teachableness1 hunger for truth1 hunger for righteousness1--in that measure you will find ,jacob ,behmen to be what ,,maurice tells us he found him to be1 'a generative thinker4' ,out of much you cannot understand1--wherever the blame for that may lie1--out of much slag and much dross1 ,i am mistaken if you will not lay up some of your finest gold2 and out of much straw and chaff some of the finest of the wheat4 ,the ,divine ,nature1 human nature1 time1 space1 matter1 life1 love1 sin1 death1 holiness1 heaven1 hell1--,behmen's reader must have lived and moved all his days among such things as these3 he must be at home1 as far as the mind of man can be at home1 among such things as these1 and then he will begin to understand ,behmen1 and will still strive better and better to understand him2 and1 where he does not as yet understand him1 he will set that down to his own inattention1 incapacity1 want of due preparation1 and want of the proper ripeness for such a study4 ,at the same time let all intending students of ,jacob ,behmen take warning that they will have to learn an absolutely new and an unheard-of language if they would speak with ,behmen and have ,behmen speak with them4 ,for ,behmen's books are written neither in ,german nor in ,english of any age or idiom1 but in the most original and uncouth ,behmenese4 ,like ,john ,bunyan1 but never with ,john ,bunyan's literary grace1 ,behmen will borrow1 now a ,latin word or phrase from his reading of learned authors1 or1 more often1 from the conversations of his learned friends2 and then he will take some astrological or alchemical expression of ,,agrippa1 or ,,paracelsus1 or some such outlaw1 and will1 as with his awl and rosin-end1 sew together a sentence1 and hammer together a page of the most incongruous and unheard- of phraseology1 till1 as we read ,behmen's earlier work especially1 we continually exclaim1 ,o for a chapter of ,john ,bunyan's clear1 and sweet1 and classical ,english6 ,the ,aurora was written in a language1 if writing and a language it can be called1 that had never been seen written or heard spoken before1 or has since1 on the face of the earth4 ,and as our students learn ,greek in order to read ,homer and ,plato and ,paul and ,john1 and ,latin in order to read ,virgil and ,tacitus1 and ,italian to read ,dante1 and ,german to read ,goethe1 so ,william ,law tells us that he learned ,behmen's ,behmenite ,high ,dutch1 and that too after he was an old man1 in order that he might completely master the ,aurora and its kindred books4 ,and as our schoolboys laugh and jeer at the outlandish sounds of ,greek and ,latin and ,german1 till they have learned to read and love the great authors who have written in those languages1 so ,,wesley1 and ,,southey1 and even ,,hallam himself1 jest and flout and call names at ,jacob ,behmen1 because they have not taken the trouble to learn his language1 to master his mind1 and to drink in his spirit4 ,at the same time1 and after all that has been said about ,behmen's barbarous style1 ,bishop ,martensen tells us how the readers of ,,schelling were surprised and enraptured by a wealth of new expressions and new turns of speech in their mother tongue4 ,but all these belonged to ,behmen1 or were fashioned on the model of his symbolical language4 ,as it is1 with all his astrology1 and all his alchemy1 and all his barbarities of form and expression1 ,i for one will always take sides with the author of ,the ,serious ,call1 and ,the ,spirit of ,prayer1 and ,the ,spirit of ,love1 and ,the ,way to ,divine ,knowledge1 in the disputed matter of ,jacob ,behmen's sanity and sanctity2 and ,i will continue to believe that if ,i had only had the scholarship1 and the intellect1 and the patience1 and the enterprise1 to have mastered1 through all their intricacies1 the ,behmenite grammar and the ,behmenite vocabulary1 ,i also would have found in ,behmen all that ,freher and ,pordage and ,law and ,walton found4 ,even in the short way into this great man that ,i have gone1 ,i have come upon such rare and rich mines of divine and eternal truth that ,i can easily believe that they who have dug deeper have come upon uncounted riches4 ',next to the ,scriptures1' writes ,william ,law1 'my only book is the illuminated ,behmen4 ,for the whole kingdom of grace and nature was opened in him4 ,in reading ,behmen ,i am always at home1 and kept close to the kingdom of ,,god that is within me4' ',i am not young1' said ,,claude ,,de ,,st4 ,,martin1 'being now near my fiftieth year1 nevertheless ,i have begun to learn ,german1 in order that ,i may read this incomparable author in his own tongue4 ,i have written some not unacceptable books myself1 but ,i am not worthy to unloose the shoestrings of this wonderful man4 ,i advise you to throw yourself into the depths of ,jacob ,behmen4 ,there is such a profundity and exaltation of truth in them1 and such a simple and delicious nutriment4' ,the ,town ,council of ,goerlitz1 hounded on by their ,minister1 sentenced ,behmen to be banished1 and interdicted him from ever writing any more4 ,but in sheer shame at what they had done they immediately recalled ,behmen from banishment2 only1 they insisted that he should confine himself to his shop1 and leave all writing of books alone4 ,behmen had no ambition to write any more1 and1 as a matter of fact1 he kept silence even to himself for seven whole years4 ,but as those years went on it came to be with him1 to use his own words1 as with so much grain that has been buried in the earth1 and which1 in spite of storms and tempests1 will1 out of its own life1 spring up1 and that even when reason says it is now winter1 and that all hope and all power is gone4 ,and thus it was that1 under the same instigation which had produced the ,aurora1 ,behmen at a rush wrote his very fine if very difficult book1 ,the ,three ,principles of the ,divine ,essence4 ,he calls ,the ,three ,principles his ,a ,b ,c1 and the easiest of all his books4 ,and ,william ,law recommends all beginners in ,behmen to read alone for some sufficient time the tenth and twelfth chapters of ,the ,three ,principles4 ,i shall let ,behmen describe the contents of his easiest book in his own words4 ',in this second book1' he says1 'there is declared what ,,god is1 what ,nature is1 what the creatures are1 what the love and meekness of ,,god are1 what ,,god',s will is1 what the wrath of ,,god is1 and what joy and sorrow are4 ,as also1 how all things took their beginning3 with the true difference between eternal and transitory creatures4 ,specially of man and his soul1 what the soul is1 and how it is an eternal creature4 ,also what heaven is1 wherein ,,god and the holy angels and holy men dwell1 and hell wherein the devils dwell3 and how all things were originally created and had their being4 ,in sum1 what the ,essence of all ,essences is4 ,and thus ,i commit my reader to the sweet love of ,,god4' ,the ,three ,principles1 according to ,,christopher ,,walton1 was the first book of ,behmen's that ,william ,law ever held in his hand4 ,that1 then1 was the title-page1 and those were the contents1 that threw that princely and saintly mind into such a sweat4 ,it was a great day for ,william ,law1 and through him it was1 and will yet be acknowledged to have been1 a great day for ,english theology when he chanced1 at an old bookstall1 upon ,the ,three ,principles1 ,englished by a ,barrister of the ,inner ,temple4 ,the picture of that bookstall that day is engraven in lines of light and love on the heart of every grateful reader of ,jacob ,behmen and of ,william ,law's later and richer and riper writings4 ,in three months after he had finished ,the ,three ,principles1 ,behmen had composed a companion treatise1 entitled ,the ,threefold ,life of ,man4 ,modest about himself as ,behmen always was1 he could not be wholly blind about his own incomparable books4 ,and he but spoke the simple truth about his third book when he said of it--as1 indeed1 he was constantly saying about all his books--that it will serve every reader just according to his constellation1 his inclination1 his disposition1 his complexion1 his profession1 and his whole condition4 ',you will be soon weary of all contentious books1' he wrote to ,,casper ,,lindern1 'if you entertain and get ,the ,threefold ,life of ,man into your mind and heart4' ',the subject of regeneration1' says ,christopher ,walton1 'is the pith and drift of all ,behmen's writings1 and the student may here be directed to begin his course of study by mastering the first eight chapters of ,the ,threefold ,life1 which appear to have been in great favour with ,mr4 ,law4' ,behmen's next book was a very extraordinary piece of work1 and it had a very extraordinary origin4 ,a certain ,,balthazar ,,walter1 who seems to have been a second ,paracelsus in his love of knowledge and in his lifelong pursuit of knowledge1 had1 like ,paracelsus1 travelled east1 and west1 and north1 and south in search of that ancient and occult wisdom of which so many men in that day dreamed4 ,but ,walter1 like his predecessor ,paracelsus1 had come home from his travels a humbler man1 a wiser man1 and a man more ready to learn and lay to heart the truth that some of his own countrymen could all the time have taught him4 ,on his return from the east1 ,walter found the name of ,jacob ,behmen in everybody's mouth2 and1 on introducing himself to that little shop in ,goerlitz out of which the ,aurora and ,the ,threefold ,life had come1 ,walter was wise enough to see and bold enough to confess that he had found a teacher and a friend there such as neither ,egypt nor ,india had provided him with4 ,after many immensely interested visits to ,jacob ,behmen's workshop1 ,walter was more than satisfied that ,behmen was all1 and more than all1 that his most devoted admirers had said he was4 ,and1 accordingly1 ,walter laid a plan so as to draw upon ,behmen's profound and original mind for a solution of some of the philosophical and theological problems that were agitating and dividing the learned men of that day4 ,with that view ,walter made a round of the leading universities of ,germany1 conversed with the professors and students1 collected a long list of the questions that were being debated in that day in those seats of learning1 and sent the list to ,behmen1 asking him to give his mind to them and try to answer them4 ',beloved sir1' wrote ,behmen1 after three months' meditation and prayer1 'and my good friend3 it is impossible for the mind and reason of man to answer all the questions you have put to me4 ,all those things are known to ,,god alone4 ,but1 that no man may boast1 ,he sometimes makes use of very mean men to make known ,his truth1 that it may be seen and acknowledged to come from ,his own hand alone4' ,it is told that when ,charles the ,first read the ,english translation of ,behmen's answers to the ,forty ,questions1 he wrote to the publisher that if ,jacob ,behmen was no scholar1 then the ,holy ,ghost was still with men2 and1 if he was a learned man1 then his book was one of the best inventions that had ever been written4 ,the ,forty ,questions ran through many editions both on the ,continent and in ,england1 and it was this book that gained for ,jacob ,behmen the denomination of the ,teutonic ,philosopher1 a name by which he is distinguished among authors to this day4 ,the following are some of the university questions that ,balthazar ,walter took down and sent to ,jacob ,behmen for his answer3 ',what is the soul of man in its innermost essence1 and how is it created1 soul by soul1 in the image of ,,god8 ,is the soul propagated from father to son like the body8 or is it every time new created and breathed in from ,,god8 ,how comes original sin into each several soul8 ,how does the soul of the saint feed and grow upon the word of ,,god8 ,whence comes the deadly contrariety between the flesh and the spirit8 ,whither goes the soul when it at death departs from the body8 ,in what does its rest1 its awakening1 and its glorification consist8 ,what kind of body shall the glorified body be8 ,the soul and spirit of ,,christ1 what are they8 and are they the same as ours8 ,what and where is ,paradise8' ,through a hundred and fourteen large quarto pages ,behmen's astonishing answers to the forty questions run2 after which he adds this3 ',thus1 my beloved friend1 we have set down1 according to our gifts1 a round answer to your questions1 and we exhort you as a brother not to despise us4 ,for we are not born of art1 but of simplicity4 ,we acknowledge all who love such knowledge as our brethren in ,,christ1 with whom we hope to rejoice eternally in the heavenly school4 ,for our best knowledge here is but in part1 but when we shall attain to perfection1 then we shall see what ,,god is1 and what ,he can do4 ,amen4' ,a ,treatise of the ,incarnation of the ,son of ,god comes next1 and then we have three smaller works written to clear up and to establish several difficult and disputed matters in it and in some of his former works4 ,to write on the ,incarnation of the ,son of ,,god would need1 says ,behmen1 an angel's pen2 but his defence is that his is better than any angel's pen1 because it is the pen of a sinner's love4 ,the year #afba saw one of ,behmen's most original and most powerful books finished1--the ,signatura ,rerum4 ,in this remarkable book ,behmen teaches us that all things have two worlds in which they live1--an inward world and an outward4 ,all created things have an inner and an invisible essence1 and an outer and a visible form4 ,and the outward form is always more or less the key to the inward character4 ,this whole world that we see around us1 and of which we ourselves are the soul1--it is all a symbol1 a 'signature1' of an invisible world4 ,this deep principle runs through the whole of creation4 ,the ,creator went upon this principle in all ,his work2 and the thoughtful mind can see that principle coming out in all ,his work1--in plants1 and trees1 and beasts4 ,as ,german ,boehme never cared for plants ,until it happed1 a-walking in the fields1 ,he noticed all at once that plants could speak1 ,nay1 turned with loosened tongue to talk with him4 ,that day the daisy had an eye indeed-- ,colloquized with the cowslips on such themes6 ,we find them extant yet in ,jacob's prose4 ,but1 best of all1 this principle comes out clearest in the speech1 behaviour1 features1 and face of a man4 ,every day men are signing themselves from within4 ,every act they perform1 every word they speak1 every wish they entertain1--it all comes out and is fixed for ever in their character1 and even in their appearance4 ',therefore1' says ,behmen in the beginning of his book1 'the greatest understanding lies in the signature4 ,for by the external form of all creatures2 by their voice and action1 as well as by their instigation1 inclination1 and desire1 their hidden spirit is made known4 ,for ,nature has given to everything its own language according to its innermost essence4 ,and this is the language of ,nature1 in which everything continually speaks1 manifests1 and declares itself for what it is1--so much so1 that all that is spoken or written even about ,,god1 however true1 if the writer or speaker has not the ,divine ,nature within himself1 then all he says is dumb to me2 he has not got the hammer in his hand that can strike my bell4' ,the ,way to ,christ was ,behmen's next book1 and in the four precious treatises that compose that book our author takes an altogether new departure4 ,in his ,aurora1 in ,the ,three ,principles1 in the ,forty ,questions1 and in the ,signatura ,rerum1 ,jacob ,behmen has been writing for philosophers and theologians4 ,or1 if in all these works he has been writing for a memorial to himself in the first place1--even then1 it has been for himself on the philosophical and theological side of his own mind4 ,but in ,the ,way to ,christ he writes for himself under that character which1 once taken up by ,jacob ,behmen1 is never for one day laid down4 ,behmen's favourite ,scripture1 after our ,lord's promise of the ,holy ,spirit to them that ask for ,him1 was the parable of the ,prodigal ,son4 ,in all his books ,behmen is that son1 covered with wounds and bruises and putrefying sores1 but at last beginning to come to himself and to return to his ,father4 ,the ,way to ,christ is a production of the very greatest depth and strength1 but it is the depth and the strength of the heart and the conscience rather than the depth and the strength of the understanding and the imagination4 ,this nobly evangelical book is made up of four tracts1 entitled respectively1 ,of ,true ,repentance1 ,of ,true ,resignation1 ,of ,regeneration1 and ,of the ,supersensual ,life4 ,and a deep vein of autobiographic life and interest runs through the four tracts and binds them into a quick unity4 ',a soldier1' says ,behmen1 'who has been in the wars can best tell another soldier how to fight4' ,and neither ,augustine nor ,luther nor ,bunyan carries deeper wounds1 or broader scars1 nor tells a nobler story in any of their autobiographic and soldierly books than ,behmen does in his ,way to ,christ4 ,at the commencement of ,the ,true ,repentance he promises us that he will write of a process or way on which he himself has gone4 ',the author herewith giveth thee the best jewel that he hath4' ,and a true jewel it is1 as the present speaker will testify4 ,if ,the ,true ,repentance has a fault at all it is the fault of ,rutherford's ,letters4 ,for the taste of some of his readers ,behmen1 like ,rutherford1 draws rather too much on the language and the figures of the married life in setting forth the love of ,,christ to the espoused soul1 and the love of the espoused soul to ,,christ4 ,but with that1 and all its other drawbacks1 ,the ,true ,repentance is such a treatise that1 once discovered by the proper reader1 it will be the happy discoverer's constant companion all his earthly and penitential days4 ,as the ,english reader is carried on through the fourth tract1 ,the ,supersensual ,life1 he experiences a new and an increasing sense of ease and pleasure1 combined with a mystic height and depth and inwardness all but new to him even in ,behmen's books4 ,the new height and depth and inwardness are all ,jacob ,behmen's own2 but the freedom and the ease and the movement and the melody are all ,william ,law's4 ,in his preparations for a new edition of ,behmen in ,english1 ,william ,law had re-translated and paraphrased ,the ,supersensual ,life1 and the editor of the #agha edition of ,behmen's works has incorporated ,law's beautiful rendering of that tract in room of ,,john ,,sparrow',s excellent but rather too antique rendering4 ,we are in ,john ,sparrow's everlasting debt for the immense labour he laid out on ,behmen1 as well as for his own deep piety and personal worth4 ,but it was service enough and honour enough for ,sparrow to have ,englished ,jacob ,behmen at all for his fellow-countrymen1 even if he was not able to ,english him as ,william ,law would have done4 ,but take ,behmen and ,law together1 as they meet together in ,the ,supersensual ,life1 and not ,a ,kempis himself comes near them even in his own proper field1 or in his immense service in that field4 ,there is all the reality1 inwardness1 and spirituality of ,the ,imitation in ,the ,supersensual ,life1 together with a sweep of imagination1 and a grasp of understanding1 as well as with both a sweetness and a bitterness of heart that even ,a ,kempis never comes near4 ,the ,supersensual ,life of ,jacob ,behmen1 in the ,english of ,william ,law1 is a superb piece of spiritual work1 and a treasure-house of masculine ,english4 7,if ,christopher ,walton is right1 we must read ',lee' for ',law' in this passage4 ,if ,walton is right1 then there was a master of ,english in those days we had not before been told of47 ,a ,treatise of the ,four ,complexions1 or ,a ,consolatory ,instruction for a ,sad and ,assaulted ,heart1 was ,behmen's next book4 ,the four complexions are the four temperaments--the choleric1 the sanguine1 the phlegmatic1 and the melancholy4 ,behmen's treatise has been well described by ,walton as containing the philosophy of temptation2 and by ,martensen as displaying a most profound knowledge of the human heart4 ,behmen sets about his task as a ductor dubitantium in a masterly manner4 ,he takes in hand the comfort and direction of sin-distressed souls in a characteristically deep1 inward1 and thorough-going way4 ,the book is full of ,behmen's observation of men4 ,it is the outcome of a close and long-continued study of character and conduct4 ,every page of ,the ,four ,complexions gleams with a keen but tender and wistful insight into our poor human nature4 ,as his customers came and gave their orders in his shop2 as his neighbours collected1 and gossiped1 and debated1 and quarrelled around his shop window2 as his minister fumed and raged against him in the pulpit2 as the ,council of ,goerlitz sat and swayed1 passed sentence upon him1 retracted their sentence1 and again gave way under the pressure of their minister1 and pronounced another sentence1--all this time ,behmen was having poor human nature1 to all its joints and marrow1 and to all the thoughts and instincts of its heart1 laid naked and open before him1 both in other men and in himself4 ,and then1 as always with ,behmen1 all this observation of men1 all this discovery and self-discovery1 ran up into philosophy1 into theology1 into personal and evangelical religion4 ,in all that ,behmen better and better saw the original plan1 constitution1 and operation of human nature2 its aboriginal catastrophe2 its weakness and openness to all evil2 and its need of constant care1 protection1 instruction1 watchfulness1 and ,divine help4 ,behmen writes on all the four temperaments with the profoundest insight1 and with the fullest sympathy2 but over the last of the four he exclaims3 ',o hear me6 for ,i know well myself what melancholy is6 ,i also have lodged all my days in the melancholy inn6' ,as ,i read that light and elastic book published the other day1 ,the ,life and ,letters of ,erasmus1 ,i came on this sentence1 ',erasmus1 like all men of real genius1 had a light and elastic nature4' ,when ,i read that1 ,i could not believe my eyes4 ,i had been used to think of light and elastic natures as being the antipodes of natures of real genius4 ,and as ,i stopped my reading for a little1 a procession of men of real and indisputable genius passed before me1 who had all lodged with ,behmen in the melancholy inn4 ,till ,i remembered that far deeper and far truer saying1 that 'simply to say man at all is to say melancholy4' ,no3 with all respect1 the real fact is surely as near as possible the exact opposite4 ,a light1 elastic1 ,erasmus- like nature1 is the exception among men of real genius4 ,at any rate1 ,jacob ,behmen was the exact opposite of ,erasmus1 and of all such light and elastic men4 ,melancholy was ,jacob ,behmen's special temperament and peculiar complexion4 ,he had long studied1 and watched1 and wrestled with1 and prayed over that complexion at home4 ,and thus it is1 no doubt1 that he is so full1 and so clear1 and so sure-footed1 and so impressive1 and so full of fellow-feeling in his treatment of this special complexion4 ,behmen's greatest disciple has assimilated his master's teaching in this matter of complexion also1 and has given it out again in his own clear1 plain1 powerful1 classical manner1 especially in his treatise on ,christian ,regeneration4 ,let all preachers and pastors who would master the rationale of temptation1 and who would ground their directions and their comforts to their people in the nature of things1 as well as in the word of ,,god1 make ,jacob ,behmen and ,william ,law and ,prebendary ,clark their constant study4 ',i write for no other purpose1' says ,behmen1 'than that men may learn how to know themselves4 ,seek the noble knowledge of thyself4 ,seek it and you will find a heavenly treasure which will not be eaten by moths1 and which no thief shall ever take away4' ,i shall not attempt to enter on the thorny thicket of ,jacob ,behmen's polemical and apologetical works4 ,i shall not even load your mind with their unhappy titles4 ,his five apologies occupy in bulk somewhere about a tenth part of his five quarto volumes4 ,and full as his apologies and defences are of autobiographic material1 as well as of valuable expansions and explanations of his other books1 yet at their best they are all controversial and combative in their cast and complexion2 and1 nobly as ,behmen has written on the subject of controversy1 it was not given even to him1 amid all the misunderstandings1 misrepresentations1 injuries1 and insults he suffered from1 always to write what we are glad and proud and the better to read4 ,about his next book ,behmen thus writes3 ',upon the desire of some high persons with whom ,i did converse in the ,christmas holidays1 ,i have written a pretty large treatise upon ,election1 in which ,i have done my best to determine that subject upon the deepest grounds4 ,and ,i hope that the same may put an end to many contentions and controversies1 especially of some points betwixt the ,lutherans and ,calvinists1 for ,i have taken the texts of ,holy ,scripture which speak of ,,god',s will to harden sinners1 and then1 again1 of ,his unwillingness to harden1 and have so tuned and harmonised them that the right understanding and meaning of the same may be seen4' ',this author1' says ,john ,sparrow1 'disputes not at all4 ,he desires only to confer and offer his understanding of the ,scriptures on both sides1 answering reason's objections1 and manifesting the truth for the conjoining1 uniting1 and reconciling of all parties in love4' ,and that he has not been wholly unsuccessful we may believe when we hear one of ,behmen's ablest commentators writing of his ,election as 'a superlatively helpful book1' and again1 as a 'profoundly instructive treatise4' ,the workman-like way in which ,behmen sets about his treatment of the ,election of ,grace1 commonly called ,predestination1 will be seen from the titles of some of his chapters4 ,chap4 i4 ,what the ,one ,only ,,god is4 ,chap4 ii4 ,concerning ,,god',s ,eternal ,speaking ,word4 ,chap4 v4 ,of the ,origin of ,man2 ,chap4 vi4 ,of the ,fall of ,man4 ,chap4 viii4 ,of the sayings of ,scripture1 and how they oppose one another4 ,chap4 ix4 ,clearing the ,right ,understanding of such ,scriptures4 ,chap4 xiii4 ,a ,conclusion upon all those ,questions4 ,and then1 true to his constant manner1 as if wholly dissatisfied with the result of all his labour in things and in places too deep both for writer and reader1 he gave all the next day after he had finished his ,election to an ,appendix on ,repentance1 in order to making his own and his reader's calling and election sure4 ,and it may safely be said that1 than that day's work1 than those four quarto pages1 not ,augustine1 not ,luther1 not ,bunyan1 not ,baxter1 not ,shepard has ever written anything of more evangelical depth1 and strength1 and passion1 and pathos4 ,it is truly a splendid day's work6 ,but it might not have been possible even for ,behmen to perform that day's work had he not for months beforehand been dealing day and night with the deepest and the most heart-searching things both of ,,god and man4 ,what a man was ,jacob ,behmen1 and chosen to what a service6 ,at work all that day in his solitary stall1 and then all the night after over his rush-light writing for a memorial to himself and to us his incomparable ,compendium of ,repentance4 ,in a letter addressed to one of the nobility in ,silesia1 and dated ,february #ai1 #afbc1 ,behmen says3 ',when you have leisure to study ,i shall send you something still more deep1 for ,i have written this whole autumn and winter without ceasing4' ,and if he had written nothing else but his great book entitled ,mysterium ,magnum that autumn and winter1 he must have written night and day and done nothing else4 ,even in size the ,mysterium is an immense piece of work4 ,in the ,english edition it occupies the whole of the third quarto volume of #ejg pages2 and then for its matter it is a still more amazing production4 ,to say that the ,mysterium ,magnum is a mystical and allegorical commentary upon the ,book of ,genesis is to say nothing4 ,philo himself is a tyro and a timid interpreter beside ,jacob ,behmen4 ',which things are an allegory1' says the ,apostle1 after a passing reference to ,sarah and ,hagar and ,isaac and ,ishmael2 but if you would see actually every syllable of ,genesis allegorised1 spiritualised1 interpreted of ,,christ1 and of the ,new ,testament1 from the first verse of its first chapter to the last verse of its last chapter1 like the nobleman of ,silesia1 when you have leisure1 read ,behmen's deep ,mysterium ,magnum4 ,i would recommend the enterprising and unconquerable student to make leisure so as to master ,behmen's ,preface to the ,mysterium ,magnum at the very least4 ,and if he does that1 and is not drawn on from that to be a student of ,behmen for the rest of his days1 then1 whatever else his proper field in life may be1 it is not mystical or philosophical theology4 ,it is a long step both in time and in thought from ,behmen to ,,schopenhauer2 but1 speaking of one of ,schelling's books1 ,schopenhauer says that it is all taken from ,jacob ,behmen's ,mysterium ,magnum2 every thought and almost every word of ,schelling's work leads ,schopenhauer to think of ,behmen4 ',when ,i read ,behmen's book1' says ,schopenhauer1 ',i cannot withhold either admiration or emotion4' ,at his far too early death ,behmen left four treatises behind him in an unfinished condition4 ,the ,theoscopia1 or ,divine ,vision1 is but a fragment2 but1 even so1 the study of that fragment leads us to believe that1 had ,behmen lived to the ordinary limit of human life1 and had his mind continued to grow as it was now fast growing in clearness1 in concentration1 and in simplicity1 ,behmen would have left to us not a few books as classical in their form as all his books are classical in their substance2 in their originality1 in their truth1 in their depth1 and in their strength4 ,as it is1 the unfinished1 the scarcely-begun1 ,theoscopia only serves to show the student of what a treasure he has been bereft by ,behmen's too early death4 ,as ,i read and re-read the ,theoscopia ,i felt the full truth and force of ,hegel's generous words1 that ,german philosophy began with ,behmen4 ,this is both ,german and ,christian philosophy1 ,i said to myself as ,i revelled in the ,theoscopia4 ,let the serious student listen to the titles of some of the chapters of the ,theoscopia1 and then let him say what he would not have given to have got such a book from such a pen in its completed shape3 ',what ,,god is1 and how we men shall know the ,divine ,substance by the ,divine ,revelation4 ,why it sometimes seems as if there were no ,,god1 and as if all things went in the world by chance4 ,why ,,god1 who is ,love itself1 permits an evil will contrary to ,his own4 ,the reason and the profit1 why evil should be found along with good4 ,of the mind of man1 and how it is the image of ,,god1 and how it can still be filled with ,god4 ,why this ,temporal ,universe is created2 to what it is profitable2 and how ,god is so near unto all things'3 and so on4 ',but no amount of quotation1' says ,mrs4 ,penney1 that very able student of ,behmen1 lately deceased1 'can give an adequate glimpse of the light which streams from the ,theoscopia when long and patiently studied4' ,another unfinished fragment that ,behmen's readers seek for and treasure up like very sand of gold is his ,holy ,week4 ,this little work1 its author tells us1 was undertaken upon the entreaty and desire of some loving and good friends of his for the daily exercise of true religion in their hearts and in the little church of their families4 ,the following is ,behmen's method of prayer for ,monday1 which is the only day's prayer he got finished before his death3 ',a short prayer when we awake early and before we rise4 ,a prayer and thanksgiving after we are risen4 ,a prayer while we wash and dress4 ,a prayer when we begin to work at our calling4 ,a prayer at noon4 ,a prayer toward evening4 ,a prayer when we undress4 ,a prayer of thanks for the bitter passion and dying of ,,jesus ,,christ4' ,what does the man mean8 many of his contemporaries who came upon his ,holy ,week would say1 ,what does the madman mean8 ,would he have us pray all day8 ,would he have us pray and do nothing else8 ,yes2 it would almost seem so4 ,for in his ,supersensual ,life the ,master says to the disciple who has asked1 ',how shall ,i be able to live aright amid all the anxiety and tribulation of this world8'3 ',if thou dost once every hour throw thyself by faith beyond all creatures into the abysmal mercy of ,,god1 into the sufferings of ,,christ1 and into the fellowship of ,his intercession1 then thou shalt receive power from above to rule over the world1 and death1 and the devil1 and hell itself4' ,and again1 ',o thou of little courage1 if thy will could but break itself off every half-hour from all creatures1 and plunge itself into that where no creature is or can be1 presently it would be penetrated with the splendour of the ,divine glory1 and would taste a sweetness no tongue can express4 ,then thou wouldst love thy cross more than all the glory and all the goods of this world4' ,the author had begun a series of reflections and meditations on the ,ten ,commandments for devotional use on ,tuesday1 but got no further than the ,fifth4 ,behmen is so deep and so original in his purely philosophical1 theological1 and speculative books1 that in many places we can only stand back and wonder at the man4 ,but in his ,holy ,week ,behmen kneels down beside us4 ,not but that his characteristic depth is present in his prayers also2 but we all know something of the nature1 the manner1 and the blessedness of prayer1 and thus it is that we are so much more at home with ,behmen1 the prodigal son1 than we are with ,behmen1 the theosophical theologian4 ,when ,behmen begins to teach us to pray1 and when the lesson comes to us out of his own closet1 then we are able to see in a nearer light something of the originality1 the greatness1 the strength1 and the true and genuine piety of the philosopher and the theologian4 ,when ,behmen's philosophy and theology become penitence1 prayer1 and praise1 then by their fruits we know how good his philosophy and his theology must be1 away down in their deepest and most hidden nature4 ,i agree with ,walton that those prayers are full of unction and instruction1 and that some of them are of the 'highest magnetical power'2 and that1 as rendered into modern phraseology1 they are most beautiful devotional compositions1 and very models of all that a divinely illuminated mind would address to ,,god and ,,christ4 ,for myself1 immediately after the ,psalms of ,david ,i put ,jacob ,behmen's ,holy ,week and the prayers scattered up and down through his ,true ,repentance1 and beside ,behmen ,i put ,bishop ,andrewes' ,private ,devotions4 ,i have discovered no helps to my own devotional life for a moment to set beside ,behmen and ,andrewes4 ,a ,treatise on ,baptism and the ,lord's ,supper2 ,a ,key to the ,principal ,points and ,expressions in the ,author's ,writings2 and then a most valuable volume of letters--,epistolae ,theosophicae--complete the extraordinarily rich bibliography of the illuminated and blessed ,jacob ,behmen4 ,though there is a great deal of needless and wearisome repetition in ,jacob ,behmen's writings1 at the same time there is scarcely a single subject in the whole range of theology on which he does not throw a new1 an intense1 and a brilliant light4 ,in his absolutely original and magnificent doctrine of ,,god1 while all the time loyally true to it1 ,behmen has confessedly transcended the theology of both the ,latin and the ,reformed ,churches2 and1 absolutely unlettered man though he is1 has taken his stand at the very head of the great ,greek theologians4 ,the ,reformers concentrated their criticism upon the anthropology and soteriology of the ,church of ,rome1 and especially upon the discipline and worship connected therewith4 ,they saw no need for recasting any of the more fundamental positions of pure theology4 ,and while ,jacob ,behmen1 broadly speaking1 accepts as his own confession of faith all that ,luther and ,calvin and their colleagues taught on sin and salvation1 on the corruption and guilt of sinners1 and on the redeeming work of our ,,lord1 he rises far above the greatest and best of his teachers in his doctrine of the ,,godhead4 ,not only does he rise far higher in that doctrine than either ,rome or ,geneva1 he rises far higher and sounds far deeper than either ,antioch1 or ,alexandria1 or ,nicomedia1 or ,nice4 ,on this profound point ,bishop ,martensen has an excellent appreciation of ,behmen4 ,after what ,i have taken upon me to say about ,behmen1 the learned ,bishop's authoritative passage must be quoted3--',if we compare ,behmen's doctrine of the ,trinity1' says the learned and evangelical ,bishop1 'with that which is contained in the otherwise so admirable ,athanasian ,creed1 the latter but displays to us a most abstruse metaphysic2 a ,,god for mere thought1 and in whom there is nothing sympathetic for the heart of man4 ,behmen1 on the contrary1 reveals to us the ,,living ,,god1 the ,,god of ,goodness1 the ,eternal ,love1 of which there is absolutely no hint whatever in the hard ,athanasian symbol4 ,by this attitude of his to the affections of the human heart1 ,behmen's doctrine of the ,trinity is in close coherence with the ,reformation1 and with its evangelical churches4 4 4 4 ,behmen is anxious to state a conception of ,,god that will fill the hiatus between the theological and anthropological sides of the dogmatical development which was bequeathed by the ,reformation2 he seeks to unite the theological and the anthropological4 4 4 4 ,from careful study of ,behmen's theology1' continues ,bishop ,martensen1 'one gains a prevailing impression that ,behmen's ,,god is1 in ,his inmost ,being1 most kindred to man1 even as man in his inmost being is still kindred to ,,god4 ,and1 besides1 we recognise in ,behmen throughout the pulse-beat of a believing man1 who is in all his books supremely anxious about his own salvation and that of his fellow-men4' ,now1 it is just this super-confessional element in ,behmen1 both on his speculative and on his practical side1 taken along with the immediate and intensely practical bearing of all his speculations1 it is just this that is ,behmen's true and genuine distinction1 his shining and unshared glory4 ,and it is out of that supreme1 solitary1 and wholly untrodden field of ,behmen's super-confessional theology that all that is essential1 characteristic1 distinctive1 and fruitful in ,behmen really and originally springs4 ,the distinctions he takes within1 and around1 and immediately beneath the ,godhead1 are of themselves full of the noblest light4 ,the ,divine ,nature1 ,eternal ,nature1 ,temporal ,nature1 ,human ,nature1 when evolved out of one another1 and when related to one another1 as ,behmen sees them evolved and related1 are categories of the clearest1 surest1 most necessary1 and most intensely instructive kind4 ,and if the height and the depth1 the massiveness1 the stupendousness1 and the grandeur1 as well as the sweetness1 and the beauty1 and the warmth1 and the fruitfulness of a doctrine of ,,god is any argument or evidence of its truth1 then ,behmen's magnificent doctrine of the ,,godhead is surely proved to demonstration and delight4 ,,god is the ,essence of all ,essences to ,behmen4 ,,god is the deepest ,ground1 the living and the life-giving ,root of all existence4 ,at the same time1 the ,divine ,nature is so ,divine2 ,it is so high and so deep2 ,it is so unlike all that is not ,itself2 ,it is so beyond and above all language1 and all thought1 and all imagination of man or angel1 that universe after universe have had to come into existence1 and have had to be filled1 each successive universe after its own kind1 with all the fulness of ,,god1 before that universe of which we form a part1 and to which our utmost imagination is confined1 could have come into existence1 and into recognition of itself4 ,behmen's ,eternal ,nature must never be taken for the ,eternal ,,god4 ,the ,divine ,nature1 the ,eternal ,godhead1 exists in the ,father1 in the ,son1 and in the ,holy ,ghost2 and then1 after the ,eternal ,generation of the ,son1 and the ,eternal ,procession of the ,holy ,ghost1 there comes up in order of existence ,eternal ,nature4 ,eternal ,nature is not the ,divine ,nature1 but it is as near to the ,divine ,nature in its qualities and in its powers as any created thing can ever by any possibility be4 ,now1 if we are still to follow ,behmen1 we must not let ourselves indolently think of the production of ,eternal ,nature as a divine act done and completed in any past either of time or of eternity4 ,there is neither past nor future where we are now walking with ,behmen4 ,there is only an everlasting present where he is now leading us4 ,for1 as ,,god the ,father generates the ,son eternally and continually2 and as the ,holy ,ghost proceeds from the ,father and the ,son eternally and continually1 so ,,god the ,word eternally and continually says1 ',let this ,beginning of all things be1 and let it continue to be4' ,and1 as ,he speaks1 ,his ,word awakens the ever-dawning morning of the ever new-created day4 ,and ,he beholds ,eternal ,nature continually rising up before ,him1 and ,he pronounces it very good4 ,the ,creator so transcends the creation1 and1 especially1 that late and remote creation of which we are a part1 that1 as the ,creator's first step out of ,himself1 and as a step towards our creation1 is ,his creation1 generation1 or other production of a nature or universe that shall be capable of receiving immediately into itself all that of the ,creator that ,he has purposed to reveal and to communicate to creatures1--a nature or universe which shall at the same time be itself the beginning of creation1 and the source1 spring1 and quarry out of which all that shall afterwards come can be constructed4 ,eternal ,nature is thus the great storehouse and workshop in which all the created essences1 elements1 principles1 and potentialities of all possible worlds are laid up4 ,here is the great treasury and laboratory into which the ,filial ,word enters1 when by ,him ,,god creates1 sustains1 and perfects the worlds1 universe after universe4 ,here1 says ,behmen1 is the great and universal treasury of that heavenly clay of which all things1 even to angels and men1 are made2 and here is the eternal turning-wheel with which they are all framed and fashioned4 ,eternal ,nature is an invisible essence1 and it is the essential ground out of which all the visible and invisible worlds are made4 ,for the things which are seen were not made of things which do appear4 ,in that radiant original universe also all the thoughts of ,,god which were to usward from everlasting1 all the ,divine ideas1 patterns1 and plans of things1 are laid open1 displayed1 copied out and sealed up for future worlds to see carried out4 ',through this ,kingdom of ,heaven1 or ,eternal ,nature1' says ,william ,law1 in his ,appeal to all that ,doubt1 'is the invisible ,,god eternally breaking forth and manifesting ,himself in a boundless height and depth of blissful wonders1 opening and displaying ,himself to all ,his heavenly creatures in an infinite variety and an endless multiplicity of ,his powers1 beauties1 joys1 and glories4 ,so that all the inhabitants of heaven are for ever knowing1 seeing1 hearing1 feeling1 and variously enjoying all that is great1 amiable1 infinite1 and gracious in the ,divine ,nature4' ,and again1 in his ,way to ,divine ,knowledge3 ',out of this transcendent ,eternal ,nature1 which is as universal and immense as the ,godhead itself1 do all the highest beings1 cherubims and seraphims1 all the hosts of angels1 and all intelligent spirits1 receive their birth1 existence1 substance1 and form4 ,and they are one and united in one1 ,,god in them1 and they in ,,god1 according to the prayer of ,,christ for ,his disciples1 that they1 and ,he1 and ,his ,holy ,father might be united in one4' ,a little philosophy1 especially when the philosopher does not yet know the plague of his own heart1 tends1 indeed1 to doubt and unbelief in the word of ,,god and in the work of ,,christ4 ,but the philosophy of ,behmen and ,law will deepen the mind and subdue the heart of the student till he is made a prodigal son1 a humble believer1 and a profound philosopher1 both in nature and in grace1 like his profound masters4 ,behmen's teaching on human nature1 his doctrine of the heart of man1 and of the image of ,,god in the heart of man1 has a greatness about it that marks it off as being peculiarly ,behmen's own doctrine4 ,he agrees with the catechisms and the creeds in their teaching that the heart of man was at first like the heart of ,,god in knowledge1 righteousness1 and true holiness4 ,but ,behmen is above and beyond the catechisms in this also1 in the way that he sees the heart of man still opening in upon the ,divine ,nature1 as also upon ,eternal and ,temporal ,nature1 somewhat as the heart of ,,god opens on all that ,he has made4 ,on every page of his1 wherever you happen to open him1 ,behmen is found teaching that ,,god and ,,christ1 heaven and hell1 life and death1 are in every several human heart4 ,heaven and all that it contains is every day either being quenched and killed in every human heart1 or it is being anew generated1 rekindled1 and accepted there2 and in like manner hell4 ',yea1' he is bold to exclaim1 ',,god ,himself is so near thee that the geniture of the ,holy ,trinity is continually being wrought in thy heart4 ,yea1 all the ,three ,persons are generated for thee in thy heart4' ,and1 again3 ',,god is in thy dark heart4 ,knock1 and ,he shall come out within thee into the light4 ,the ,holy ,ghost holds the key of thy dark heart4 ,ask1 and ,he shall be given to thee within thee4 ,do not let any sophister teach thee that thy ,,god is far aloft from thee as the stars are4 ,only offer at this moment to ,,god thine heart1 and ,,christ1 the ,son of ,,god1 will be born and formed within thee4 ,and then thou art ,his brother1 ,his flesh1 and ,his spirit4 ,thou also art a child of ,his ,father4 ,,god is in thee4 ,power1 might1 majesty1 heaven1 paradise1 elements1 stars1 the whole earth--all is thine4 ,thou art in ,,christ over hell1 and all that it contains4' ',behmen's speculation1' ,martensen is always reminding us1 'streams forth from the deepest practical inspiration4 ,his speculations are all saturated with a constant reference to salvation4 ,his whole metaphysic is pervaded by practical applications4' ,and conspicuously so1 we may here point out1 is his metaphysic of ,,god and of the heart of man4 ,the immanence of ,,god1 as theologians and philosophers call it2 the indwelling of ,,god1 as the psalmists and the apostles and the saints call it2 the ,divine ,word lightening every man that comes into the world1 as ,john has it1--of the practical and personal bearings of all that ,behmen's every book is full4 ,dost thou not see it and feel it8 he continually calls to his readers4 ,heaven1 be sure1 is in every holy man1 and hell in every bad man4 ,when thou dost work together with ,,god then thou art in heaven1 and thy soul dwells in ,,god4 ,in like manner1 also1 thou art in hell and among the devils when thou art in any envy1 malice1 anger1 or ill-will4 ,thou needest not to ask where is heaven or where is hell4 ,both are within thee1 even in thy heart4 ,now1 then1 when thou prayest1 pray in that heaven that is within thee1 and there the ,holy ,ghost shall meet with thee and will help thee1 and thy soul shall be the whole of heaven within thee4 ,it is a fundamental doctrine of ,behmen's that the fall would have been immediate and eternal death to ,adam and ,eve had not the ,divine ,word1 the ,seed of the woman1 entered their hearts1 and kept a footing in their hearts1 and in the hearts of all their children1 against the fulness of time when ,he would take our flesh and work out our redemption4 ,and thus it is that ,behmen appeals to all his readers1 that if they will only go down deep enough into their own hearts--then1 there1 down there1 deeper than indwelling sin1 deeper than original sin1 deep down and seated in the very substance and centre of their souls--they will come upon secret and unexpected seeds of the ,divine ,life4 ,seeds1 blades1 buddings1 and new beginnings of the very life of ,,god the ,son1 in their deepest souls4 ,secret and small1 ,behmen exclaims1 as those seeds of ,eden are1 despise them not2 destroy them not1 for a blessing for thee is in them4 ,water those secret seeds1 sun them1 dig about them1 and they will grow up in you also4 ,the ,divine ,life is in you1 quench it not1 for it is of ,,god4 ,nay1 it is ,,god ,himself in you4 ,it depends upon yourself whether or no that which is at this moment the smallest of all seeds is yet to become in you the greatest and the most fruitful of all trees4 ',man never knows how anthropomorphic he is1' is a characteristic saying of a fellow-countryman of ,behmen's4 ,and ,behmen's super-confessional and almost super-scriptural treatment of that frequent scriptural anthropomorphism1--'unavoidable and yet intolerable1'--the wrath of ,,god1 must be left by me in ,behmen's own bold pages4 ,strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age1 even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil4 ,behmen's philosophical1 theological1 and experimental doctrine of sin also1 with one example1 must be wholly passed by4 ',if all trees were clerks1' he exclaims in one place1 'and all their branches pens1 and all the hills books1 and all the water ink1 yet all would not sufficiently declare the evil that sin hath done4 ,for sin has made this house of heavenly light to be a den of darkness2 this house of joy to be a house of mourning1 lamentation1 and woe2 this house of all refreshment to be full of hunger and thirst2 this abode of love to be a prison of enmity and ill-will2 this seat of meekness to be the haunt of pride and rage and malice4 ,for laughter sin has brought horror2 for munificence1 beggary2 and for heaven1 hell4 ,oh1 thou miserable man1 turn convert4 ,for the ,father stretches out both ,his hands to thee4 ,do but turn to ,him and ,he will receive and embrace thee in ,his love4' ,it was the sin and misery of this world that first made ,jacob ,behmen a philosopher1 and it was the sinfulness of his own heart that at last made him a saint4 ,behmen's full doctrine and practice of prayer also2 his fine and fruitful treatment of what he always calls 'the process of ,,christ'2 and1 intimately connected with that1 his still super- confessional treatment of imputation1--of all that1 and much more like that1 ,i cannot now attempt to speak4 ,nor yet of his superb teaching on love4 ',throw out thy heart upon all men1' he now commands and now beseeches us4 ',throw open and throw out thy heart4 ,for unless thou dost exercise thy heart1 and the love of thy heart1 upon every man in the world1 thy self-love1 thy pride1 thy contempt1 thy envy1 thy distaste1 thy dislike will still have dominion over thee4 ,the ,divine ,nature will be quenched and extinguished in thee1 till nothing but self and hell is left to thee4 ,in the name1 and in the strength of ,,god1 love all men4 ,love thy neighbour as thyself1 and do to thy neighbour as thou doest to thyself4 ,and do it now4 ,for now is the accepted time2 and now is the day of salvation6' ,jacob ,behmen died in his fiftieth year4 ,he was libelled and maligned1 harassed and hunted to death by a world that was not worthy of such a gift of ,,god4 ,a sudden and severe sickness came upon ,behmen till he sank in death with his ,aurora and his ,holy ,week and his ,divine ,vision all lying still unfinished at his bedside4 ',open the door and let in more of that music1' the dying man said to his weeping son4 ,behmen was already hearing the harpers harping with their harps4 ,he was already taking his part in the song they sing in heaven to ,him who loved them1 and washed them from their sins in ,his own blood4 ',and now1' said the prodigal son1 the blessed ,behmen1 ',i go to-day to be with my ,redeemer and my ,king in ,paradise1' and so died4