48. Then this Destroyer of the Serpent is brought into the Wilderness, after he is baptized with the Holy Spirit, and tempted and tried whether or not he will continue in Resignation to the Will of God. In which Temptation he must stand so fast, that, if Need require, he would leave all earthly Things, and even the outward Life, to be a Child of Qod.
49. No Temporal Honour must be preferred before the /Y/w- tion. But he must with his Will leave and forsake it all, and not account it his own, but esteem himself as a Servant only in it, who is to obey his Master. He must leave all Worldly Propriety. We do not mean that he may not have or possess any Thing; but his Heart must forsake it, and not bring his Will into it, nor count it his own. For if he setteth his Heart upon it, he hath no Power to serve them that stand in Need with it.
50. Self is but a Slave to its temporal Possessions, but Resig- nation hath Rule over all that is under it. Self must do what the Devil will have it to do in Fleshly Voluptuousness and Pride of Life; but Resignation treadeth it all under with the Feet of the Mind. Self despiseth that which is lowly and simple; but Resignation sitteth down with the lowly in the Dust. It saith, * I will be simple in myself, and understand nothing, lest my * Understanding should exalt itself and sin. I will lie down in Of "True "Resignation. 57 * the Courts of my God at his Feet, that I may serve my Lord * in that which he commandeth me. I will know nothing of my- * self, that the Will and Power of my Lord may lead and guide * me, and that I may only do what God doth through me, and * will have done by me. I will sleep in myself until the Lord * awaken me with his Spirit; and if he will not, then will I look ' up to him in Silence, and wait his Commands.'
51. Beloved Brethren, Men at this Time boast much of Faith; but where is it to be found? The Modem Faith is but the History, Where is that Child, which believeth that Jesus is born? If that Child vfQtQ in Being, and did believe XhdX Jesus is born, it would also draw near to the sweet Child Jesus, and receive him and nurse him.
52. Alas! The Faith of This Day is but Historical, a, mere Assent to the Matter of Fact that Jesus Christ lived and died, that the Jews killed him, that he left this World, and is not King on Earth in the outward Man; but that Men may do what they list, and need not die Jrom Sin, and their evil Lusts. All this the wicked Child Self rejoiceth in, that it may fatten the Devil by living deliciously.
53. This showeth plainly that true Faith was never weaker since Chrisfs Time, than it is now. When nevertheless the World crieth aloud, and saith, ' We have got the true Faith;' and contend about a Child^ with a Contention^ than which there were never worse, since Men were on Earth.
54. If thou art truly Zion, and hast that new bom Child which was lost and is found again, then let it be seen in Power and Virtue, Let us all openly see the sweet Child Jesus brought forth by thee, and that thou art his Nurse, If not, then the Children in Christ will say, thou hast found nothing but the Cradle of the Child, that is, the History, 55. Where hast thou the sweet Child Jesus, thou that art so exalted with the History, and with thy false and seeming Faith? O how will the Child Jesus visit thee one Day in the Father's Property, the Property of Anger ^ in thy own Turba which thou hast fatted! It calleth thee now in Love, but thou wilt not hear, for thine Ears are stopped with Covetousness and Voluptuousness, Therefore, the Sound of the Trumpet shall one Day alarm thee with the hard Thunderclap of thy Turba, and rouse thee up, if haply thou wilt then seek and find the sweet Child Jesus.
56. Beloved Brethren, this is a Time of seeking, of seeking and of finding. It is a Time of Earnestness; whom it toucheth, it toucheth home* He that watcheth shall hear and see it; but he that sleepeth in Sin, and saith in the fat Days of his Belly, 'AH is * Peace and quiet; We hear no Sound from the Lord,' shall be 58 I'he JVay to Qhrist.
blind. But the Voice of the LORD hath sounded in all the Ends of the Earth, and a Smoke riseth and in the midst of the Smoke there is a great Brightness and Splendour. Hallelujah. Amen. * Shout unto the Lord in Zion, for all Mountains and Hills are * full of his Glory: He flourisheth like a Green Branch, and who ' shall hinder it?' Hallelujah.
I THE THIRD BOOK.
OF REGENERATION, OR THE NEW-BIRTH, SHOWING How he that earnestly seeketh Salvation^ must sufFer himself to be brought out of the confused and contentious Babely by the Spirit of Christy that he may be born anew in the Spirit of Christy and live to Him only.
Written in the German Language, (Anno. 1622.)
By JACO'B BOEHME, y^OME out of Babylon^ my People^ that ye be not Par- (^ takers of her Sins, and that ye receive not of her Plagues; for her Sins have reached unto Heaven^ and God hath remembered her Iniquity. — Rev. xviii. 4.
The Author's Preface to the Reader.
THOUGH I have in my other Writings set down a clear description of Regeneration, or the New-Birth, from the Ground thereof; yet because everyone hath them not, neither hath everyone the Capacity to understand them; I have therefore, as a Service to the simple Children of Christ, here set down a short Sum concerning the New-Birth. But if any desire to search the deep Ground from whence all floweth, and have the Gift to understand it, let them read these Books following.
1. The Three Principles of the Divine Essence.
2. The three -fold htfe of Man.
3. The forty ^estions of the Original Essence, Sub- stance, Nature, and Property of the Soul.
4. The Incarnation and Birth of Jesus Christ the Son of God; also of his Suffering, Death, and Resurrection.
5. The six Points treating of the Three Worlds how they are in one another as one; and yet make Three Principles, viz.. Three Births or Centres.
6. The Mysterium Magnum, which is an Interpreta- tion upon Genesis.
And in them he shall find all that he can ask, and that as deep as the Mind of Man is able to reach. I have written this for the true Israelites, that is, for the Hungry and Thirsty Hearts that long after the Fountain of Christ, who are my Fellow ^Members in the Spirit of Christ: But not for the Ishmaelitts and Scorners, for they have a Book within them, wherewith they vex, persecute, and suppress the Children of Christ that are under the Cross; and yet, though it be unwillingly and unwittingly to themselves, they must be Servants to such Children of Christ.
OF REGENERATION Chapter I.
Showing how Man should consider himself.
CHRIST said, * Except ye turn and become as Children, * ye shall not see the Kingdom of God/ Again, he said to Nicodemus; ' Except a Man be born again, of 'Water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the * Kingdom of God; for that which is born of the Flesh * is Flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.'
2. Also the Scripture positively declareth, that * the Fleshly * natural Man receiveth not the Things of the Spirit of God, for * they are Foolishness unto him, neither can he know or conceive * them.'
3. Now seeing that all of us have Flesh and Blood and are mortal^ as we find by Experience, and yet the Scripture saith, that ' We are the Temples of the Holy Ghost, who dwelleth in * us,' and that * the Kingdom of God is within us,' and that * Christ must be formed in us;' also that * He will give us his * Flesh for Food, and his Blood for Drink:' And that, * Who- * soever shall not eat of the Flesh of the Son of Man, and drink * his Blood hath no Life in him.' Therefore we should seriously consider, what kind of Man in us it is, that is capable of being thus like the Deity, 4. For it cannot be said of the mortal Flesh that turneth to Earth again, and liveth in the Vanity of this Worlds and con- tinually lusteth against GOD, that it is the Temple of the Holy Qhost; much less can it be said that the New Birth cometh to pass in this earthly Fleshy which dieth and putrifieth, and is a con- tinual House of Sin.
5. Yet seeing that it remaineth certain, that a true Christian is bom of Christ, and that the New-Birth is the Temple of the Holy Qhost which dwelleth in us, and that the New Man only, that is born of Christ, partaketh of the Flesh and Blood of Christ; it appeareth that it is not so easy a Matter to be a Christian.
6. And that Christianity doth not consist in the mere knowing of the History y and applying the Knowledge thereof to ourselves, saying that * Christ died for us, and hath destroyed Death and * turned it into Life in us, and that He hath paid the Ransom for * us, so that we need do nothing but comfort ourselves therewith, * and stedfastly believe that it is so.'
7. For we find of ourselves that Sin is living, lusting, strong, 64 T'he JVay to Qhrist.
and powerfully working in the Flesh, and therefore it must be somewhat else, which doth not co-operate with Sin in the Fleshy nor Willeth it, that is the New-Birth in Christ 8. For St, Paul saith, * There is no Condemnation to them * that are in Christ Jesus/ And further, * Should we that are * Christians be yet Sinners? God forbid, seeing we are dead to * Sin in Christ/ 9. Besides, the Man of Sin cannot be the * Temple of the * Holy Ghost / and yet * there is no Man that sinneth not, for ' God hath shut up all under Sin/ As the Scripture saith, * No * one living is righteous in thy Sight, if thou imputest his Sins ' to him. The righteous Man falleth seven Times a Day;' and yet it cannot be meant that the righteous falleth and sinneth, but his mortal and sinful Man, For the righteousness of a Christian in Christ cannot Sin.
10. Moreover, 5/. P^a/ saith, *Our Conversation is in Heaven, ' from whence we expect our Saviour Jesus Christ/ Now, if our Conversation be in Heaven, then Heaven must be in us; Christ dwelleth in Heaven, and then if we are his Temple^ that Temple Heaven must be in us.
11. But for all this, seeing Sin tempteth us within us, whereby the Devil hath within us an Access to us, therefore Hell also must be in us too, for the Devil dwelleth in Hell; wheresoever he is, he is in Hell, and cannot come out of it. Yea, when he possesseth a Man, he dwelleth in Hell, viz., in the Anger of GoD in that Man.
12. Therefore we ought to consider well what Man is, and how he is a Man; and then we shall find that a true Christian is not a mere Historical New Man, as if it were enough for us outwardly to confess Christy and believe that he is the Son of Qody and hath paid the Ransom for us. For Righteousness availeth nothing, imputed from without, that is, by believing only that it is so imputed. But it is an inherent Righteousness bom in us, by which we become the Children of Qod, that availeth.
13. And as the earthly Flesh must die, so also the Life and Will must die from Sin, and be as a Child that knoweth nothing, but longeth only after the Mother which brought it forth. So likewise must the Will of a Christian enter again into its Mother, viz., into the Spirit of Christy and become a Child va itself in its 07vn Will and Power, having its Will and Desire inclined and directed only towards its Mother. And a New Will and Obedience in Righteousness, which Willeth Sin no more, must rise from Death out of the Spirit of Christ in him.
14. For that Will is not bom anew, which desireth and ad- mitteth Vanity into itself; and yet there remaineth a Will Of "Regeneration. 65 which longeth after Vanity, and sinnetk, even in the New-born or Regenerate Man. Therefore the Image or Nature of Man should be well understood, and how the New-Birth cometh to pass; seeing it is not wrought in the mortal Fleshy and yet is wrought truly and really in us, in Flesh and Bloody in Water and Spirity as the Scripture saith.
15. We should therefore rightly understand what Kind o{ Man it is in us, that is the Member of Christy and Temple of QodvAxo dwelleth in Heaven. And then also what Kind of Man it is, that the Devil ruleth and driveth; for he cannot meddle with the Temple of Christy nor doth he care much for the mortal Flesh; and yet there are not three Men in one another, for all make but one Man.
16. Now if we will understand this rightly, we must consider Time and Eternity y and how they are in one another; also Light and DarknesSy Qood and Evil; but especially the Original of Many which may be thus apprehended.
17. The outward World with the Stars and four Elements, wherein Man and all Creatures live, neither is, nor is called Qod. Indeed Qod dwelleth /;/ it, but the Substance of the outward World comprehendeth him not.
18. We see also that the Light shineth in Darkness, and the Darkness comprehendeth not the Light, and yet they both dwell in one another. The four Elements are also an Example of this; which in their Original are but one Element, which is neither hot nor cold, nor dry, nor moist, and yet by its stirring separateth itself into four Properties, viz,y into Fire, Airy Water ^ and Earth.
19. Who would believe that Fire produceth or generateth Water? And that the Original of -FzV^ could be in Watery \i we did not see it with our Eyes in Tempests of Thunder, Lightning, and Rain; and did not find also, that in living Creatures, the essential Fire of the Body dwelleth in the Bloody and that the Blood is the Mother of the Fire, and the Fire is the Father of the Blood, 20. And as God dwelleth in the World, and filleth all Things, and yet possesseth nothing; and as the Fire dwelleth in Watery and yet possesseth it not; Also, as the Light dwelleth in Dark- ness, and yet possesseth not the Darkness; as the Day is in the Night, and the Night in the Day, Time in Eternity, and Eternity in Time; so is Man created according to the outward Humanity, he is the TimCy and in the Time, and the Time is the outward Worldy and it is also the outward Man.
21. The inward Man is Eternity and the Spiritual Time and Worlds which also consisteth of Light and Darkness y viz., of the Love of God, as to the eternal Light, and of the Anger of God S, 66 ^he JVay to Qhrist.
as to the eternal Darkness; whichsoever of these is manifest in him, his Spirit dwelleth in that, be it Darkness or Light.
22. For Z/^ A/ and Darkness ^xt. both in him, but each of them dwelleth in itself, and neither of them possesseth the other; but if one of them entereth into the other, and will possess it, then that other loseth its Right and Power.
23. The passive loseth its Power; for if the Light be made manifest in the Darkness ^ then the Darkness loseth its Darkness, and is not known or discerned. Also on the contrary, if the Darkness arise in the Light and get the Upper- hand, then the Light and the Power thereof are extinguished. This is to be ob- served also in Man, 24. The eternal Darkness of the Soul is Hell^ viz., an aching Source of Anguish, which is called the Anger of God; but the eternal Light in the Soul is the Kingdom of Heaven, where the fiery Anguish of Darkness is changed '\w\.o foy, 25. For the same Nature ol Anguish, which in the Darkness is a Cause of Sadness, is in the Light a Cause of the outward and stirring /c?j/. For the Source or Original in Lights and the Source in Darkness are but one eternal Source^ and one Nature, and yet they, viz.y the Light and Darkness, have a mighty Difference in the Source; the one dwelleth in the other and begetteth the other, and yet is not the other. The Fire \s painful and consum- ing, but the Light is yielding, friendly, powerful ^ and delightful, a sweet and amiable /^j'.
26. This may be found also in Man; he is and liveth in three Worlds; the First is the eternal dark World, viz., the Centre of the eternal Nature which produceth or generateth the-F/r^, viz,, the Source or Property of Anguish, 27. The second is the eternal light World, which begetteth the eternal foy, which is the Divine Habitation wherein the Spirit of Qod dwelleth, and wherein the Spirit of Christ receiveth the human Substance, and subdueth the Darkness, so that it must be a Cause oi foy in the Spirit of Christ in the Light.
28. The Third is the. outward visible World in the four Ele- ments and the visible Stars; though indeed every Element hath its peculiar Constellation in itself, whence ih^ Desire and Property arise, and is like a Mind, 29. Thus you may understand, that the Fire in the Light is a Fire of Love, a Desire of Meekness and Delightfulness; but the Fire in the Darkness is a Fire of Anguish, and is painful, irksome, inimical and full of Contrariety in its Essence. The Fire of the Light hath a good Relish or Taste, but the Taste in the Es- sence of Darkness is unpleasant, loathsome and irksome. For all the Forms or Properties in the eternal Nature, till they reach j to Fire, are in great Anguish, \ Of ^generation. 6j Chapter II.
How Man is created.
HERE we are to consider the Creation of Man. Moses saith, * God created Man in His Image, in the Image * of God created He him.' This we understand to be both out of the eternal and temporal Birth; out of the inward and spiritual World which he breathed into him, into the created Image; and then out of the Substance ol>ih& inward spiritual World, which is Holy.
31. For as there is a Nature and Substance in Hd^ outward World; so also in the inward spiritual World there is a Nature and Substance which is Spiritual; from which the outward World is breatfied forth, and produced out of Light and Darkness, and created to have a Beginning and Time.
32. And out of the Substance of the inward 3ind outward World Man was created; out of and in the Likeness of the Birth of all Substances, The Body is a Limbus (an Extract or a kind oiSeed, which containeth all that which the Thing from whence it is taken hath) of the Earth, and also a Limbus of the Heavenly Substance; for the Earth is breathed forth outspoken, or created out of the dark and light World. In the Word Fiat (or creating Word) viz., in the eternal Desire Man was taken out of the Earth, and so created an Image out of lime and Eternity.
33. This Image "^^lS in the inward ^.nd spiritual Element, {rom whence the four Elements proceed and are produced. In that one Element was Paradise; for the Properties of Nature from the Fire-dark-and'Hght' World were all in Harmony and Agree- ment in Number, Weight, and Measure. One of them was not manifested more eminently than another, therefore was there no Frailty therein. For no one Property was predominant over another, neither was there any Strife or Contrariety among the Powers and Properties.
34. Into this created Image GCD breathed the Spirit and Breath of Understanding out of the three Worlds, as one only Soul, which, as to its Original Principle or Essence, is, or con- sisteth in, the inward dark Fire- World of the eternal spiritual Nature; according to which GOD calleth \iva\se\l ^ strong jealous God, and a consuming Fire.
35. And this now is the eternal Creaturely great Soul, a Magical Breath of Fire^ in which Fire consisteth the Original of Life, from the great Power of variation. Gqd'S Anger, or the S—2 68 The Way to Qhrist.
eternal Darkness^ is in this Property ^ so far as Fire reacheth without giving Light.
36. The second Property of the Breath of GOD is the Spirit of the Source of Light, proceeding from the great fiery Desire of Love^ from the great Meekness; according to which GOD calleth himself a loving, merciful GOD; in which consisteth the true Spirit of Understanding, and ol Life in Power.
37. For as Light shineth from Pozver^ and as the Power of Understanding is discerned in the Lights so the Breath of the Light was joined to the Breath of the Fire of God, and breathed into the Image of Man.
38. The third Property of the Breath of GOD was the outward Air with its Constellation or A strum, wherein the Life and Constellation of the outward Substance and Body did consist. This he breathed into his Nostrils; and as Time and Eternity hang together, and as Time is produced out of Eternity, so the inward Breath of GOD hung to the outward.
39. This three-fold Soul was at once breathed into Man; and each Substance of the Body received the Spirit according to its Property, The outward Flesh received the outward Air and its Constellations^ for a rational and vegetative Life, to the Mani- festation of the Wonders of GOD; and the Light Body or Heavenly Substance received the Breath of the Light of the great Divine Powers and Virtues; which Breath is called the Holy Qhost.
40. Thus the Light pierced through the Darkness, viz., throuL;h the dark Breath of Fire, and also through the Breath of the outward Air and its Constellation or Astrum, and so deprived all the Properties of their Power, that neither the Anguish of the Breath of Fire in the inward Property of the Soul, nor Heat nor Cold, nor any of all the Properties of the outward Constellation, might or could be manifested, 41. The Properties of all the three Worlds in Soul and Body were in equal Agreement, Temperature, and Weight. That which was inward ^x\A Holy ruled through and over the outward, that is, the outward Parts of the outward Life, of the outward Stars or Constellations and the four Elements; and that original and universal Power of the inward over the outward constituted the Holy Paradise, 42. And thus Man was both in Heaven and also in the out- ward Worlds and was Lord over all the Creatures of this World. Nothing could destroy him.
43. For such was the Earth also, until the Curse of GOD broke forth. The Holy Property of the Spiritual World sprung up through the Earth, and brought forth Holy Paradisaical Of ^generation, 69 FruitSy which Man could then ^^/ in a Magical Paradisaical Manner.
44. And had neither need of Teeth^ nor Entrails in his Body. For as the Light swalloweth up Darkness, and as the Fire devoureth Water, and yet is not filled therewith, just such a Centre Man also had for his Mouth to eat withal, according to the Manner of Eternity.
45. And he could also generate his like out of himself without any dividing or opening of his Body and Spirit, in such a Manner as GOD generated the outward World; Who did not divide himself; but did in his Desire, viz., in the Word Fiat^ manifest himself, and brought that same Desire into a Figure according to the eternal Spiritual Birth, So also Man was created an Image and Likeness of GOD in that respect, according to Time and Eternity, out of both Time and Eternity, yet in and for an immortal Life which was without Enmity or Contrariety.
46. But the Devil having himself been a Prince and Hierarch in the Place of this World, and cast out for his Pride into the dark^ anguishing, painful and hostile Property and Source, into the Wrath of God, envied Man the Glory of being created in and for the Spiritual World, the Place which he himself once possessed; and therefore brought his Imagination or Desire into the Image of Man, and made it so lusting, that the dark World, and also the outward World arose in Man, and departed from the equal Agreement and Temperature wherein they stood, and so one predominated over the other.
47. And then the Properties were each of them separately made manifest in itself, and each of them lusted after that which was like itself. That which was out of the Birth of the dark World, and also that which was out of the Birth of the light World, would each of them eat of the Limbus of the Earth, according to its Hunger; and so Evil and ^^^<^ became manifest in Adam, 48. And when the Hunger of the Properties went into the Earth, from whence the Properties of the Body were extracted, then the Fiat drew such a Branch out of the Earth, as the Properties could eat of in their awakened Vanity; for this was possible.
49. For the Spirit of the strong and great Magical Power of Time and Eternity was in Adam, from which the Earth with its Properties was breathed forth; and so the Fiat, viz., the strong Desire of the eternal Nature, attracted the Essence of the Earth. And thus GOD let the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil grow for Adam, according to his awakened Properties; for the great Power of the Soul and of the Body caused it.
yo I'he Way to Qhrist, 50. And then Man must be tried, whether he would stand and subsist in his own Powers, before the Tempter the Devils and before the Wrath of the eternal Nature; and whether the Soul would continue in the equal Agreement of the Properties in true Resignation under GOD*S Spirit^ as an Instrument of God's Harmony, a tuned Instrument of Divine Joy fulness for the Spirit of God to strike upon. This was tried by that Tree^ and this severe Commandment was added, ' Thou shalt not eat ' thereof, for on that Day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt * surely die.'
51. But it being known to GOD that Man would not stand, and that he had already imagined and lusted after Qood and Evily God said, * It is not good for Man to be alone, we will * make him an Help-meet for him.'
52. For God saw that Adam could not then generate Magically, having entered with his Lust into Vanity. Now therefore Moses saith, * God caused a deep Sleep to fall upon him, and he slept;* that is, seeing Man would not continue in the Obedience of the Divine Harmony in the Properties, submitting himself to stand still as an Instrument of the Spirit of GOD; therefore GOD suffered him to fall from the Divine Harmony into an Harmony of his own, viz.^ into the awakened Properties of Evil ^.nd Qood; the Spirit of his Soul went into these.
53. And there in this Sleep he died from the Angelical World, and fell under the Power of the outward Fiat, and thus bade farewell to the eternal Image which was of God's begetting. Here his Angelical Form and Power fell into a Swoon and lay on the Ground.
54. And then by the Fiat GoD made the Woman out of him, out of the Matrix of Venus^ viz., out of that Property wherein Adam had the Begettress in himself; and so out of one Body he made two^ and divided the Properties of the Tinctures, viz., the watery and fiery Constellations in the Element; yet not wholly in Substance but in the Spirit, viz., the Properties of the Watery and Fiery Soul.
55. And yet it is but one Thing still, only the Property of the Tincture was divided; the Desire of Self Love was taken out of Adam, and formed into a Woman according to his Likeness. And thence it is that Man now so eagerly desireth the Matrix of the Woman, and the Woman desireth the Limbus of the Man, viz., the Fire-Element, the Original of the true Soul, by which is meant the Tincture of Fire; for these two were one in Adam, and therein consisted the Magical Begetting.
56. And as soon as Eve was made out of Adam in his Sleep, both Adam and Eve were at that Instant set and constituted in Of 'Regeneration, 71 the outward natural Life^ having the Members given them for Propagation, after the manner of the Brute Animals, and also the Fleshly Carcase, into which they might put their gross Earthliness, and live like Beasts.
57. Of which the poor Soul that is captivated in Vanity is at this Day ashamed; and sorry that its Body hath gotten such a Bestial monstrous Shape. Nothing can be clearer than this. For it is because Mankind are ashamed of their Members and Nakedness, that they borrow their Clothing from the earthly Creatures, For this they would not have done, had they not lost the Angelical Form, and assumed that of a Beast.
58. This borrowed Clothing, together with the awakened Earth- linesSy and Subjection to the Powers of Heat and Cold, is a plain and full Proof to Man, that he is not truly at Home in this World. For all Earthly Appetites^ Cares^ and Fears, together with this false Clothings must perish and be severed from the Soul again.
59. Now when Adam awoke from Sleep, he beheld his Wife^ and knew that she came out of him; for he had not yet eaten of Vanity with his outward Mouth, but with the Imagination, Desire, and Lust only.
60. And it was the first Desire of Eve, that she might eat of the Tree of Vanity^ of Evil and Qood, to which the Devil in the Form of a Serpent persuaded her, saying, ' That her Eyes should * be opened, and she should be as God himself;' which was both a Lie and a Truth, 61. But He told her not, that she should lose the Divine Light and Power thereby; He only said, 'her Eyes should be opened, *that she might taste, prove, and know Evil and Good, as He * had done/ Neither did He tell her that Heat and Cold would awake in her, and that the Property of the outward Constellations would have great Power over the Flesh and over the Mind.
62. His only Aim was that the Angelical Image, viz., the Sub- stance which came from the inward Spiritual World, might disappear in them. For then they would be constrained to live in Subjection to the gross Earthliness, and the Constellations or Stars; and then he knew well enough that when the outward World perished, the Soul would be with him in Darkness. For he saw that the Body must die, when. he perceived by that which God had intimated; and so he expected still to be Lord to ail Eternity in the Place of this Worlds in his false Shape which he had gotten; and therefore he seduced Man.
63. For when Adam and Eve were eating the Fruity Evil, and Good^ into the Body, then the Imagination of the Body received Vanity in the Fruity and then Vanity awaked in the Flesh, and the dark World got the Upper hand and Dominion in the Vanity y 7 a I'he TV ay to Qhrist.
of the Eartkliness; upon which the fair Image of Heaven, that proceeded out of the Heavenly Divine World, instantly dis- appeared.
64. Here Adam and Eve died to the Kingdom of Heaven ^ and awaked to the outward World, and then the fair Soul as it stood in the Love of GOD, disappeared as to the holy Power, Virtue, and Property; and instead thereof, the wrathful Anger, viz,, the dark Fire World, awoke in it, and so the Soul became in one Part, viz., in the inward Nature, a half Devil, and in the outward Part as related to the outward World, a Beast 65. Here are the Bounds of Death and the Gates of Hell, for \ which Cause Qod became Man, that he might destroy Death, defeat the Devil's Purpose, and change Hell into great Love again.
66. Let this be told you, Ye Children of Men; it is told you in the Sound of a Trumpet, that you should instantly go forth from the abominable Vanity, for the Fire thereof burneth.
Chapter III.
Of the lamentable Fall of Man y and of the Means of his Deliverance.
NOW when Adam and Eve fell into this Vanity, then the Wrath of Nature awoke in each Property, and in or through the Desire impressed the Vanity of the Earth- liness and Wrath of Qod into itself.
68. And then the Flesh became gross and rough, as the Flesh of a Beast, and the Soul was captivated in the Essence therewith, and saw that its Body was become a Beast, and had gotten the Bestial Members for Multiplication, and the filthy Carcase into which the Desire would stuff the Loathsome- ness which it was ashamed of in the Presence of GoD; and therefore Adam and Eve hid themselves under the Trees of the Garden of Eden, Heat and Cold also seized on them.
69. And here the Heaven in Man trembled for Horror; as the Earth quaked va Wrath, when this Anger was destroyed on the Cross by the sweet Love of GOD; there the Anger trembled before the sweet Love of GOD.
70. And for this Vanity's Sake which was thus awakened in Man, God cursed the Earth; lest the holy Element should spring or shine forth any more through the outward Fruit, and bring forth Paradisaical Fruit. For there was then no Creature that Of ^generation. 73 could have enjoyed it; neither was the earthly Man worthy of it any more.
71. God would not cast \ki^ precious Pearls before Beasts; an ungodly Man in his Body being but a mere gross Bestial Crea- ture; and though it be of a noble Essence^ yet it is wholly poisoned and loathsome in the Sight of GOD.
72. Now when GOD saw that his fair Image was spoiled, he manifested himself to fallen Adam and Eve and had Pity on them, and promised himself to them for an everlasting Possession, and that with his great Love in the received Humanity he wouW destroy the Power of the Serpentine Property^ viz., of the Vanity in the Wrath of Qod awakened in them. And this was the Breaking of the Head of the Serpent which he would perform, viz,^ he would destroy the dark Deaths and subdue the Anger with his great Love, 73. And this Covenant of his Incarnation which was to come, he put into the Light of Life; to which Covenant the fewish Sacrifices pointed as to a Mark or Limit, to which GoD had promised himself with his Love; for the Faith of the fews entered into the Sacrifices and Offerings^ and God's Imagination entered into the Covenant.
74. And the Offering was a Figure of the Restitution of that which Adam hath losty and so GOD did expiate his Anger in the human Property^ through the Offering in the Limit of the Covenant.
75. In which Covenant the most holy sweet Name fesus, pro- ceeding out of the holy Name and great Power fehovah^ had incorporated itself; so that he would again move and manifest himself in the Substance of the Heavenly World which dis- appeared in Adam, and kindle the holy Divine Life therein again.
^6. This Mark or Limit of the Covenant was propagated from Adam and his Children, from Man to Man, and did go through from one upon all; as Sin also and the awakened Vanity did go through from one upon all.
^T, And it stood in the Promise of the Covenant at the End^ in the Root of David in the Virgin Mary, who was, in the inward Kingdom of the hidden Humanity, {viz,, of the Essen- tiality that disappeared as to the Kingdom of GOD) the Daughter of God's Covenant, but in the outward according to the natural Humanity, she was begotten by her true bodily Father foachim and her true Mother Anna, out of the Essences and Substance of their Souls and Bodies, like all other Children of Adam; a true Daughter of Eve.
78. In this Mary from the Virgin {viz., the Wisdom of God) in th^ promised Limit of the Covenant, of which all the Prophets 74 T'k^ Way to Qhrist, have prophesied. — The Eternal Speaking Word^ which created all Things, did in the Fulness of Time move itself in the Name JesuSy according to its highest and deepest Love and Humility, and bring again living, Divine, and Heavenly Substantiality into the Humanity of the heavenly Part^ which disappeared in Adam^ and from which he died in Paradise, into the Seed of Mary, into the Tincture of Love, into that Property wherein Adam should have propagated himself in a Magical and Heavenly Manner, into the true Seed of the Woman, of Heavenly Substantiality y which disappeared in Paradise, 79. And when the Divine Light in the Heavenly Essence was extinguished, the Word of GOD, viz., the Divine Power of the Understanding, did bring in Heavenly and living Substantiality ^ and awakened the disappeared Substantiality in the Seed of Mary ^ and brought it to Life.
80. And so now GOD's Substance, wherein He dwelleth and worketh, and the disappeared Substance of Man, are become one Person; for the Holy Divine Substantiality did anoint the dis- appeared; therefore that Person is called Christus^ the Anointed of God.