What is the Christian theosophy of Jakob Boehme?

Christian theosophy, or Boehmian theosophy, refers to positions within Christianity that focus on attaining direct, unmediated knowledge of the divine nature and the universe's origin. The founding of this tradition is usually attributed to the German philosopher and mystic Jakob Böhme. Grounded primarily in Jewish and Christian elements, his ideas also incorporated aspects of Jewish Kabbalah and exerted a profound influence on later movements like German idealism.

What we know

• Christian theosophy focuses on attaining direct, unmediated knowledge of the nature of divinity and the origin and purpose of the universe. [3]
• The founding of Christian theosophy is usually attributed to the German philosopher, Christian mystic, and Lutheran theologian Jakob Böhme. [2, 3]
• Christian theosophy is limited to Jewish and Christian elements, including the formative influence of Jewish Kabbalah. [3]
• Jakob Böhme's first book, commonly known as Aurora, caused a great scandal among his contemporaries within the Lutheran tradition. [2]

Where to go next

• whoWho was Jakob Böhme?
• the bigger pictureWhat is Western esotericism?
• how it workedHow did Jewish Kabbalah influence Christian theosophy?
• what followedHow did Böhme influence German idealism?
• compared withWhat is Martinism?
• an unexpected connectionHow did a 17th-century mystic influence modern German idealism?Hegel described the 17th-century theologian Jakob Böhme as the first German philosopher, showing a direct link between esoteric mysticism and academic philosophy.

Sources

• [1]Jakob Böhme (Wikidata Q77017) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Jakob Böhme · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Christian theosophy · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Anthroposophy · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Martinism · CC BY-SA 4.0