Jacob Behmen: An Appreciation

Alexander WhyteProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 67K words
Chapters: 7

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Jacob Behmen: An Appreciation by Alexander WhyteAuthor: Whyte, Alexander, 1836-1921,Language: English, Class: B: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion, Release Date: Jul 16, 2005

Editor's review

Jacob Behmen: An Appreciation is an appreciative essay on Jacob Boehme by the Scottish minister and evangelist Alexander Whyte. Boehme was a German mystic of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries who, though a shoemaker by trade, wrote religious works of intense speculative character whose influence reached later philosophy and theology. Whyte's text is not a systematic academic monograph but an "appreciation" marked by respect and personal reflection, concerned above all to sketch the spiritual temperament of Boehme and his thought and to help readers form a graspable outline before turning to the original works. Its value lies in its brevity and low threshold; it is in English and homiletic in style, and serves well as a first introduction to Boehme. It should be read as an introduction rather than a final verdict: note how Whyte selects episodes from Boehme's life and thought, and how the commentator's own religious standpoint shapes his choices. The public-domain electronic text from Project Gutenberg makes it easy to search names and terms, and it can be read alongside Boehme's own works or related scholarship.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in Christian mysticism and the spiritual tradition
Theology or philosophy students who need an introductory profile of a figure
Readers who want to learn about Boehme before deciding whether to read the originals
Readers who enjoy short biographical appreciations and English religious prose

Not a good fit for

Researchers expecting systematic scholarly inquiry and detailed literature review
Readers with no interest in religious subjects who want only secular biography
Readers who need a Chinese translation and are uncomfortable with an English homiletic style

Reading tips

Read once to grasp Whyte's overall assessment of Boehme, then go back and mark key judgments.
Jot down the persons and terms mentioned and look them up separately to fill in the background.
After reading, try reading passages of Boehme's own works alongside it to test how well the appreciation fits the text.
Treat it as a lead to further reading rather than an endpoint.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Who was Boehme, and why is he worth knowing?

Jacob Boehme was a German mystic of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries who, as a shoemaker, wrote speculative religious works discussing the relations among God, nature, and man. His thought is repeatedly cited in later philosophy and theology, and knowing him helps in understanding one strand of the Western mystical tradition.

Is this appreciation an academic study?

It is not an academic monograph in the strict sense. The author, Alexander Whyte, was a minister and evangelist; the essay bears personal reflection and a homiletic tone and aims to sketch a spiritual outline rather than to argue rigorously. It suits beginners as an introduction; research still requires specialized scholarship.

What background knowledge is needed for reading?

A basic familiarity with Christian theology helps, such as a general sense of biblical narrative and the mystical tradition. Without any background, read an encyclopedia entry on Boehme first, then come to this text, looking up names and terms as they arise.

Why does this electronic edition have no modern annotations?

Because it is a public-domain eBook from Project Gutenberg, which mainly provides freely accessible original texts and usually adds no modern editorial notes or introduction. Readers must supply background themselves or use it alongside other scholarly literature.

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About the author

Alexander Whyte Author · Scottish (British) · 1836–1921

Alexander Whyte (1836–1921) was a Scottish theologian, minister and writer, born in Kirriemuir on 13 January 1836 and died on 6 January 1921. He studied at the University of Aberdeen and New College, Edinburgh, served for many years as minister of Free St George's Church in Edinburgh, and became Principal of New College in 1909. His writings centre on figures such as John Bunyan, Jacob Boehme, Thomas Browne and St Teresa, focusing on character and spiritual experience. His representative work is the four-volume Bunyan Characters, alongside appreciations of Samuel Rutherford, Jacob Boehme and Browne's Religio Medici. Seven of his works are held in this collection. Public information is limited, and further details of his life and influence remain to be examined.