Preface. 9

...therefore for your information / so that no one should seek another person in me / whom I am not / such as a man of art and high reason reason original: Vernunft. In Böhme’s thought, this is the human capacity for logic and sensory learning, which he views as limited compared to divine revelation.; rather I live in weakness and childhood / in the simplicity of Christ / in my given child-work original: Kinder-Werke. Böhme views his writing not as a heavy academic burden, but as a form of spiritual "play" or simple labor granted to him by God. / therein I have my play / and it is my pastime / Therein I have my joy / as if in a pleasure-garden / where many noble flowers stand within; with these I will delight myself for a while / until I shall again attain the Paradise-flowers in the new man original: im neuen Menschen. A reference to the "reborn" spiritual self that regains the state of perfection lost by Adam..

One's own reason / which without God's Spirit is taught merely by the letter original: Buchstaben. This refers to a literal or academic understanding of scripture and laws, devoid of living spiritual insight. / blames and despises everything / that does not align straight as a string according to the law of the high schools original: hohen Schulen. A term for universities and the academic establishment of the 17th century.. But I am not at all surprised / for she In German, "Reason" (Vernunft) is a feminine noun; Böhme personifies it here. is from the outside / and God's Spirit is from within; She is good and evil / she passes away like a wind / and lets herself be weighed and driven / she pays heed to human judgment / and whatever the high prestige of this world judges / according to that she also judges; she does not recognize the Lord’s mind / for He is not in her; Her understanding is from the stars stars original: Gestirne. This refers to the astral or "sidereal" spirit—the natural influence of the cosmos on the human mind, which Böhme considers inferior to the divine Light. / and is only a mirror against the Divine Wisdom.