The Way to Christ

Preface.

...all [have] One Mother, from which they grow? So also all souls [come] from One, and all people from One. Why do we boast of being children of God, when we are yet more senseless than the flowers and the herbs in the field? Is it not also the case with us, that God reveals His wisdom in us, just as He reveals the tincture original: "Tinctur". In Böhme's philosophy, the "tincture" is the spiritual essence or life-force that transforms and beautifies matter from within. of the hiddenness in the earth, through the earth with beautiful plants? So it is also in us humans. We should much rather rejoice in this, and love one another heartily, that God reveals His wisdom in us in such manifold ways. But he who judges and condemns in a godless way, running only in pride original: "Hofart". An archaic German term for haughty arrogance or vanity. to make a show of himself—he is the driver of Babel Böhme uses "Babel" to signify the confused state of human-made systems and intellectual strife that lack the true Spirit., a turning wheel that only stirs up original: "aufbläset", literally "blows up" or "inflates". strife.

The right test original: "Proba". Latin for proof, trial, or examination. of the children of God is this, which one may safely follow: namely, a humble heart that does not seek or honor itself, but always seeks its brother in love; that does not seek self-interest and honor, but righteousness and the fear of God. The right and simple original: "schlechte". In the 17th century, "schlecht" meant plain, straight, or simple, rather than "bad" or "poor" as it does in modern German. way to come to God is this, as far as it is recognizable to me: Namely, that