Memoirs of the life, death, burial, and wonderful writings, of Jacob Behmen

ENTHUSIASM Enthusiasm: In the 18th century, this was a derogatory term for religious fanaticism or the "delusion" of believing one is directly inspired by God. has become a fashionable term of insult and is usually the first word used when anything of a deep and serious nature is mentioned. Out of lazy habit, we apply it to calm and thoughtful defenders of important truths just as readily as we do to wild and extreme people who argue about them. This indiscriminate use of the word clearly has a bad effect: it turns a general indifference toward matters of the highest importance into outright hostility original: "aversion". The best writers on the most important subjects are ignored, and we fail to see the benefit resulting from their love and hard work. This happens because we are driven by the most foolish of prejudices—to condemn them without reading them, or to label them unintelligible after such a brief glance that it can hardly be called an attempt to understand them. We have heard it said, and seen it printed, that they are "enthusiasts." To avoid being labeled with that character ourselves, we follow the crowd and adopt the reckless injustice of the original critics. We accept the oldest insults as if they were the latest evidence. We are satisfied by the pretentious repeating of terms like madness, mysticism, Behmenism Behmenism: The teachings of Jakob Böhme, whose name was often anglicized to "Behmen.", and similar dismissive outcries, as if there were any logic, wit, or proof in them.

[But Wisdom is proved right by all her children.
original: "But WISDOM is justified of all her CHILDREN."
Luke 7:35; Matthew 11:19.]

John Byrom (1691–1763) was an English poet and a follower of Böhme's teachings; his poem on "Enthusiasm" argued for a positive definition of the word as a divine inner heat.