Jakob Behmen
Jakob Behmen
(Behmen, Jakob) (1575 -1624 ) Mystic and theologian, born Altseidenberg, Germany ; died Gorlitz. He had little education, but having studied the Bible and several mystics, as a devout Lutheran , he preached and wrote on religious and philosophical subjects. His first book, published without his knowledge, 1612 , aroused bitter opposition. The Elector of Saxony protected him against persecution as a heretic, 1624 . He taught a sort of dualism in the nature of God as an explanation of good and evil, one of his basic theories being the apprehension of a principle by its opposite. His followers, called Bhmists or Behminists, were numerous in Germany , Holland, and England . His complete works were translated and published in England , 1644 -1662 . His theories were studied by several philosophers, including Isaac Newton, William Blake, Georg Wilhelm Hegel, and Friedrich Schelling.