Leseprobe

14 T he C obbl e r Who D i d Not Sti ck to Hi s Trad e history of creation in the Book of Genesis ( Mysterium magnum , 1623), a set of replies to questions posed by followers ( Forty Questions of the Soul [ Vierzig Fragen von der Seelen ], 1620), a work dealing with the ques- tion of the election of grace, which had been at the centre of a crucial doctrinal controversy within Protestantism ( On the Election of Grace [ Von der Gnaden-wahl ], 1623), as well as shorter polemical writings, for instance against Gregor Richter ( Apology or Defence Speech Against Gregor Richter [ Apologia. Oder Schutzrede gegen Gregor Richter ], 1624). In the years that passed before Böhme took up writing again, he must have been exposed to a variety of ideas that were circulating in Görlitz, in particular regarding natural philosophy. Both On the Three Principles ( Beschreibung der drei Principien Göttliches Wesens , 1619) and the later De signatura rerum ( On the Signature of Things , 1622) feature terminology derived from the alchemical tradition, and indeed Görlitz was an important centre of alchemical, astrological and astronomical inquiry. Görlitz was certainly no provincial backwater: the city had had a prestigious Gymnasium to prepare pupils for univer- sity study since 1565, where Scultetus, subsequently mayor, had also taught. Scultetus was in contact with figures such as Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler, and also edited a work on pestilence ascribed to the alchemist and doctor Theophrastus Bombastus Paracelsus (see p. 66, Fig. 4). In Görlitz, contem­ poraries debated natural science in all its forms, including branches that nowadays are relegated to magic rather than science, such as alchemy, and Böhme clearly profited from this environment. Most notably, the fact that Böhme integrated the heliocen- tric view of the universe in his philosophy is a clear sign of the impact that this context had on him. Only one book, containing two short texts and titled The Way to Christ ( Der Weg zu Christo , 1624), 4 Böhme’s Grave Cross, in: Vergaderinge van Eenige ongemeene Schriften van [...] B ö hme , Drawing in coloured ink by Michael Le Blon, Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel, Cod. Guelf. 67 Noviss. 4°, fol. 78v