Behmenism

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Behmenism was a 17th Century European Christian movement based on the teachings of German mystic Jakob Böhme (1575-1624). It was not a formal religious sect, but a general description of Böhme's interpretation of Christianity. Böhme's views greatly influenced many anti-authoritarian and Christian mystical movements, such as the Religious Society of Friends, the Philadelphians, the Ephrata Cloister, the Harmony Society, Martinism and Christian theosophy (Angelic Brethren or Gichtelians). Böhme was also an important source of German Romantic philosophy, influencing Schelling in particular. ^[1] In Richard Bucke's 1901 treatise Cosmic Consciousness, special attention was given to the profundity of Böhme's spiritual enlightenment, which seemed to reveal to Böhme an ultimate nondifference, or nonduality, between human beings and God. Böhme is also an important influence on the ideas of the English Romantic poet, artist and mystic William Blake.