Jacob Böhme: Band I,17: ›Von Der wahren gelassenheit‹ (1622)

In Böhme’s terminology, resignation has nothing in common with the modern use of the term in psychological advice literature. For him, resignation means complete surrender of one’s own will into the union with God. In his work ›Von der wahren Gelassenheit‹ (Of True Serenity), Böhme conforms to the tradition of mystic reflections on this term, ranging from Meister Eckhart, Johannes Tauler and Heinrich Seuse to the ›Theologia Deutsch‹ and Valentin Weigel. The work is also particularly interesting from the perspective of a philological study of the edition. This work, ›Der Weg zu Christo‹ (The Way to Christ), an edited volume published in 1624, is not only the only one preserved in Böhme’s handwriting; it was also printed in Görlitz in his lifetime and thus possibly authorized by Böhme himself.