Abstract

Gichtel’s thorough reading of all of Bohme’s writings was reflected in around 900 letters to acquaintances. While the teachings developed in Gichtel’s correspondence build on Bohme’s thought, there are considerable differences. The chapter describes these differences focusing on fall and rebirth, Eve and Sophia, work, church and faith, practice and experience. The central theological idea for both Gichtel and Bohme is rebirth, which both understand as the recovery of “Sophia,” the light tincture of the soul lost in the fall of man. But in contrast to Bohme, Gichtel regards the renunciation of sexuality as a prerequisite for rebirth. Just as marriage and rebirth are mutually exclusive, Gichtel also regards faith and wage labor as incompatible. From 1678 he gave up paid work and chose instead the “Melchizedek priesthood”, which consisted in constant prayer for others. Gichtel rejected church attendance and external creeds. Both Gichtel and Bohme emphasized the importance of practice and experience (“Theosophia practica”) over “historical” religion. Yet, for Gichtel, the world of temporal nature, Bohme’s third principle, is entirely negative (he thus rejected alchemy). This conflicts with Bohme’s appreciation of the book of nature and of man’s nature as imago Dei. After Gichtel’s death, his followers formed the so-called Brotherhood of Angels, which promoted celibacy.