Ariel Hessayon

This book concerns one of early modern England’s most prolific female authors, Jane Lead (1624–1704). Well-researched and clearly written, these essays focus on aspects of Lead’s thought including her attitudes towards Calvinism, mysticism, androgyny and the apocalypse, her role within the Philadelphian Society, and her transnational legacy - particularly in the German-speaking world and North America. This book suggests that Lead was far more radical than has been supposed. It argues that her religious journey had staging posts, namely an initial Calvinist obsession with sin and predestination wedded to a conventional Protestant understanding of the coming apocalypse, then the introduction of Jacob Boehme’s teachings and accompanying visions of a female personification of divine wisdom and finally, the adoption of the doctrine of the universal restoration of all humanity. It locates Lead within a continuing tradition of puritan pastoral thought, showing how her personalised view of the millennium differed from most of her contemporaries and discussing her influence on Pietists and their conceptions of bodily transmutation. It also discusses strategies available to female authors and manuscript circulation as an alternative to print and examines her initial continental reception, particularly within Pietist and Spiritualist circles. Lastly, it traces her afterlife through the relationship between the Philadelphians and the French Prophets, the interest in Lead among the followers of Joanna Southcott and her successors, and the appropriation of Lead’s prophecies by two twentieth century movements: Mary’s City of David and the Latter Rain movement.

Jane Lead and her Transnational Legacy

Thomas Tany - better known as TheaurauJohn Tany - was one of the most significant voices in the radical religious cultures of the mid-seventeenth century. In this edition of his works, Ariel Hessayon preserves his contribution to the creative chaos of the English revolution.

The Refiner's Fire: The Collected Works of Theauraujohn Tany

Sarah Apetrei

This volume brings together for the first time some of the world's leading authorities on the German mystic Jacob Boehme, to illuminate his thought and its reception over four centuries for the benefit of students and advanced scholars alike. Boehme's theosophical works have influenced Western culture in profound ways since their dissemination in the early 17th Century, and these interdisciplinary essays trace the social and cultural networks as well as the intellectual pathways involved in Boehme's enduring impact. The chapters range from situating Boehme in the 16th Century Radical Reformation, to discussions of his significance in modern theology. They explore the major contexts for Boehme's reception including the Pietist movement, Russian religious thought and Western esotericism, as well as focusing more closely on important readers: the religious radicals of the English Civil Wars and the later English Behmenists; literary figures such as Goethe and Blake, and great philosophers of the modern age, among them Schelling and Hegel. Together, the chapters illustrate the depth and variety of Boehme's influence and a concluding chapter addresses directly an underlying theme of the volume - asking why Boehme matters today, and how readers in the present might be enriched by a fresh engagement with his apparently opaque and complex writings.

Four Centuries of Thought and Reception

An Introduction to Jacob Boehme

David Finnegan

The essays in this collection explore significant questions regarding the terms 'radical' and 'radicalism' in early modern England. They investigate whether we can speak of a radical tradition, and whether radicalism was a local, national or transnational phenomenon. It looks at the role of migration and exchange of ideas, images and texts in the history of supposedly radical events, ideologies and movements (or moments). Offering a timely reassessment of the subject, it reflects the latest research on seventeenth-century British and Irish radicalism.

Varieties of Seventeenth- and Early Eighteenth-century English Radicalism in Context

Lionel Laborie

Laborie and Hessayon bring rare prophetic and millenarian texts to an international audience by presenting sources from all over Europe (broadly defined), and across the early modern period in English for the first time.

Early Modern Prophecies in Transnational, National and Regional Contexts (SET - 3 volumes)

"In this important collection of primary sources, Laborie and Hessayon bring together a huge range of vital sources for the study of prophecy in the early modern world. This meticulously edited 3-volume set includes rare material and fascinating manuscripts published in English for the first time. Volumes are organised geographically, each with its own introduction by a world-renowned expert. Together with their respective contributors, they show how prophecies circulated widely throughout this period at all levels of society. Indeed, they often emerged in times of crisis and were delivered as warnings as well as signals of hope. Moreover, they were constantly adapted and translated to suit ever changing contexts - including those for which they had not been originally intended. Contributors include: Viktoria Franke, Monika Frohnapfel-Leis, William Gibson, Mayte Green-Mercado, Marios Hatzopoulos, Jacqueline Hermann, Ariel Hessayon, Warren Johnston, Lionel Laborie, Adelisa Malena, Andreas Pečar, Martin Pjecha, Michael Riordan, Luís Filipe Silvério Lima, Damien Tricoire, Leslie Tuttle, and Kristine Wirts"--

Early Modern Prophecies in Transnational, National and Regional Contexts

This volume brings together for the first time some of the world’s leading authorities on the German mystic Jacob Boehme, to illuminate his thought and its reception over four centuries for the benefit of students and advanced scholars alike. Boehme’s theosophical works have influenced Western culture in profound ways since their dissemination in the early 17th Century, and these interdisciplinary essays trace the social and cultural networks as well as the intellectual pathways involved in Boehme’s enduring impact. The chapters range from situating Boehme in the 16th Century Radical Reformation, to discussions of his significance in modern theology. They explore the major contexts for Boehme’s reception including the Pietist movement, Russian religious thought and Western esotericism, as well as focusing more closely on important readers: the religious radicals of the English Civil Wars and the later English Behmenists; literary figures such as Goethe and Blake, and great philosophers of the modern age, among them Schelling and Hegel. Together, the chapters illustrate the depth and variety of Boehme’s influence and a concluding chapter addresses directly an underlying theme of the volume – asking why Boehme matters today, and how readers in the present might be enriched by a fresh engagement with his apparently opaque and complex writings.

This is a study of the most fascinating and idiosyncratic of all seventeenth-century figures: Thomas Totney (1608-1659), a London puritan, goldsmith and veteran of the Civil War. In November 1649, after fourteen weeks of self-abasement, fasting and prayer, Totney experienced a profound spiritual transformation and declared himself TheaurauJohn Tany, 'a Jew of the Tribe of Reuben' descended from Aaron the High Priest. During his prophetic phase Tany enacted a millenarian mission to restore the Jews to their own land and wrote a number of remarkable but elusive works. By contextualizing and then unraveling the mind of this exceptional person, this book provides a clearer view of what it was like living in the wake of the English Revolution, when freed men and women spoke their minds and challenged the times.

Ariel Hessayon

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