Jane Lead
Jane Lead (March 1624 – August 19, 1704) was an Christian mystic whose calling from God inspired a visionary ministry that shaped the Philadelphian Society, proclaiming divine wisdom and spiritual renewal across the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Born Jane Ward in Letheringsett, Norfolk, England, to Hamond Ward, a prosperous gentleman, and Mary Calthorpe, she was the youngest of twelve children in a well-off family, baptized on March 9, 1624. Her education was informal, shaped by a comfortable upbringing and personal spiritual experiences rather than formal theological training, culminating in a transformative moment at age 15 during a 1639 Christmas dance when a heavenly voice declared, “Cease from this, I have another dance to lead thee in.” Lead’s calling from God unfolded after marrying William Lead, a merchant, in 1644, living happily with him and their four daughters in King’s Lynn until his death in 1671 left her penniless in London. That year, a vision of the Virgin Sophia—divine wisdom personified—called her a “Bride of Christ,” igniting her ministry of recording divine revelations. Ordained informally by her mystical experiences, she preached through writings and leadership, joining John Pordage’s Behmenist group in 1668 and assuming its helm after his 1681 death, renaming it the Philadelphian Society in 1694. Her sermons, preserved in works like A Fountain of Gardens (1696–1701) and The Revelation of Revelations (1683), called for a universal restoration through the Inner Light, influencing Quakers and Pietists despite opposition from Anglican authorities. Widowed, with no further marriages, she passed away at age 80 in London, leaving a legacy of mystical preaching that echoed beyond her time.
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Jane Lead preaches about the renewal and transformation of the new Creature, emphasizing the need for a Holy Tent to be erected for the new Creature to manifest its threefold spirituality extracted from the Deity. She discusses the high dignified Body that our Lord Jesus put on from the Divine Essentiality, praying for the Glory He had with the Father before the World was. Jane Lead delves into the concept of a Body and Spirit merging into one intire activity in the Ghostly might, making the Body as penetrating as the Spirit, leading to a multiplication of Life-Figures of Glory.
December 5. 1678. the New Tent Erected.
THE Word thus sprung: As the Lord thy God hath quickened and strengthened his own Life-Birth, to make it a Prophet and Seer deep, so a meet Tabernacle must be renewed for it: That a true Witness may rise to testifie that, which hath been as a Sealed Book; So that he that runs may read, what will be Engraven upon the fore front of the new Creature. For a Holy Tent is to be erected for the new Creature, all Glorious throughout; because it is to be of a threefold Spirituality, extracted from the Deity. A Body must be whose matter is of such a composition, as the Root and Ground of the Spirit, that is from Eternity, that had its Pre-existency in the Abyssal Deep, before Nature was Figur'd forth in Paradise. So that there is a more high dignified Body, which our Lord Jesus hath now put on from the Divine Essentiality: which was what the Lord had, before he came to take up our humane Form. For he prays for the Glory, that he had with the Father before the World was, as a distinct Person. Who having this reassumed as a Light-generating Body will henceforth multiply into Life-Figures of Glory, that shall every way Equalize the original Matter, from which Spirits have their Existencies. The distinction of Body and Spirit shall cease. For there shall be but one intire activity in the Ghostly might, that will make the Body as penetrating as the Spirit. This and much more was opened and revealed from the Transparent Child-like stature, that appeared in such a swift Circling-motion unto me in the Vision, which brought this Mystery to light.
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Jane Lead (March 1624 – August 19, 1704) was an Christian mystic whose calling from God inspired a visionary ministry that shaped the Philadelphian Society, proclaiming divine wisdom and spiritual renewal across the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Born Jane Ward in Letheringsett, Norfolk, England, to Hamond Ward, a prosperous gentleman, and Mary Calthorpe, she was the youngest of twelve children in a well-off family, baptized on March 9, 1624. Her education was informal, shaped by a comfortable upbringing and personal spiritual experiences rather than formal theological training, culminating in a transformative moment at age 15 during a 1639 Christmas dance when a heavenly voice declared, “Cease from this, I have another dance to lead thee in.” Lead’s calling from God unfolded after marrying William Lead, a merchant, in 1644, living happily with him and their four daughters in King’s Lynn until his death in 1671 left her penniless in London. That year, a vision of the Virgin Sophia—divine wisdom personified—called her a “Bride of Christ,” igniting her ministry of recording divine revelations. Ordained informally by her mystical experiences, she preached through writings and leadership, joining John Pordage’s Behmenist group in 1668 and assuming its helm after his 1681 death, renaming it the Philadelphian Society in 1694. Her sermons, preserved in works like A Fountain of Gardens (1696–1701) and The Revelation of Revelations (1683), called for a universal restoration through the Inner Light, influencing Quakers and Pietists despite opposition from Anglican authorities. Widowed, with no further marriages, she passed away at age 80 in London, leaving a legacy of mystical preaching that echoed beyond her time.