John Pordage was a significant English Böhmist. As the rector of Bradfield Church (near Reading), Pordage was a pious man who, with Abiezer Coppe, waited upon the Lord “in family communion, aspiring after the highest spiritual state.” Pordage became very interested in the writings of the German mystic
Jakob Böhme (1575–1624) as they were progressively translated into English from 1644 to 1662. In 1663 Pordage met Jane Leade, and they explored together the immense depth of Böhme’s works. In 1670, when William Leade died, Jane Leade and John Pordage formed a theosophic community called “The Philadelphian Society for the Advancement of Piety and Divine Philosophy” at Bradfield. Pordage wrote numerous books on Jakob Böhme and caught the eager attention of
Amos Bronson Alcott.