Bromley, Thomas

BROMLEY, THOMAS: English mystic; b. in Worcester 1629; d. 1691. He held a fellowship in Oxford until 1660, when, as a non-conformist, he refused to accept the Anglican Liturgy. But previously he had become a follower of Jakob Boehme the mystic, and with John Pordage and Jane Lead had founded the Philadelphian Society (see Lead, Jane); when he left Oxford he came to Pordage, and lived with him many years. He rejected the outward church and advocated virginity for all. The Way to the Sabbath of Rest (last ed., 1802) is his most important work.