Theosophy
The word Theosophy (Greek: Θεοῦσοφία Theosophia) comes from the Greek and means "Wisdom of the Gods" or "Divine Wisdom" and is also used in this sense in the Epistles of Paul.
„6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. 7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But, as it is written (Isaiah 64:3), “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. 14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” (Isaiah 40:13) But we have the mind of Christ.“
The theosophical tradition included Neoplatonism, Gnosticism, late medieval mystics such as Meister Eckhart and Nicholas of Cusa, Renaissance philosophers such as Giordano Bruno and Paracelsus, and Romantic mystics and philosophers such as Jakob Böhme and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, as well as Eastern religious philosophies such as Vedanta, Mahayana Buddhism, Kabbalah and Sufism. According to the co-founder of the Theosophical Society, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, the teachings of Theosophy result from the insights and experiences of the great sages of humanity, who were already far ahead of humanity in its evolution, and hand down the spiritual heritage of mankind. They take into account and embrace the three great schools of thought of man: Science, Philosophy and Religion.
Theosophy as a coherent system was unfolded in the writings of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and later further explained and deepened by Gottfried de Purucker. Together with Henry Steel Olcott, William Quan Judge and others, H. P. Blavatsky founded the Theosophical Society in New York, USA in 1875.
Literature
- Helena Petrovna Blavatsky: The Key to Theosophy, 1889, Theosophical University Press ISBN 1-55700-046-8 theosociety.org
- Rudolf Steiner: Gesammelte Aufsätze zur Literatur 1884 – 1902, GA 32 (2004), ISBN 3-7274-0320-9 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org
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References to the work of Rudolf Steiner follow Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works (CW or GA), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach/Switzerland, unless otherwise stated.
Email: verlag@steinerverlag.com URL: www.steinerverlag.com. Index to the Complete Works of Rudolf Steiner - Aelzina Books A complete list by Volume Number and a full list of known English translations you may also find at Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works Rudolf Steiner Archive - The largest online collection of Rudolf Steiner's books, lectures and articles in English. Rudolf Steiner Audio - Recorded and Read by Dale Brunsvold steinerbooks.org - Anthroposophic Press Inc. (USA) Rudolf Steiner Handbook - Christian Karl's proven standard work for orientation in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works for free download as PDF. |
