Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Religious philosophy or speculation about the nature of the soul based on mystical insight into the nature of God.
- n. The system of beliefs and teachings of the Theosophical Society, founded in New York City in 1875, incorporating aspects of Buddhism and Brahmanism, especially the belief in reincarnation and spiritual evolution.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Knowledge of things divine; a philosophy based upon a claim of special insight into the divine nature, or a special divine revelation. It differs from most philosophical systems in that they start from phenomena and deduce therefrom certain conclusions concerning God, whereas theosophy starts with an assumed knowledge of God, directly obtained, through spiritual intercommunion, and proceeds therefrom to a study and explanation of phenomena.
Wiktionary
- n. religion any doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism claiming that knowledge of God can be attained through mystical insight and spiritual ecstasy, and that direct communication with the transcendent world is possible.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Any system of philosophy or mysticism which proposes to attain intercourse with God and superior spirits, and consequent superhuman knowledge, by physical processes, as by the theurgic operations of some ancient Platonists, or by the chemical processes of the German fire philosophers; also, a direct, as distinguished from a revealed, knowledge of God, supposed to be attained by extraordinary illumination; especially, a direct insight into the processes of the divine mind, and the interior relations of the divine nature.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a system of belief based on mystical insight into the nature of God and the soul
Etymologies
- From Medieval Latin theosophia, from Ancient Greek θεοσοφία (thesophia, "knowledge of things divine"), from θεός (theos, "god") + σοφία (sophia, "wisdom"). (Wiktionary)
- Medieval Latin theosophia, from Late Greek theosophiā : Greek theo-, theo- + Greek sophiā, wisdom. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“So, on the one hand there is the system known as theosophy, which has centers and does good works all around the world, with its main center in Madras, and from there it goes all the way down to one English man writing under the name of Lobsang Rampa that Tibetans drill a hole in people's foreheads to open their third eye.”
Address to the Monks of Ganden, Drepung, and Sera about Buddhism in Foreign Countries
“Much is said nowadays about theosophy, which is really but another name for mysticism.”
The Handy Cyclopedia of Things Worth Knowing A Manual of Ready Reference
“But the majority of Gnostic undertakings may also be viewed as attempts to transform Christianity into a theosophy, that is, into a revealed metaphysic and philosophy of history, with a complete disregard of the Jewish Old Testament soil on which it originated, through the use of Pauline ideas, [306] and under the influence of the Platonic spirit.”
“I read hundreds of books on religion, I spent many months with all from the disciples of Paul Brunton a kind of theosophy to Hare Krishna gurus.”
“Raymond breaks down the distinction by teaching a kind of theosophy, the doctrine, namely that, as man is a connecting link between the natural and the supernatural, it is possible by a study of human nature to arrive at a knowledge even of the most profound mysteries of Faith.”
“To this 'theosophy' Julius adds a few comments, evidently of later origin, which show that he has now become aware of its intellectual inadequacy.”
“America, but the so-called "theosophy" is not Buddhism.”
Introduction to the History of Religions Handbooks on the History of Religions, Volume IV
“For all forms of "theosophy," occultism, spiritualism, and magic Weishaupt expresses nothing but contempt, and the Rose-Croix masons are bracketed with the Jesuits by the Illuminati as enemies it is necessary to outwit at every turn. [”
“A fascist sympathizer who dabbled in theosophy, he massacred tens of thousands of his countrymen in 1932 to put down a peasant revolt.”
“He was wearing the Jewish head covering while practicing "theosophy," an obscure spiritual philosophy that maintains that "there is no higher religion than truth.”
The Huffington Post: Rabbi Jason Miller: Kippah Your Head Covering Outta My Office
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘theosophy’.
-
phrontistery-t
from phrontistery.info
tabacosis, tabanid, tabaret, tabati?re, tabby, tabefaction, tabellary, tabellion, tabernacle, tabernacular, tabescent, tabific and 930 more...
-
theo-, the-
relating to God or to deities
-
Manji's Random Wordlist
The title says it all
velour, vivacity, subterfuge, sable, divination, gentry, vindication, compendium, pistons, metamorphosis, methodology, polyphony and 91 more...
-
artoparts's Words
illation, finite, edify, abide, abrade, vouch, amiss, vociferate, perusing, techantiquery, rigamarole, holon and 615 more...
-
bertilak's Words
antidisestablishm..., feldercarb, wainscoting, eleemosynary, oxymoron, fuliginous, libration, lammergeier, saxifrage, ichor, lambent, smaragdine and 414 more...
-
hagendas 2008
mise-en-scene, occultation, lodestone, obdurate, remontoire, filigree, insensate, carapace, vicissitude, verdigris, indivuation, intercalate and 224 more...
-
die6die's Words
somnambulist, obfuscate, hirsute, kleptobibliomania, serendipitous, dissuade, duplicitous, zounds, lo, unleash, fortnight, thaumaturgy and 278 more...
-
Tropic of Cancer
unctuous, cheroot, fugitive, dotard, roué, retrogressive, succor, theosophy, tenterhook, cipher, chthonian, fuliginous and 2 more...
-
paulkisak's Words
entropy, hermeneutics, theosophy, extropy, eonism, imprecation, chimerical
-
copter917's Words
crepuscular, instantiation, epitome, iteration, struck, theosophy, theodicy, anthroposophy, interdigitate
-
titan360's Words
Tweets
Looking for tweets for theosophy.
Comments
No comments yet...
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.