Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Introduction to new religious movements
- Part I Social science perspectives
- Part II Themes
- Part III New religious movements
- 8 Scientology: up stat, down stat
- 9 Neopaganism
- 10 The International Raëlian Movement
- 11 The Sathya Sai Baba movement
- 12 Neo-Sufism
- 13 Satanism
- 14 Theosophy
- 15 The New Age
- 16 “Jihadism” as a new religious movement
- 17 New religious movements in changing Russia
- 18 New religious movements in sub-Saharan Africa
- Index
- Other titles in the series
14 - Theosophy
from Part III - New religious movements
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 September 2012
- Frontmatter
- Introduction to new religious movements
- Part I Social science perspectives
- Part II Themes
- Part III New religious movements
- 8 Scientology: up stat, down stat
- 9 Neopaganism
- 10 The International Raëlian Movement
- 11 The Sathya Sai Baba movement
- 12 Neo-Sufism
- 13 Satanism
- 14 Theosophy
- 15 The New Age
- 16 “Jihadism” as a new religious movement
- 17 New religious movements in changing Russia
- 18 New religious movements in sub-Saharan Africa
- Index
- Other titles in the series
Summary
INTRODUCTION
From a modern and popular perspective, theosophy refers to the teachings espoused by the Theosophical Society, an organization founded on November 17, 1875 in New York City by sixteen individuals primarily from spiritualist, cabalistic, and Western esoteric backgrounds and interests. Chief among those founders was the Russian émigrée Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831–1891), who synthesized and interpreted ancient and modern teachings that in her view adhered neither to dogmatic religion nor materialistic science. Modern theosophy mainly reflects Blavatsky's vision and exposition of what is identified as theosophy. All subsequent texts, with some exceptions, within the Theosophical movement are summaries of, reactions to, expositions of, or enlargements upon her own extensive writings. Just as Blavatsky's teachings developed from the early 1870s to her death in 1891, so too did the Theosophical Society undergo ruptures based in large part on the degree of adherence to the Blavatskyan body of teachings. At present, three principal organizations that propound theosophical teachings are the Theosophical Society (Adyar), the Theosophical Society (Pasadena), and the United Lodge of Theosophists.
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- Information
- The Cambridge Companion to New Religious Movements , pp. 231 - 246Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012
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