Theosophy and the Study of Religion

Charles M. Stang, Jason Ānanda Josephson Storm (Herausgeber)

Buch | Hardcover

366 Seiten

2024
Brill (Verlag)
978-90-04-69415-6 (ISBN)

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Theosophy and the Study of Religion presents essays by leading scholars of religious studies and Western esotericism that draw attention to the interaction between the "secular" discipline of religious studies and Theosophy from the 19th century to the present day.

Since its emergence in the nineteenth century, the Theosophical Society has wielded enormous influence across diverse fields, none more so than the study of religion. This volume explores this legacy in North America, Europe, and India, demonstrating its impact on the conceptualization of “religion” and its influence on methods of comparison. Unveiling overlooked entanglements, the volume challenges standard narratives in the history of religious studies and interrogates the deliberate neglect of theosophy’s influence in the “secular” academy. In doing so, the work confronts lingering ghosts, urging a reappraisal that enriches the study of religion and offers prescriptions for its future.

Charles M. Stang, Th.D. (2008), Harvard Divinity School, is Professor of Early Christian Thought and Director of the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School. His most recent book is Our Divine Double(2016). Jason Ānanda Josephson Storm, Ph.D. (2006), Stanford University, is Professor of Religion and Chair of Science & Technology Studies at Williams College. He has published three books and numerous articles on Japanese religions, Esotericism, and the philosophy of the Human Sciences, including most recently Metamodernism: The Future of Theory (2021).

Introduction

Jason Ānanda Josephson Storm and Charles M. Stang

Part 1

Theosophy, Early Christianity, and the Question of Origins

1 Modern Theosophy’s Legacy in New Testament and Early Christian Studies The Case of Paul the Mystic

Denise Kimber Buell

2 H.P. Blavatsky and Origen of Alexandria

Charles M. Stang

3 Madame Blavatsky and the Paranormal The Legacy of E. R. Dodds

Gregory Shaw

4 Out of Egypt Hermetic Theosophy between Reitzenstein and Mead

Wouter J. Hanegraaff

5 A Theosophical History of Religions

Olav Hammer

Part 2

Theosophy and Race

6 Racist or Liberating? The Difficult Transformations of Theosophical Root Race Theory

Erin Prophet

7 The Afro-Theosophysics of Robert T. Browne Race, Theory, and Method in the Study of Religion

Stephen C. Finley

8 Theosophy, Race, and the Ambiguities of Agency within the Colonial Context

Julian Strube

Part 3

Theosophy and Asian Religions

9 Grounding the Celestial Theosophy and the Scholar’s Voice

Isaac Lubelsky

10 Max Müller, Blavatsky and the Esoteric Buddhism Debate

Michael Gomes

11 Theosophies and Asian Religions From the Seventeenth to the Twenty-First Centuries

Arthur Versluis

Part 4

Theosophy and Language

12 Theosophy as Cultural Translation Mediating Hinduism

Gauri Viswanathan

13 The Theosophical Society’s Sanskrit Revival

James Santucci

14 Language, Mind, Cosmos The Theosophical Roots of Linguistic Relativism

Jason Ānanda Josephson Storm

Index

Erscheinungsdatum	04.07.2024
Reihe/Serie	Aries Book Series ; 34
Verlagsort	Leiden
Sprache	englisch
Maße	155 x 235 mm
Gewicht	742 g
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie
Themenwelt	Weitere Fachgebiete ► Anthroposophie
ISBN-10	90-04-69415-3 / 9004694153
ISBN-13	978-90-04-69415-6 / 9789004694156
Zustand	Neuware