Translation from German by Robert Hutwohl[1]
The word “theosophy” is made up of the words theos (God) and sophia (wisdom) and is usually translated as “God’s wisdom”. In order to understand what is meant by the term “God’s wisdom”, it would first of all be necessary to define the term “God”. But since God is nothing for man as long as man himself is nothing in divine relation, the concept of God is also elevated above all intellectual speculation and inaccessible to material understanding. As long as man does not feel God within himself, he cannot grasp him. As long as he knows nothing of “God”, the meaning of the word “God’s wisdom” is also incomprehensible to him, and he regards it as the wisdom of a being he does not know and which therefore has nothing to do with him. For this reason, the name “Theosophy” became an object of ridicule by those who, since they themselves did not possess spiritual self-knowledge, also denied the possibility of such knowledge. Much has already been written elsewhere about the question of what is meant by “Theosophy”, without providing the desired clarification, and yet the answer seems to us to be simple:
“Divine wisdom” or, in other words, “the highest wisdom” is in any case that through which man can reach his highest spiritual goal, i.e. through which he can realize the highest ideal within himself. He can only attain this goal by fulfilling the law, and therefore his highest wisdom consists in obeying the highest law of the spiritual man and expressing and revealing it within himself. But in order to be able to obey this law, which forms the basis of human existence and of all of nature, he must learn to know it, and since the activity of this law in its highest sphere of action is a spiritual one, the attainment of its knowledge is not merely a matter of a theory based on external sensory perceptions, but of an inner development and perfection of one’s own spiritual power. Thus, this self-knowledge is the result of the spiritual human being’s own growth, an inner awakening to a higher degree of self-feeling and self-consciousness, through which man rises above his animal nature as well as above the brooding, dark-groping rationalism and becomes conscious of his true human nature and dignity through the realization of a higher ideal within himself.
Practical theosophy is therefore nothing other than the spiritual self-knowledge of man. It is not an object of science based on the observation of external phenomena and can of course only be the property of the man in whom this knowledge has become his own power. As long as man is dominated by his animal passions, or as long as his “knowledge” consists only of opinions which are based on fallacies or prejudices, or which he believes because they have been taught to him by others, he is also only a slave to passions and opinions, and his knowledge is not that which arises through his own knowledge of the truth and through which he attains divine freedom.
Under these circumstances, it cannot be the task of “Theosophy” to demand of anyone a blind faith in any doctrine which may be considered as something “new”; Nor can any man make another a “Theosophist,” but each man can only make himself; for the spiritual light must awaken in the inner being of man if it is to illuminate his inner being. But what stands in the way of the attainment of true knowledge is, on the one hand, selfishness, passions, and everything that springs from man’s animal nature and prevents him from rising above it; on the other hand, it is the errors that have arisen through the failure to recognize inner causes and the fallacies based on the false assessment of external phenomena. Above all, however, the false and merely external interpretation of religious allegories stands in the way of the knowledge of truth. What we therefore intend to do, as far as it is in our power, is to provide those who strive for real spiritual progress with a clear picture of the inner, higher nature of man, and to help them to free themselves from the bonds of selfishness and the errors of a false philosophy.
There is only one way to achieve complete certainty about the true spiritual nature of man, the refinement of which man is capable, and his magical (spiritual) roots, and that is to be that which one wishes to know. Only the virtuous can know virtue, the wise wisdom, the powerful power; but in order to find the way to practice the theory, it is first necessary to seek the right theory.
There are two ways by which we can achieve, although not yet certainty, a reliable view of things which elude sensory perception.
The first path is that of philosophical speculation, in which not only the external natural phenomena occurring in ordinary life, but also the so-called mystical events, the facts of spiritualism, occultism, hypnotism, magnetism, etc., must be taken into account. But in so far as this philosophizing is based on conclusions which refer to facts which themselves still require explanation, this path is not safe and only seldom leads to the goal, but mostly leads into a labyrinth of erroneous opinions and frequently to superstition or foolishness, provided that one does not become convinced by continual disappointments that the theory usually given to explain mystical phenomena is not the correct one and that one has deceived oneself.
The other way is to examine from a spiritual standpoint what spiritually enlightened people, such as can be found in all nations, have taught about the true nature of man and about the mysterious phenomena in nature, to compare their teachings with one another and thereby enable oneself to attain a higher world view and knowledge. This is by no means a question of blind “faith”, but only of not rejecting from the outset what one wants to learn about as “impossible”. Anyone who refuses to believe in the existence of the object he wants to examine will not be able to convince himself of its properties. Anyone who, in his own conceit, rejects what he does not already believe he knows or what does not agree with his prejudices is like a person who cannot see an object standing in front of him because he deliberately closes his eyes to it.
Theoretical theosophy consists, then, in comparing the teachings of the wise men of all nations, of Indian teachers, of Christian mystics, of adepts and saints, in finding the knowledge of truth contained in all systems, and in investigating to what extent these teachings can serve to explain mystical or non-mystical facts. It deals neither with “scientific” speculations, which are not based on truth, nor with so-called “revelations from the beyond,” but is only concerned with shedding light on the true nature of man and his position in the universe, which every unprejudiced person must recognize from his own inner conviction to be the truth.
Note:
[1] What is Theosophy? Franz Hartmann, M.D. Sphinx 13, no. 75 (May 1892), 197-199 [Was ist Theosophie?] Translation from the German by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025. The original text was set using the German fraktur or blackletter.