Theosophical Correspondence.
Translation from German by Robert Hutwohl[1]
Question: — How should one go about searching for the truth?
Answer: — The easiest way to do this is to search for oneself. He who finds the truth in his own heart will find it everywhere, and he who does not know it in himself will find it nowhere; for how can one search for the truth in a thing if one does not have knowledge of the truth? In other words: “One must have one’s own understanding in order to be able to understand a fact, and where should one come to one’s understanding but within oneself? There is no other measure of the truth of a thing than the degree of knowledge of the truth that one possesses oneself; for even the best mathematical proof is only a proof insofar as one knows the truth of it. All proofs are ultimately based on some principle that no one can prove, but which is self-evident.
Question: — What is meant by “atheists,” and are there such people?
Answer: — “Atheists” are usually understood to be people who are too reasonable to accept the popular ecclesiastical concept of God, according to which God is an extra-worldly, limited being, and there are, thank God, many such “God-deniers.” But if “God” is understood to mean eternal being, the origin of all existence, truth and reality, then there can be no thinking atheist, unless he is an idiot or crazy; for his own existence is proof that there is an existence, and reason teaches that all existence has a cause. If God is the truth, then the doubter contradicts himself when he denies God; for in doing so he denies the truth and at the same time claims that he knows the truth (God) better than the believers in God. Basically, an atheist is someone who denies the deity within himself and seeks it outside himself, above the clouds, and this includes many devout churchgoers of various kinds.
Note
[1] Hartmann, F. (1907) “Theosophical Correspondence. How should one go about searching for the truth? What is meant by “atheists” and are there such people?” Hutwohl, R. (trans.), Theosophischer Wegweiser 8, no. 10 (July), 302-303 {Translation from German by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025}