Theosophy and the Study of Religion: (34 Aries Book Series)

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.

Table of Contents:
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

About the Author :
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).