Theos-Talk Archives (October 2004 Message tt00061)

During his trial, Socrates declared himself not to be a Sophist. He 
said that the difference between him and a Sophist is that the 
Sophist already knows but he knows that he does not know. 

If he calls himself a "wise man" (Sophist) than he cannot be wise. He 
declared himself instead as a Lover of Wisdom or Philosopher. 

Today if someone is knowledgable he is not called a sophist but a 
philosopher, sometimes even a doctor of philosophy. Sophistry is a 
term used for someone who tries to prove what he wants to prove.

Socrates was the first to give the term Theosophy to the wisdom he 
was persuing, that is Divine Wisdom. The way he used the term was 
that the wisdom he aquired was from the will of the divine and not 
his own- in other words - he was not looking to prove any particular 
result but allowed reason to give a result regardless of his personal 
choice in the matter. 

This is an important definition if we are to think of Theosophy 
today. Are we going to change it's original meaning? Why did HPB 
decide to use this particular term in the first place? 

I'd be curious if anyone has an answer.

Koshek