Brande and Cox, Dict

Sci., Lit., and Art. theosophistical (the-os-o-fis'ti-kal), a. [ and deduce therefrom certain conclusions concerning God, whereas theosophy starts with an a umed knowledge of God, directly obtained, through spiritual intercommunion, and proceeds therefrom to a study and explanation of phe nomena. But Xenophanes his theosophy , or divine philosophy, is most fully declared by Simplicius. Cudworth, Intellectual System, p. 377. Theosophy is distinguished from mysticism, speculative theology, and other forms of philosophy and theology, to which it bears a certain resemblance, by its claims of direct divine inspiration, immediate divine revelation, and its want, more or le conspicuous, of dialectical exposition. It is found among all nations-Hindus, Persians, Arabs, Greeks (the later Neo-Platonism), and Jews (Cabala) - and presents itself variously under the form of magic (Agrippa of Nettesheim, Para cels us), or vision (Swedenborg, Saint Martin), or rapt contemplation (Jacob Boehme, Oettinger). Schaff-Herzog , Encyc., p. 2348.