- Occultism and esotericism
- Theosophy, Anthroposophy, and New Thought
- Consciousness, mysticism, and metaphysics
Esoteric Christianity, or The Lesser Mysteries
by Annie Besant & Annie Wood Besant
- First published:
- 20th century
- Language: English
"Esoteric Christianity, or The Lesser Mysteries" by Annie Besant is a scholarly examination of the hidden aspects of Christian teachings, written in the early 20th century. The work delves into concepts of the Gnosis and the Mysteries within Christianity, asserting that many profound truths have been overlooked or simplified for mass consumption. The author aims to explore the complexity of these esoteric teachings, suggesting they were once integral to early Christian beliefs but have faded over time. The opening of this work presents an overview of the necessity for religions, including Christianity, to have a hidden side that caters to varying levels of human understanding and spiritual evolution. Besant emphasizes the importance of esoteric knowledge, arguing that true spiritual teachings can only be fully grasped by those prepared for them. Drawing from historical references and early Christian writings, she begins to outline the existence of these hidden teachings in Christianity, laying the groundwork for a more in-depth exploration of the subject in subsequent chapters. This sets a tone of inquiry into the depth and complexity of faith, suggesting that a restoration of this esoteric knowledge is essential for a deeper understanding of Christian tenets. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Provenance
Why this book is in the catalog
Included because retained bibliographic metadata links this work to Consciousness, mysticism, and metaphysics, Occultism and esotericism, and Theosophy, Anthroposophy, and New Thought.
Controlled discovery queries from openalex and project-gutenberg matched “esoteric” and “esotericism”. Retained metadata contains “esoteric” in the title, “esoteric” in the description, and “esoteric” in the edition title.
- “esotericism”· via OpenAlex
- “esoteric”· via Project Gutenberg
- “esoteric”· in title
- “esoteric”· in description
- “esoteric”· in edition title
Controlled discovery queries from project-gutenberg and wellcome matched “theosophy” and “Theosophy”. Retained metadata contains “Theosophy” in the subject metadata.
- “theosophy”· via Project Gutenberg
- “Theosophy”· via Wellcome Collection
- “Theosophy”· in subject
Controlled discovery queries from project-gutenberg matched “mysticism”. Retained metadata contains “Mysticism” in the subject metadata.
- “mysticism”· via Project Gutenberg
- “Mysticism”· in subject
Membership records how this book met the catalog’s discovery criteria — relevance to a tradition, not a judgment of the book’s claims.
Read & download
Free, public copies reported by our sources. Links open the source directly.
- EPUB (opens in a new tab)
- HTML (opens in a new tab)
- Plain text (opens in a new tab)
- Landing page (opens in a new tab)
Project Gutenberg ebook; public domain in the USA. Public domain in the USA.
OpenAlex classifies this location as open access; consult the linked repository or publisher for its complete rights terms.
Wellcome digital item license: In copyright (http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/)
Not yet in passage search
Pro research answers quote indexed passages. Ask the library to index this book’s public text.
marks a direct file download. Rights vary by country; each source states its own terms.
Buy or borrow
No ISBN on record, so the Amazon link searches by title and author. WorldCat shows libraries near you that hold a copy.
Editions
3 editions cataloged here.
| Edition | Date | Publisher | Language | ISBN | Access | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
OpenAlex scholarly book record | 1902-01-01 | North Eastern Hill University; North-Eastern Hill University Library (North Eastern Hill University) | English | — | Open access (green) | |
Project Gutenberg electronic edition Project Gutenberg metadata does not identify the source print edition. | 2008-10-16 | Project Gutenberg | English | — | Public domain (USA) | |
Wellcome Collection bibliographic record 404 pages ; 20 cm | 1901 | Theosophical publishing house | English | — | Public digitized item |
Subjects
Identifiers & provenance
How this record was assembled, and the authority identifiers it carries.
Identifiers
- Project Gutenberg
- OpenAlex
- Wellcome
Cataloged from
- OpenAlexW1587820113 (opens in a new tab)
- Project Gutenbergprimary26938 (opens in a new tab)
- Wellcome Collectionvfzhky9n (opens in a new tab)
Found via
Cataloging notes
- Original print publication date and source edition are absent from Project Gutenberg metadata.
- Catalog id
- project-gutenberg:26938
- Edition coverage
- Multi source partial
- Retrieved