ÉSOTÉRISME : LE SALUT PAR LA CONNAISSANCE

AUTEUR : MARTIN BIRBA

ABSTRACT

The current paper which was originally an opening conference at the Institut de Théologie de la Compagnie de Jésus (ITCJ) competently sheds light the concept of esoterism and shows its limits. The autor unfolds the caracteristics of esoterism identified as gnostic, hermetic and occult. Esoterical knowledge is pictured as a secret knowledge, hidden from outsiders, and a mystical dimension of reality. Its access modus is initiation and its preservation modus is secret. The autor argues that this mystical knowledge has no scientific character, since it depend on a subjective factor, namely, the level of initiation of the adept.