Theosophy, Buddhism, and the Signs of the End

Editorial Summary

Theosophy, Buddhism, and the Signs of the End is G. H. Pember's Christian apologetic argument that the Theosophical and Buddhist movements of his day represented a demonically inspired deception connected to the biblical end times.

Why This Book Is in the Directory

Pember's apologetic treatment of Theosophy and Buddhism as demonically inspired deception is a direct spiritual-conflict entry, anchored to his own verified 1900 first edition.

Historical Context

Published in 1900 by Fleming H. Revell, the book extends the cosmological framework of Pember's earlier and better-known "Earth's Earliest Ages" to contemporary religious movements, reflecting a strain of conservative Christian apologetics that treated the growing Theosophical movement as a spiritual threat rather than a neutral philosophical alternative.

What the Author Presents

Pember argues from within a Plymouth Brethren dispensationalist framework, treating Theosophy and Buddhism as vehicles for demonic influence and reading contemporary religious trends as signs of approaching biblical end times, rather than evaluating them on their own philosophical terms.

Intended Reader

Best suited for readers interested in the history of Christian apologetic responses to Theosophy and comparative religion at the turn of the twentieth century. Less suited for readers seeking a neutral or scholarly account of Theosophy or Buddhism themselves.

Strengths and Limitations

Its chief value is as a primary artifact of turn-of-the-century Christian apologetics — a direct window into how one influential dispensationalist writer framed rival religious movements as spiritually dangerous.

The book's characterizations of Theosophy and Buddhism reflect a polemical Christian apologetic standpoint, not a neutral or scholarly account of either tradition. This directory entry presents it as a historical artifact of that apologetic response, not an endorsement of its claims about either movement.

Edition Disclosure

This directory entry is anchored to the 1900 first edition (New York: Fleming H. Revell). The Amazon purchase link leads to a 2022 facsimile reprint (Creative Media Partners, LLC, 84 pages), not an original 1900 physical copy. The reprint's page count closely matches the original edition's approximately 88 pages.

Purchase

Price, availability, seller, and ratings are intentionally not shown. See the Affiliate Disclosure near the bottom of this page for this site's Amazon-link policy.

Book Facts

Topics

Related Works

• None currently linked.

Sources

• Internet Archive — digitized 1900 first edition
• Wikipedia — George Hawkins Pember