The Varieties of Religious Experience

by William James

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Author: William James

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Paperback:
ISBN 10: 1539007324
ISBN 13: 978-1539007326

William James' treatise on religious experiences attempts to cogently explain aspects of psychology related to mystical experiences.
James was most interested in the direct experiences of people, which they and sometimes observers would afterwards claim as religious or spiritual in tone. Whether the experience was deemed a mystical connection, or as a sign of prophecy or other religious significance, and how these could translate into future significance in faiths - such as the designation of saintliness - are topics which concern the author.
The book itself is divided into twenty different lectures, each of which focuses upon religion and its relation to psychology. James makes a distinction between religion conceived by a healthy mind, and religious experiences which denote some form of psychic malady or illness, a phenomenon James refers to as 'the sick soul'.
James explores in detail how religious experiences, and their retelling, result in the growth and expansion of religions. Conversions have, James notes, resulted from the convincing nature and aspects shared by spiritual events experienced by individual adherents.
Writing at the beginning of the 20th century, there had hitherto been little serious attempt at analysing and cataloguing the religious experiences in a psychological context. James brought his experience as a Harvard University professor to deliver a convincing and comprehensive treatise, characterised by a comparative disregard for theology and the principles behind organised religion.
This edition of The Varieties of Religious Experience contains the full text, inclusive of the notes which are frequent throughout the chapters.

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The Varieties of Religious Experience