PHILOSOPHY – The Varieties of Religious Experience

The Varieties of Religious Experience William James A Study in Human Nature LECTURE XVIII – PHILOSOPHY, thoughtsofgod.com, Thoughts of God, David Reese

I do believe that feeling is the deeper source of religion, and that philosophic and theological formulas are secondary products, like translations of a text into another tongue. But all such statements are misleading from their brevity, and it will take the whole hour for me to explain to you exactly what I mean.

CONVERSION – The Varieties of Religious Experience

The Varieties of Religious Experience William James A Study in Human Nature LECTURE IX – CONVERSION, thoughtsofgod.com, Thoughts of God, David Reese

To be converted, to be regenerated, to receive grace, to experience religion, to gain an assurance, are so many phrases which denote the process, gradual or sudden, by which a self hitherto divided, and consciously wrong inferior and unhappy, becomes unified and consciously right superior and happy, in consequence of its firmer hold upon religious realities.

THE VALUE OF SAINTLINESS William James

The Varieties of Religious Experience William James A Study in Human Nature LECTURES XIV and XV – THE VALUE OF SAINTLINESS, thoughtsofgod.com, Thoughts of God, David Reese

It is its truth, not its utility, you insist, upon which our verdict ought to depend. If religion is true, its fruits are good fruits, even though in this world they should prove uniformly ill adapted and full of naught but pathos.

Varieties of Religious Experience – William James

William James - The Varieties of Religious Experience, thoughtsofgod.com, Thoughts of God, David Reese

The course is not anthropological, but deals with personal documents. Percepts versus abstract concepts-Happiness is man’s chief concern-Healthy-mindedness and repentance- Heterogeneous personality- Sudden conversion- Testing human value of its fruits- Mysticism defined- Primacy of feeling in religion- Philosophy a secondary function- Aesthetic elements in religion- Summary of religious characteristics