The Varieties of Religious Experience

William James, Martin E. Marty, Martin E. Marty9780140390346, 9780415278096, 0140390340, 0203398475, 0203399366, 0415278090, 8562022438, 9788562022432

Standing at the crossroads of psychology and religion, this catalyzing work applied the scientific method to a field abounding in abstract theory. William James believed that individual religious experiences, rather than the precepts of organized religions, were the backbone of the world’s religious life. His discussions of conversion, repentance, mysticism and saintliness, and his observations on actual, personal religious experiences – all support this thesis. In his introduction, Martin E. Marty discusses how James’ pluralistic view of religion led to his remarkable tolerance of extreme forms of religious behaviour, his challenging, highly original theories, and his welcome lack of pretension in all of his observations on the individual and the divine.

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Table of contents :
Book Cover……Page 1
Title……Page 4
Contents……Page 5
Foreword to the Centenary Edition by Micky James Page……Page 12
Editors’ preface by Eugene Taylor and Jeremy Carrette……Page 14
Introduction by Eugene Taylor: The Spiritual Roots of James’s Varieties of Religious Experience……Page 16
Introduction by Jeremy Carrette: The Return to James: Psychology, Religion and the Amnesia of Neuroscience……Page 40
Preface from the 1902 Edition……Page 70
RELIGION AND NEUROLOGY……Page 72
CIRCUMSCRIPTION OF THE TOPIC……Page 91
THE REALITY OF THE UNSEEN……Page 111
THE RELIGION OF HEALTHY-MINDEDNESS……Page 131
THE SICK SOUL……Page 168
THE DIVIDED SELF, AND THE PROCESS OF ITS UNIfiCATION……Page 197
CONVERSION……Page 215
CONVERSION;concluded……Page 236
SAINTLINESS……Page 268
THE VALUE OF SAINTLINESS……Page 320
MYSTICISM……Page 359
PHILOSOPHY……Page 398
OTHER CHARACTERISTICS……Page 419
CONCLUSIONS……Page 440
POSTSCRIPT……Page 466
INDEX……Page 472