Offers a new approach to religious experience and the kind of evidence it provides. Understanding Religious Experience will benefit those interested in the nature of religion and can be used in relevant courses in religious studies, philosophy, theology, Biblical studies, and the history of religion.

This Element looks critically at the history and epistemology of religious experience and how the concept can be fruitfully expanded.

This eBook has been formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices. The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature is a book by Harvard University psychologist and philosopher William James. It comprises his edited Gifford Lectures on natural theology, which were delivered at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland in 1901 and 1902. The lectures concerned the nature of religion and the neglect of science in the academic study of religion.

William James' 'The Varieties of Religious Experience (Complete Edition)' provides a comprehensive exploration of the diversity of religious experiences individuals encounter. Written in a clear and accessible style, James delves into the psychological and philosophical aspects of religion, offering insights into the nature of mystical experiences, conversion, and the relationship between religion and science. Drawing from a wide range of religious traditions and personal narratives, James presents a nuanced understanding of spirituality that remains relevant in contemporary debates. This seminal work is a key text in the study of psychology of religion and the philosophy of spirituality. As a psychologist and philosopher, William James was deeply interested in the human mind and the nature of spiritual experiences. His background in both fields provided him with a unique perspective on the complexities of religious phenomena. With 'The Varieties of Religious Experience,' James sought to bridge the gap between subjective experiences and objective analysis, making a significant contribution to the understanding of spirituality. I highly recommend 'The Varieties of Religious Experience (Complete Edition)' to readers interested in exploring the psychological and philosophical dimensions of religion. James' insightful observations and thoughtful analysis make this book a timeless classic that continues to inspire scholars and seekers alike.

Annotation Ann Taves addresses the subject of religious experience directly and the problems of reductionism and humanistic fears of the sciences indirectly and by example. The orientation of this book is practical more than philosophical.

Today most people feel less interested in religion and more interested in spirituality. If you ask what they mean, they will tell you that organized religion tends to turn them off, but, nonetheless, they feel a hunger in the heart that they cannot seem to fill. They do not mean that they would rather have disorganized religion; they mean that institutional religion does not seem to satisfy their spirits and feel there must be something more, some better way of experiencing whatever that is for which they are hungry. Much new experimentation is going on as a result. Some of it is a search for the meaning to fill the soul and satisfy the spirit; much of it is a search for meaning on the spiritual level itself. Spirituality reaches always toward the question about the meaning of God, the meaning of relationships with others, the meaning of intimacy, and the meaning of soul gratifying insights into truth. Here, Ellens carefully and sensitively explores the full range of our spiritual natures and the variety of spiritual experiences of which we are capable, describing the way our souls and psyches work in our hunger and thirst for meaning. He explains in an enlightening and unconventional way why and how every human desires to reflect upon, learn, and share a heartfelt experience of God and of others. Readers will find in this book a description of the meaning of the biblical stories about spiritual experiences in addition to descriptions of the kinds of spiritual experiences that ordinary people are having, how they are achieving them, and the ways in which they are filling their lives with meaning that goes beyond the horizons of material life. The author paints this picture in such a way as to let us in on what biblically based authentic spirituality and spiritual experience really is, and why it may or may not necessarily have anything to do with traditional institutionalized religion. He carefully and vividly explains the notion of spirituality as it is illustrated in the Bible and discusses spiritual experiences such as prayer, epiphany, visions, and other experiences. He considers whether spirituality is mainly a connection with God, with others, or with both. Readers hoping to get a better sense of what it means to be spiritual will have many of their questions answered in these pages.

Many regard religious experience as the essence of religion, arguing that narratives might be created and rituals invented but that these are always secondary to the original experience itself. However, the concept of "experience" has come under increasing fire from a range of critics and theorists. This Reader presents writings from both those who assume the existence and possible universality of religious experience and those who question the very rhetoric of "experience". Bringing together both classic and contemporary writings, the Reader showcases differing disciplinary approaches to the study of religious experience: philosophy, literary and cultural theory, history, psychology, anthropology; feminist theory; as well as writings from within religious studies. The essays are structured into pairs, with each essay separately introduced with information on its historical and intellectual context. The ultimate aim of the Reader is to enable students to explore religious experience as rhetoric created to authorize social identities. The book will be an invaluable introduction to the key ideas and approaches for students of Religion, as well as Sociology and Anthropology. CONTRIBUTORS: Robert Desjarlais, Diana Eck, William James, Craig Martin, Russell T. McCutcheon, Wayne Proudfoot, Robert Sharf, Ann Taves, Charles Taylor, Joachim Wach, Joan Wallach Scott, Raymond Williams

First published in 1902, The Varieties of Religious Experience initiated the psychological study of religion, paving the way for Freud and Jung as well as for clinical and paranormal branches of psychology. Written with humour and erudition, its theories of conversion, saintliness, ecstasy and mysticism continue to provoke controversy and inquiry. The book remains the best introduction to James's thought, demonstrating his characteristic insistence upon the importance of personal experience and his almost devotional respect for the mysteries of the human mind. Richly illustrated with personal accounts of belief and possession, intoxication and near-death experience, it is of central importance not simply to an understanding of religions, but to modern psychology and psychiatric medicine. The Routledge Centenary Edition, entirely reset from the original 1902 edition, is prefaced with a specially commissioned foreword by the author's grandson, Micky James, and with new introductions from James specialists Eugene Taylor and Jeremy Carrette. It also includes a new and expanded index.

Wall examines some objections to the thesis that religious experience is a rational ground for religious belief. Viewing religious experience along the lines of William James, specifically, as awareness of or encounter with the Divine, he adopts the approach of Richard Swinburne and William Alston that religious experience is prima facie justification for religious belief. The book further examines objections to this approach, measuring the objections against specific accounts of religious experience. Contents: Preliminary Considerations; Background Influences; The Explanation from Desire Three Special Cases; The Explanation from Desire Eastern Forms of Experience; The Notion of the Unconscious; The Effects of Religious Experience; The Religious Overrider System; Two Conflicts in Religious Belief; Conclusion."