The Varieties of Religious Experience

by William James

Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only

Written
1902
Language
English
Length
Long · 500 pp300 to 700 pages
Difficulty
Moderate2 of 5 for a first-year reader

We recommendThe Varieties of Religious ExperiencePenguin Classics, 1982The complete Gifford Lectures with Martin Marty's introduction.

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James's Gifford Lectures at Edinburgh in 1901 and 1902, which study religion not as doctrine or institution but as the feelings and experiences of individuals. Drawing on hundreds of first-person accounts, he describes the religion of healthy-mindedness and of the sick soul, the divided self and conversion, saintliness and its value, and mysticism. He concludes that religious experience is real and consequential whatever its ultimate cause, and offers his own over-belief in a wider self.

No reading guide yet

The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns The Varieties of Religious Experience are verified against each program's published list.

What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.

Browse the 48 works that do have a guide →

The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature, Gifford Lectures, Gifford Lectures, conversion, healthy-minded, sick soul, mysticism, saintliness, Tolstoy, Bunyan, over-belief