William James (1842-1910)
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Considered by many to be one of the top psychologists of all
time
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Principles of Psychology (1890)
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Classic work in psychology
Prominent figure in psychology of religion
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His definition of religious experience is the starting point for
most studies in the field
Not particular religious orientation, but recognized the value
of religion
Varieties of Religious
Experience (1902)
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Pure Experience
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Experiences were discreet episodes that needed
to be analyzed as a whole
Introspection – personal examination of
experience
Pluralistic Universe
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Religious experiences are not based on a
common element
Experiences are diverse and disconnected
Varieties of Religious
Experience (1902)
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Essence of religion is experience rather than
belief
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Must investigate individual experiences to
understand religion
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Religion based on individual feeling
(Schleiermacher)
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Passionate
Emotional
Energetic
Varieties of Religious
Experience (1902)
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Institutional religion is less important than
individual experiences
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Definition of religion:
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“the feelings, acts, and experiences of individual
[persons] in their solitude, so far as they
apprehend themselves to stand in relation to
whatever they may consider divine” (from
Varieties)
Varieties contains a number of different accounts
of religious experiences
Varieties of Religious
Experience (1902)
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James struggled with depression for most of his
life
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Felt that a religious temperament may help with
psychological difficulties
Located persons on a continuum
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Healthy Minded
Sick Souled
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Religious experiences may help the sick souled
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Helpful for dealing with psychological
problems
Will to Believe (1897)
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Three different Aspects of Religion
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Alive – live options that must be
dealt with
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Forced – cannot be skeptical
(example of a marriage proposal)
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Momentous – something important
to be gained
Will to Believe (1897)
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Differences in forms of Belief
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Scientific – Rational
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May be amended with no real bearing on
my life
Religious
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Too important to wait before choosing
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Seeks out what is good
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Any decision that is of utmost importance
requires an act of faith
Defining Religious
Experience
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Highly Diverse, Culturally Distinct
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Difficult to Define
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May be heightened emotional and unusual sensory
experiences
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Ordinary experiences interpreted through a religious
framework
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Communion
Defining Religious
Experience
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Rodney Stark (1997)
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Confirming – Sensing the presence of the Divine
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Responsive – Experience of being helped in some aspect of life
Ecstatic – More intense feeling of connectedness with the
divine
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Silent time during a prayer
Glossolalia – speaking in tongues
Revelational – Receiving some sort of special knowledge from
the divine
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Prophecy
Mysticism
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Non-conceptual knowledge of the divine
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Characteristics in Varieties
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Ineffability – unable to give a verbal description of the event
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“Beyond words”
Noetic Quality – Something life-changing has been learned
Transiency – experience lasts for a brief time
Passivity – Feeling like the experience was out of one’s control
Mysticism
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Unitive experience
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A sense of union with God
Usually a fundamental part of defining a religious experience
Perceiving a unity to God or the Supernatural
Sense of participation in that unity
Paradoxical
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Beyond normal reason, cannot be described
Yet, believed to be true
Knowledge was gained, yet can’t describe what that
knowledge is
Christian Mysticism
•Long history of mysticism in Christian
theology
•Often occurred in smaller communities
seeking solitude with God
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Kataphatic tradition (Positive)
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Prayer that focuses on praising the many attributes of God (love,
grace, compassion, etc.)
Apophatic tradition (negative or lack of knowledge)
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Realization of our own ignorance before God
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Any positive statement cannot fully describe the divine attributes
Potential Problems
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How do you describe the indescribable?
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Religious experiences cannot be completely ineffable
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Use language to describe them
Use religious imagery and symbols
Translation
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Language differences between psychology and religion
Can a nonreligious person understand a religious experience?
Can someone gain a first person perspective of another?
Potential Problems
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Methodology
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How reliable is introspection?
Can the subjective be transferred into the objective?
Limited to texts written by others and interviews
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Was the experience a true experience of the divine?
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Point of view
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Theoretical stance will change the way the data is interpreted
Is it possible to be ‘objective’ in regard to religion