Anyone who has done some reading in religion, philosophy or
psychology might know that the title for my inspirational piece is also the
title of a very famous book, The Varieties of Religious Experience, by
William James. This book was originally
published in 1902. Most things written
that long ago I would not bother to read because the assumption is it’s
outdated. Sometimes being a classic
means it is old, but someone thinks I should read it! In James’ case it is old, but I read it and
have re-read it.
I admit I had not thought about the book in some time. But I recently read an account of a person
who talked about how important the book was to her. Sidney Callahan wrote a piece for a
publication that regularly gives some attention to classic books. In Callahan’s essay we find someone who
writes appreciatively of having read James’ classic work and she describes in
some detail the power and lasting effect the book had on her. The precipitated my own musing about the
influence of James’ thought on my own intellectual development.
The book James published was originally delivered as
lectures for the famous Scottish series, The Gifford Lectures. The lectures were founded by Lord Gifford to
bring distinguished speakers to one of the four major Scottish universities to
lecture on “natural theology.” In other
words Lord Gifford wanted to hear people talk about “knowledge of God.” The first lecture was presented in 1888 and
continues to this day. I read James’ book
in graduate school and have referred to it many times since.
I was first attracted to the book because James focuses on
religious experience. This is where my
own Quaker tradition always begins---with experience. I know this is different than many Christian
traditions, which tend to begin with doctrine.
Certainly Quakers get to doctrine---statements of belief. But behind doctrine we find experience---at
least the experience of the earlier folks who gave us the doctrine. What I appreciated about William James is his
quest to get back to the primary religious experience people have. And I liked what Callahan shares about her
own reading of the classic piece.
James prepared for this task by reading and travelling very
widely. His father was a wealthy man who
could afford his son’s delay into working for a living. When William James finally settled into a
teaching career, it was as a professor of psychology and philosophy at Harvard. Here he became famous. My own time on Harvard’s campus led me past a
thirteen high rise building known as the William James Building, which housed
philosophy, psychology and social relations professors. One can say James left a lasting legacy on
campus and around the world.
Callahan reminds me of the array of themes James
pursues. He talks about conversion,
depression, and the neurological account of religious experience. He considers whether we concoct our own
religious experience or whether there is something “real” in those
experiences. He cites a range of people---historical
and contemporary in his own time. One of
my favorites in his book was George Fox, the seventeenth century founder of
Quakerism. James thinks Fox was a kind
of religious genius, but he also was probably slightly crazy. I agree!
Callahan gives a good way to judge the merit of not only
James’s efforts but the value of religious experiences and ideas in their own
right. She asks first, “are they morally
helpful?” The second question she asks
is “do they make cognitive sense with everything else that is known?” This seems to be a very valuable criterion
even today. In effect, this criterion
says if our religious experience is so kooky as not to square with the world,
as we know it, we better be cautious.
Her third question asks whether our religious ideas and experience are
“immediately luminous?” In effect this
asks if they lead to good things, like goodness, joy and love? If not, maybe they are not genuinely religious.
I appreciate a book like James’ Varieties because it does some hard work of investigating and
legitimizing religious experience. It
affirms the mystery at work in our world, recognizing that mystery can be
experienced, but not necessarily fully explained. This means I can be content with science and
its attempt to explain and elaborate more and more the world we live in. I appreciate this and am thankful for
science.
But I also realize there is a mystery at work in the
world---call it God, if you want---that finally cannot be explained and
elaborated. We can experience God, we
can talk about God and even follow and serve God. This is a noble life---a God-directed
life. It is a life based on
experience. In my own life that
religious experience contained a call, elicited commitment and resulted in a
lifetime of service and ministry to many.
It has been a satisfying, open-ended journey. It is a journey that will ultimately take me
into my own death. And mysteriously who
knows beyond that. But I am grateful.
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