Complete summary of William James' The Varieties of Religious Experience. The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature (1902) William James The Varieties of Religious Experience was first presented as a series of lectures at the University of Edinburgh in 1901.To prepare for the talks, Harvard psychologist William James had read widely in the religious classics, including the personal accounts of various saints and mystics. Public 1. Originally delivered as a series of the renowned Gifford lectures, the chapters of the Varieties examine the lives of more than two hundred believers who had known profound religious transformation. Glyn Hughes' Squashed Version of the Varieties. Varieties Of Religious Experience By John Updike 1474 Words 6 Pages Religious Variety In John Updike’s short story “Varieties of Religious Experience”, he illustrates four different perspectives on the day of the 9/11 attacks and allows for the readers to understand the minds of multiple people on a day that will forever be remembered in American history. Hearing in this sense means more than an audible voice but also the communication of knowledge and is often one aspect of the religious experience – it could also be a mystical experience It does not have to be a literal, audible voice, it could be, as some Christians refer to it as the ‘still small voice’ of the Holy Spirit which speaks in the mind of the believer Paul's conversion was unusual in a number of ways. William James: The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902) Summary. Varieties Of Religious Experience By John Updike 1474 Words | 6 Pages. 1: This is a study of the psychology of original religious experiences, not religious institutions. By. But religious philosophy is an enormous subject, and in my next lecture I can only give that brief glance at it which my limits will allow. It comes in the lectures on … Introduction: the course is not anthropological, but deals with personal documents, 1.Questions of fact and questions of value, 4.In point of fact, the religious are often neurotic, 6.Criticism of medical materialism, which condemns religion on that account, 10.Theory that religion has a sexual origin refuted, 11.All states of mind are neurally conditioned, 14. You see 'God's action' in a public object or scene. Lecture 2: Circumscription of the Topic The Varieties of Religious Experience (1901) is a lecture series that American philosopher and psychologist William James offered at the University of Edinburgh in 1901-1902. Full text of the Varieties from Wikisource. Mysticism Defined by William James : America's great psychologist, William James provided a description of the mystical experience in his famous collection of lectures published in 1902 as The Varieties of Religious Experience. Lecture XX . 1917 A Study in Human Nature. The Types of Religious Experience . Conclusions . The Varieties of Religious Experience. Men's religions need not be identical, 487. Commentary on the Varieties, by Carol Zaleski, Smith College. Religious Variety In John Updike’s short story “Varieties of Religious Experience”, he illustrates four different perspectives on the day of the 9/11 attacks and allows for the readers to understand the minds of multiple people on a day that will forever be remembered in American history. 5. He provides the 4 criteria for religious experience and rests his conclusion on 3 key principles: empiricism, pragmatism and pluralism The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902) ... LECTURE III The Reality of the ... Summary of religious characteristics, 485. The Varieties of Religious Experience "The highest flights of charity, devotion, trust, patience, bravery to which the wings of human nature have spread themselves have been flown for religious ideals." Lecture 3: The Reality of the Unseen Religious practice (rituals and dogmas) were necessary to protect people from the awesome power of such a direct experience of the numinous. In these lectures, James explores the phenomenon of religion from a psychological perspective. 3 • Richard Swinburne talks of there being five different types of religious experience. The Varieties Of Religious Experience, By William James . William James (1842-1910)- an academic, pragmatist and theologian he believed that religious experience was at the heart of religion. O ne of the many spiritual confessions that William James records in The Varieties of Religious Experience stands out. 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