Online Seminar Series: Religious Experiences

Online Seminar Series

The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James

Saturday, July 27, 2024

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“We must judge the tree by its fruit. The best fruits of the religious experience are the best things history has to offer. The highest flights of charity, devotion, trust, patience, and bravery to which the wings of human nature have spread themselves, have all been flown for religious ideals.”

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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 (20 in total) on natural theology, which were delivered at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland between 1901 and 1902. The lectures concern the psychological study of individual private religious experiences and mysticism, and use a range of examples to identify commonalities in religious experiences across traditions. James concludes that religion is overall beneficial to humankind, although acknowledges that this does not establish its truth. He also considers the possibility of over-beliefs, beliefs which are not strictly justified by reason but which might understandably be held by educated people nonetheless, and had relatively little interest in the legitimacy or illegitimacy of religious experiences. Join us as we work through these lectures, with online seminars taking place about one month apart.

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Click here to visit the Varieties of Religious Experience Online Seminar page, with links to media and the Discussion Forum.

July 27 Reading:

Lecture Twenty – Conclusions and Postscript

(pages 485-527)

The Varieties of Religious Experience

Penguin Classics; Later Printing edition
(December 16, 1982) – ISBN 978-0140390346

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Schedule:

12:00-2:00PM PDT

Tutor: 

Andy Gilman

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Location: 

Online. Register to receive the link.