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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
This was a good read. A bit long, a bit wordy, and full of tangents, but overall I enjoyed getting new perspectives and expanding my horizons.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
William James essentially walks around Ireland asking people about their various religious experiences, and what emerges is a series of fascinating first-hand accounts of angels, demons, atheism, voices, and more. One of my favorite reads of all time.
I was expecting this series of lectures to be more scientific, because of William James' background in psychology, but the title should have been more of a clue to me that he focused much more on anecdotal experiences. He was not talking about religion in a broad sense here, but rather spiritual experiences on a personal level. Each of the twenty lectures tackled a different theme--conversion, mysticism, prayer, etc. and provided anecdotes from the writings of people who have actually experienced each type of religious experience. Where I was expecting him to approach, for example, prayer from a psychological standpoint, instead he provided anecdotes from people who had transcendental experiences while praying. His examples were usually the on the extreme end, but he tried to show how in moderation, each type of religious experience held pragmatic value. He placed quite a bit of emphasis on prayer, and suggested that prayer was the ultimate, most meaningful religious experience. In the end, it wasn't what I expected, but I still would highly these lectures to anyone interested in understanding religion (particularly Christianity) on a personal level.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
I've always regarded religion (well, at least MY religion) as a very personal matter. I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds the real value (or the root of the real value) in the individual, subjective union. So many religious foundations and sects are being formed and divided, and they are becoming more ecclesiastical, dogmatic or systematized every day. However, they are forgetting the very basic essence of the individual union with the higher being and the world. They are also so intent on changing the world itself through their external group force and influence that they disregard the power of the simple prayer to change each individual from within. In a world becoming ever more interconnected and communicative, why do I get the feeling that they are becoming more sectarianized and disconnected? Maybe we should look back to the simpler and perhaps the more fundamental union of each individual with the bigger world and the higher being. Some of James' points are confusing and long-winded at times, but I feel that some of the messages ring true especially in a time like this, when the original purity of religion is increasingly becoming tainted with gross manipulations that further separates it from the original union and peace.
_The Varieties of Religious Experience_ builds to the climax of James explaining his philosophy of Pragmatism. What I think is important here to the religion vs. rationalism debate is that James has no time for established religion, dogma, or theology. Rather, he focuses on the mystical, individual life-changing experiences people have in sensing the presence of a higher power. These experiences are as real as falling in love - they are a psychological phenomenon that, according to James, bubble up from the subconscious and have direct, pragmatic, positive effects on a person's life. What is missing here is a discussion of cultural influence on these experiences - why do people in Christian culture only frame these experiences in terms of Christianity? Do people lack a language outside of their culture to describe these mystical experiences?
reflective
slow-paced
