the varieties of religious experience audiobook

William James saw a need to take an objective look at these arguments and then present his analysis of them. 'A reader will come away with more reasons to raise new questions than to feel that old ones have been resolved.At the turn of the twentieth century, there was an ongoing academic battle between theologians who affirmed their belief in God and scientists who rejected any belief in the supernatural as being superstitious, exploitative, or, at the very least, wishful thinking. 'James' characteristic humor, his ability to put down the pretentious and to be unpretentious, and his willingness to take some risks in his choices of anecdotal data or provocative theories are all apparent in the book,' noted Professor Martin E. James's discussion of conversion, repentance, mysticism, and hopes of reward and fears of punishment in the hereafter-as well as his observations on the religious experiences of such diverse thinkers as Voltaire, Whitman, Emerson, Luther, Tolstoy, and others-all support his thesis. Reflecting the pluralistic views of psychologist-turned-philosopher William James, it posits that individual religious experiences, rather than the tenets of organized religions, form the backbone of religious life.

The book was an immediate bestseller upon its publication in June 1902. The Varieties of Religious Experience is certainly the most notable of all books in the field of the psychology of religion and probably destined to be the most influential written on religion in the twentieth century' said Walter Houston Clark in Psychology Today. 'A reader will come away with more reasons to raise new questions than to feel that old ones have been resolved.'

Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time

The varieties of religious experience audiobook