The Varieties of Religious Experience · Chapter
Lectures XI, XII and XIII: Saintliness explained
This chapter examines the practical fruits of religious conversion and saintliness, arguing that the true value of religious experience is measured by its effects on life.
What happens
This chapter examines the practical fruits of religious conversion and saintliness, arguing that the true value of religious experience is measured by its effects on life. James describes the inner transformation that occurs in saints, including a sense of enveloping friendliness, the disappearance of fear, increased charity, and a drive toward purity of life. He illustrates these points with examples such as Billy Bray's abandonment of tobacco and the serene trust described by various religious figures. The chapter sets the stage for a judgment on the total value of religious life, emphasizing the heroic and morally uplifting nature of saintly conduct.
Themes in this chapter
Saintliness and Practical Fruits
The chapter focuses on the tangible outcomes of religious conversion, such as charity, purity, and inner peace, as evidence of the value of religious life.
The Role of Feeling and Emotion
James emphasizes that emotional susceptibility and the shifting of the emotional center are key to understanding the transformation in saints.
Mysticism and the Reality of the Unseen
The sense of an enveloping friendliness and the presence of a higher power is described as a fundamental feature of the spiritual life.
Characters to notice
- William James
Author and lecturer, presenting the empirical inquiry into the fruits of religious life.
- Billy Bray
Example of a convert who gave up smoking and chewing tobacco as part of his pursuit of purity.
- Saint Teresa of Ávila
Mentioned as an example of the common spirit of piety and charity among the regenerate.
- Jonathan Edwards
His wife's account of a night of intense spiritual sweetness is quoted as an example of the sense of divine presence.
Key passages
“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.”
The most noble acts of kindness, faith, endurance, and courage in human history have been inspired by religious beliefs.
James asserts the superiority of religiously motivated virtues.
“The saintly person becomes exceedingly sensitive to inner inconsistency or discord, and mixture and confusion grow intolerable.”
Saints become highly aware of any internal conflict or impurity, and they find it unbearable to have mixed or disordered thoughts.
This describes the saint's heightened moral sensitivity.
“It is the experience of myriads of trustful souls, that this sense of God’s unfailing presence with them in their going out and in their coming in, and by night and day, is a source of absolute repose and confident calmness.”
Many trusting people find that feeling God's constant presence gives them complete peace and confidence, eliminating fear.
This illustrates the inner security that comes from faith.