# The Varieties of Religious Experience — Character guide

> Key figures in The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James.

- [William James](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/william_james.md): The author and narrator, presenting his lectures on religious experience.
- [Leo Tolstoy](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/tolstoy.md): Russian novelist whose personal crisis and conversion are analyzed as a case study.
- [Jesus Christ](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/jesus_christ.md): Central religious figure whose life and teachings are referenced throughout.
- [Saint Teresa of Ávila](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/saint_teresa.md): Spanish mystic whose writings on prayer and visions are quoted extensively.
- [George Fox](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/george_fox.md): Founder of the Quakers, whose spiritual autobiography is a key source.
- [Martin Luther](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/martin_luther.md): Reformer whose inner struggles and religious experiences are discussed.
- [Walt Whitman](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/walt_whitman.md): American poet cited as an example of healthy-mindedness.
- [John Bunyan](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/john_bunyan.md): Author of Pilgrim's Progress, whose conversion experience is analyzed.
- [Edwin Diller Starbuck](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/edwin_starbuck.md): Psychologist whose questionnaires on conversion are frequently cited.
- [David Brainerd](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/david_brainerd.md): Missionary whose diary records his intense religious melancholy and devotion.
- [Alphonse Ratisbonne](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/alphonse_ratisbonne.md): French Jew whose sudden conversion is described in detail.
- [J. A. Symonds](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/j_a_symonds.md): Writer whose mystical experiences are quoted.
- [George Müller](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/george_muller.md): Philanthropist known for his faith and answered prayers.
- [Immanuel Kant](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/immanuel_kant.md): Philosopher whose ideas on morality and religion are discussed.
- [Henry Suso](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/henry_suso.md): Medieval mystic whose sufferings and visions are cited.
- [Antonia Bourignon](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/antonia_bourignon.md): Flemish mystic whose religious experiences are referenced.
- [R. M. Bucke](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/r_m_bucke.md): Physician who described his own cosmic consciousness experience.
- [Thomas Carlyle](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/thomas_carlyle.md): Essayist quoted on the sense of wonder and the infinite.
- [Saint Augustine](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/saint_augustine.md): Early Christian theologian whose conversion is a classic example.
- [Robert Louis Stevenson](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/r_l_stevenson.md): Novelist quoted on the divided self and moral effort.
- [Paul Rousselot](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/paul_rousselot.md): Author of a mystical work quoted by James.
- [Jonathan Edwards](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/jonathan_edwards.md): American theologian and preacher, analyzed for his religious affections.
- [Marcus Aurelius](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/marcus_aurelius.md): Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher, cited on the sense of dependence.
- [Théodore Jouffroy](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/jouffroy.md): French philosopher whose crisis of doubt is described.
- [Stephen H. Bradley](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/stephen_bradley.md): Convert whose experience is recounted in a personal narrative.
- [Margaret Mary Alacoque](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/marguerite_marie.md): French nun known for her visions of the Sacred Heart.
- [Saint Ignatius of Loyola](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/saint_ignatius.md): Founder of the Jesuits, whose spiritual exercises are discussed.
- [Saint Gertrude](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/saint_gertrude.md): Medieval nun whose mystical experiences are quoted.
- [S. H. Hadley](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/s_h_hadley.md): Reformed alcoholic whose conversion story is told.
- [Cotton Mather](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/cotton_mather.md): Puritan minister cited on religious experiences.
- [Saint Paul](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/saint_paul.md): Apostle whose conversion and writings are foundational.
- [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/ralph_waldo_emerson.md): Transcendentalist philosopher quoted on the soul and nature.
- [Alphonse Gratry](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/father_gratry.md): French priest whose youthful despair and conversion are described.
- [Theodore Parker](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/theodore_parker.md): American minister cited on the sense of God's presence.
- [Jacob Boehme](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/jacob_behmen.md): German mystic whose writings are referenced.
- [Henry Alline](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/henry_alline.md): Evangelist whose conversion and inner struggles are detailed.
- [André Towianski](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/towianski.md): Polish mystic whose influence is mentioned.
- [Uneducated Domestic Servant](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/uneducated_domestic_servant.md): Anonymous servant whose religious experience is quoted.
- [Jean-Baptiste Vianney](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/jean_baptiste_vianney.md): French parish priest known for his piety, cited as an example.
- [Richard Weaver](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/richard_weaver.md): Convert whose dramatic testimony is quoted.
- [Baruch Spinoza](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/spinoza.md): Philosopher whose intellectual love of God is discussed.
- [Alfred Tennyson](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/alfred_tennyson.md): Poet quoted on mystical states of consciousness.
- [Voltaire](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/voltaire.md): French philosopher cited on the limits of reason.
- [James H. Leuba](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/professor_leuba.md): Psychologist whose studies on religious experience are cited.
- [Moses](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/moses.md): Biblical prophet who received the law on Sinai.
- [John Foster](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/john_foster.md): Essayist quoted on religious melancholy.
- [Billy Bray](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/billy_bray.md): Cornish miner known for his joyful Christian life.
- [John Caird](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/john_caird.md): Scottish theologian quoted on the consciousness of God.
- [William Ellery Channing](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/channing.md): Unitarian minister cited on spiritual growth.
- [Saint Francis of Assisi](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/saint_francis.md): Founder of the Franciscans, exemplar of saintliness.
- [Muhammad](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/mohammed.md): Prophet of Islam, mentioned in the context of religious founders.
- [The Buddha](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/buddha.md): Founder of Buddhism, cited on the universality of suffering.
- [Frederick W. H. Myers](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/frederick_myers.md): Psychical researcher whose work is referenced.
- [John Cennick](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/john_cennick.md): Methodist preacher whose conversion is described.
- [Philo of Alexandria](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/philo.md): Hellenistic Jewish philosopher cited on mysticism.
- [Saint Aloysius Gonzaga](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/saint_louis_gonzaga.md): Jesuit saint known for his purity, cited as an example.
- [Augustus Hare](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/augustus_hare.md): Author whose memoirs are quoted on religious upbringing.
- [Ernest Renan](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/ernest_renan.md): French historian of religion, cited on the psychology of faith.
- [Satan](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/satan.md): The devil, referenced in discussions of religious fear and evil.
- [Bernardin de Saint-Pierre](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/bernardin_de_saint_pierre.md): French writer quoted on the feeling of God's presence.
- [Horace Fletcher](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/horace_fletcher.md): Author cited on the moral equivalent of war and healthy-mindedness.
- [John Henry Newman](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/john_henry_newman.md): Cardinal and theologian, quoted on faith and certainty.
- [Henry Maudsley](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/henry_maudsley.md): Psychiatrist cited on the pathology of religious feeling.
- [Alphonse Daudet](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/alphonse_daudet.md): French novelist quoted on the fear of death.
- [George Albert Coe](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/george_albert_coe.md): Psychologist of religion whose work is referenced.
- [Saint John of the Cross](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/saint_john_of_the_cross.md): Spanish mystic and poet, quoted on the dark night of the soul.
- [George Whitefield](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/george_whitefield.md): Evangelical preacher of the Great Awakening, cited as an example.
- [John Scotus Eriugena](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/scotus_erigena.md): Medieval philosopher cited on the nature of God.
- [Plato](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/plato.md): Ancient Greek philosopher, referenced on the soul and the good.
- [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/goethe.md): German poet and philosopher, quoted on religious feeling.
- [Francis Xavier](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/francis_xavier.md): Jesuit missionary, cited for his zeal and mystical experiences.
- [Thomas Ellwood](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/thomas_ellwood.md): Quaker whose autobiography is quoted on religious experience.
- [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/friedrich_nietzsche.md): German philosopher, cited on the psychology of morality and religion.
- [Joseph Smith](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/joseph_smith.md): Founder of Mormonism, mentioned as a religious leader.
- [John Wesley](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/john_wesley.md): Founder of Methodism, whose conversion is described.
- [Théodule Ribot](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/theophile_ribot.md): French psychologist, cited on the psychology of belief.
- [Henri Perreyve](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/henri_perreyve.md): French priest whose letters are quoted on religious sentiment.
- [Jerry McAuley](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/jerry_mauley.md): Reformed criminal and founder of a rescue mission, cited as a convert.
- [Madame Guyon](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/madame_guyon.md): French mystic associated with Quietism, quoted on prayer.
- [Mgr Bougaud](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/mgr_bougaud.md): French bishop and biographer, cited as a source.
- [Gabriel](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/gabriel.md): Archangel, mentioned in the context of religious visions.
- [Christoph Blumhardt](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/christoph_blumhardt.md): German theologian and pastor, cited on the kingdom of God.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters