The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature

James distinguishes morbid-mindedness and healthy-mindedness once more by explaining that the former is suspicious of naturalism or innate goodness. For the morbid-minded, religions are only effective if they utilize twice-born theology. The reason people fall in either category may be linked to the psychology of their characters. Some individuals are born with a harmonious nature, while others are born in search of contradiction. People who live such challenged lives are referred to as having “heterogenous personalities”: “There are persons whose existence is little more than a series of zigzags; as now one tendency and now another gets the upper hand” (169). Some of the most prominent religious figures have heterogenous personalities, making their religious conversion highly impactful.

All morbid-minded people are at war within themselves, seeking to unify their inner struggles. They feel a sense of moral remorse and self-condemnation. Saint Augustine is an example of this. Just as he was overtaken with his own shame, he experienced a religious revelation in a garden and heard God’s voice. The experience brought Saint Augustine a sense of peace. James asserts that religious revelations are born from a divided will. For some, like Augustine, religious revelations happen all at once, while others experience them more gradually. These experiences bring peace, relief, and happiness—a powerful function.

The same psychological effect can occur in other types of rebirth. Individuals may feel disenfranchised with religion and find solace in doubt, or they may abandon strict morality to experience freedom. James argues that the psychological processes of these instances directly mirror the processes of religious revelations.

James now narrows his focus on the point at which the divided self becomes unified. He calls this critical moment “conversion.” The psychologist utilizes the account of a man named Stephen H. Bradley to illustrate conversion. Bradley thought he had been converted at a young age, but he experienced what he felt was a true conversion years later at a revival. James asserts that humans are psychologically driven by aims. These aims vary depending on context. Most people change their aims regularly, dividing their souls. However, when a person adheres to an aim consistently over time, it is referred to as a transformation.

James suggests that it is no coincidence that many people experience conversion during adolescence, as conversion is a magnified version of the mental processes children ages 14 to 17 experience on a regular basis. The symptoms of both adolescence and conversion are similar, including a lack of self-confidence and depression. Some people are never converted; their resistance is likely due to intellectualism or a pessimistic belief system.

Conversion typically occurs in one of two ways. The first is voluntary and happens gradually over an extended period. The second is involuntary and sudden. James describes this latter type of conversion as a surrender: “The act of yielding, in this point of view, is giving one’s self over to the new life, making it the centre of a new personality” (210). In the involuntary model of conversion, the individual yields to subconscious forces. Sudden conversions can be brought on by physical or mental exhaustion.

conversion. Although their backgrounds were vastly different, their religious experiences showed remarkable consistency. Rather than dismissing conversion as strictly spiritual, James asserts that it is a part of the psychological fabric: “divine in its fruits, of course […] neither more nor less divine in its mere causation and mechanism than any other process, high or low, of a man’s interior life” (230). Since conversion unifies aim, it is important to consider how this relates to the field of consciousness.

James adheres to a psychological theory of consciousness which translates the mental state into various mental fields. These fields overlap and overtake one another, connecting to his earlier suggestion that most mental processes are fixated on particular aims. Religious experiences supplant other fields with a wider range which connect to subconscious regions. Religious experiences, although spiritual in nature, feel real to the individual: “how real, definite, and memorable an event a sudden conversion may be to him who has the experience” (226). In these moments, James suggests that the subconscious explodes outward like a blossoming flower.

Part of what makes the revelation feel so tangible is the outcomes it produces. Religious revelations contribute to the field of psychology by exposing subconscious mental processes and magnifying them. Conversion is similar to the process of hypnosis, or automatism, which draws forward the subconscious regions.

The psychologist then devotes the rest of the lecture to examining the many functions of the act of conversion. At the point of conversion, the individual feels a sense of surrender and overtaking. Other sensations can occur too, such as a feeling of safety or rightness. The individual’s personality may change, or the person may feel vitalized. Most accounts recall feeling peaceful and assured, with a sense of higher control. Other functions include a loss of anxiety and the feeling of acute perception of truth. Happiness is the most prevalent emotion which emerges from religious experience.