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The Varieties of Religious Experiencemelancholy state I was attempting to pray; but found no heart toengage in that or any other duty; my former concern, exercise, andreligious affections were now gone. I thought that the Spirit of Godhad quite left me; but still was not distressed; yet disconsolate, as ifthere was nothing in heaven or earth could make me happy. Havingbeen thus endeavoring to pray—though, as I thought, very stupidand senseless—for near half an hour; then, as I was walking in athick grove, unspeakable glory seemed to open to the apprehensionof my soul. I do not mean any external brightness, nor any imaginationof a body of light, but it was a new inward apprehension orview that I had of God, such as I never had before, nor anythingwhich had the least resemblance to it. I had no particular apprehensionof any one person in the Trinity, either the Father, the Son, orthe Holy Ghost; but it appeared to be Divine glory. My soul rejoicedwith joy unspeakable, to see such a God, such a gloriousDivine Being; and I was inwardly pleased and satisfied that he shouldbe God over all for ever and ever. My soul was so captivated anddelighted with the excellency of God that I was even swallowed upin him, at least to that degree that I had no thought about my ownsalvation, and scarce reflected that there was such a creature as myself.I continued in this state of inward joy, peace, and astonishing,till near dark without any sensible abatement; and then began tothink and examine what I had seen; and felt sweetly composed inmy mind all the evening following. I felt myself in a new world, andeverything about me appeared with a different aspect from what itwas wont to do. At this time, the way of salvation opened to mewith such infinite wisdom, suitableness, and excellency, that I wonderedI should ever think of any other way of salvation; was amazedthat I had not dropped my own contrivances, and complied withthis lovely, blessed, and excellent way before. If I could have beensaved by my own duties or any other way that I had formerly contrived,my whole soul would now have refused it. I wondered thatall the world did not see and comply with this way of salvation,entirely by the righteousness of Christ.”116116 Edward’s and Dwight’s Life of Brainerd, New Haven, 1822, pp. 45-47, abridged.196
William JamesI have italicized the passage which records the exhaustion of theanxious emotion hitherto habitual. In a large proportion, perhapsthe majority, of reports, the writers speak as if the exhaustion of thelower and the entrance of the higher emotion were simultaneous,117yet often again they speak as if the higher actively drove the lowerout. This is undoubtedly true in a great many instances, as we shallpresently see. But often there seems little doubt that both conditions—subconsciousripening of the one affection and exhaustionof the other—must simultaneously have conspired, in order to producethe result.T. W. B., a convert of Nettleton’s, being brought to an acute paroxysmof conviction of sin, ate nothing all day, locked himself in hisroom in the evening in complete despair, crying aloud, “How long,O Lord, how long?” “After repeating this and similar language,” hesays, “several times, I seemed to sink away into a state of insensibility.When I came to myself again I was on my knees, praying not formyself but for others. I felt submission to the will of God, willingthat he should do with me as should seem good in his sight. Myconcern seemed all lost in concern for others.”118Our great American revivalist Finney writes: “I said to myself:‘What is this? I must have grieved the Holy Ghost entirely away.I have lost all my conviction. I have not a particle of concernabout my soul; and it must be that the Spirit has left me.’ ‘Why!’thought I, ‘I never was so far from being concerned about my ownsalvation in my life.’ … I tried to recall my convictions, to get backagain the load of sin under which I had been laboring. I tried in117 Describing the whole phenomenon as a change of equilibrium, wemight say that the movement of new psychic energies towards the personalcentre and the recession of old ones towards the margin (or the rising ofsome objects above, and the sinking of others below the conscious threshold)were only two ways of describing an indivisible event. Doubtless this isoften absolutely true, and Starbuck is right when he says that “self-surrender”and “new determination,” though seeming at first sight to be suchdifferent experiences, are “really the same thing. Self-surrender sees the changein terms of the old self, determination sees it in terms of the new.” Op. cit.,p. 160.118 A. A. Bonar: Nettleton and his Labors, Edinburgh, 1854, p. 261.197
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The Varieties ofReligiousExperience
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ContentsPREFACE....................
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William JamesLECTURE II CIRCUMSCRIP
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William JamesLECTURES XI, XII, AND
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William Jameseses: 1. The subconsci
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William Jamesmy colleague Dickinson
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William Jamesits heroic obligations
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William Jamesas a guide to life and
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William Jamespower. Yet from the po
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William Jamesthors are actually abl
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William Jamesin favor of the sexual
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William Jamesof our states of mind,
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William Jamesstrictly to the medica
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William Jamesment from origin has s
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William Jamesthe bugaboo of morbid
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William Jamesreligious evolution. T
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William JamesLecture e IICIRCUMSCRI
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William Jamesnot prevent me from ta
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