William James on Faith

William James

William James

christian authoritiespragmatismfaith

Suppose that the world’s author put the case to you before creation, saying: “I am going to make a world not certain to be saved, a world the perfection of which shall be conditional merely, the condition being that each several agent does its own ‘level best.’ I offer you the chance of taking part in such a world. Its safety, you see, is unwarranted. It is a real adventure, with real danger, yet it may win through. It is a social scheme of co-operative work genuinely to be done. Will you join the procession? Will you trust yourself and trust the other agents enough to face the risk?”

Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking, New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1907

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A very real “pantheism” if you like (in the etymological meaning of the word) but an absolutely legitimate pantheism—for if, in the last resort, the reflective centers of the world are effectively “one with God,” this state is obtained not by identification (God becoming all) but by the differentiating and communicating action of love (God all in everyone ).

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Christ has no body now but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks With compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good; Yours are the hands with which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands; yours are the feet; Yours are the eyes; you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

More from William James

The capacity of the strenuous mood lies so deep down among our natural human possibilities that even if there were no metaphysical or traditional grounds for believing in a God, men would postulate one simply as a pretext for living hard, and getting out of the game of existence its keenest possibilities of zest. Our attitude towards concrete evils is entirely different in a world where we believe there are none but finite demanders, from what it is in one where we joyously face tragedy for an infinite demanders’ sake. Every sort of energy and endurance, of courage and capacity for handling life’s evils, is set free in those who have religious faith. For this reason the strenuous type of character will on the battle-field of human history always outwear the easy-going type, and religion will drive irreligion to the wall.

The capacity of the strenuous mood lies so deep down among our natural human possibilities that even if there were no metaphysical or traditional grounds for believing in a God, men would postulate one simply as a pretext for living hard, and getting out of the game of existence its keenest possibilities of zest.