How did William James study religion through personal experience rather than abstract arguments?

William James approached the study of religion through an empirical lens rather than through abstract or dialectical arguments. He believed that religious truths should be sought directly in the lived reality of individuals, viewing religious experience as a primary source of evidence for the nature of divinity.1

His methodology was characterized by the following:

• Empirical Observation: James focused on the "rich concreteness" of personal accounts, collecting and analyzing diverse reports of religious experiences to understand their psychological impact and functional value.1
• Functional Pragmatism: He argued that the truth of a religious belief could be assessed by its "working"—the practical, psychological, and moral benefits it provides to the believer in their life.2
• Radical Empiricism: James posited that experience is far more complex than a passive registry of sensory data; it includes the relations and connections between items of experience, allowing for the study of religious phenomena as meaningful transactions between individuals and their environment.3
• Psychological Inquiry: In his seminal work, The Varieties of Religious Experience, he explored phenomena like conversion by examining them as "invasions from the unconscious," seeking to understand how these experiences provide individuals with access to "consciousness-like energies" during times of crisis.14