The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human NatureJames, William
ReligionComparative
The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature
James, William
Conversion; Experience (Religion); Philosophy and religion; Psychology, Religious; Religion
“One Tuesday evening I sat in a saloon in Harlem, a homeless,
friendless, dying drunkard. I had pawned or sold everything that
would bring a drink. I could not sleep unless I was dead drunk. I
had not eaten for days, and for four nights preceding I had
suffered with delirium tremens, or the horrors, from midnight till
morning. I had often said, ‘I will never be a tramp. I will never
be cornered, for when that time comes, if ever it comes, I will
find a home in the bottom of the river.’ But the Lord so ordered
it that when that time did come I was not able to walk one quarter
of the way to the river. As I sat there thinking, I seemed to feel
some great and mighty presence. I did not know then what it was. I
did learn afterwards that it was Jesus, the sinner’s friend. I
walked up to the bar and pounded it with my fist till I made the
glasses rattle. Those who stood by drinking looked on with
scornful curiosity. I said I would never take another drink, if I
died on the street, and really I felt as though that would happen
before morning. Something said, ‘If you want to keep this promise,
go and have yourself locked up.’ I went to the nearest station‐
house and had myself locked up.
“I was placed in a narrow cell, and it seemed as though all the
demons that could find room came in that place with me. This was
not all the company I had, either. No, praise the Lord; that dear
Spirit that came to me in the saloon was present, and said, Pray.
I did pray, and though I did not feel any great help, I kept on
praying. As soon as I was able to leave my cell I was taken to the
police court and remanded back to the cell. I was finally
released, and found my way to my brother’s house, where every care
was given me. While lying in bed the admonishing Spirit never left
me, and when I arose the following Sabbath morning I felt that day
would decide my fate, and toward evening it came into my head to
go to Jerry M’Auley’s Mission. I went. The house was packed, and
with great difficulty I made my way to the space near the
platform. There I saw the apostle to the drunkard and the
outcast—that man of God, Jerry M’Auley. He rose, and amid deep
silence told his experience. There was a sincerity about this man
that carried conviction with it, and I found myself saying, ‘I
wonder if God can save _me_?’ I listened to the testimony of
twenty‐five or thirty persons, every one of whom had been saved
from rum, and I made up my mind that I would be saved or die right
there. When the invitation was given, I knelt down with a crowd of
drunkards. Jerry made the first prayer. Then Mrs. M’Auley prayed
fervently for us. Oh, what a conflict was going on for my poor
soul! A blessed whisper said, ‘Come’; the devil said, ‘Be
careful.’ I halted but a moment, and then, with a breaking heart,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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