The Structure of Religious Experience

John Macmurray, one of the most brilliant of the younger English philosophers, sets forth his conception of a religion which he believes can save the world from chaos. He regards religion as having its springs in the relations between human individuals, and thinks that a religion that is not concerned with inherent social questions is no religion at all, or rather, it is a religion that has been falsified and that has lost the clue to its own meaning. According to his view, every aspect of progress, every scientific advance, the achievement of every artist and every mystic is to be tested not against a supernatural world but in the practical world of human society. It is only in this way that the efficacy of religion and its high usefulness to mankind will be able to continue in its historical importance and perhaps even create a world of peace and well-being.

 

 

John Macmurray is Grote Professor of Mind and Logic, University College London, England