Religious Experience

Alston, William P. Divine Nature and Human Language: Essays in Philosophical Theology. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1989.
Alston argues that perception of God is analogous in many important respects to normal sense perception. He concludes that religious belief can be rationally justified on the basis of mystical experience.

Alston, William P. Perceiving God: The Epistemology of Religious Experience. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1991.

Andreser, Jensine, Robert K.C. Forman, Ken Witber. Cognitive Models and Spiritual Maps: Interdisciplinary Explorations of Religious Experience. Imprint Academic, 2000.

Brown, Colin. Miracles and the Critical Mind. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1984.

Carmody, Denise Lardner, John Carmody. Mysticism: Holiness East and West. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1996.

D'Aquili, Eugene, Andrew B. Newberg. The Mystical Mind: Probing the Biology of Religious Experience. New York: Fortress Press, 1999.
Makes the case for the neurological underpinnings of religious and spiritual experience. Explores the issue of how "ultimate reality" is perceived and experienced by the human brain and mind. What are the brain processes underlying many important aspects of religious experience and ultimate meaning?

Hallesby, O. Conscience. Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing, 1956.

Hardy, Alister. The Spiritual Nature of Man: A Study of Contemporary Religious Experience. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979.
A classified study of 3,000 reports of religious experience.

Houston, Joseph. Reported Miracles. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.

James, William. The Varieties of Religious Experience: A study in human nature. New York, NY: Longmans, 1902.
One of the most important Gifford Lectures, this classic work is a study in individual religious experience by one of the great philosophers and psychologists in American history. The classic work on the psychology of religious experience, with special emphasis on spiritual conversion.

Kennedy, Robert E. Zen Spirit, Christian Spirit: The Place of Zen in Christian Life. New York: Continuum Publishers, 1995.
A good introduction to Zen by a Jesuit priest who is also an ordained Zen teacher. Kennedy explains how his search for Christian renewal led him to a Buddhist monastary in Japan.

McGinn, Bernard. The Foundations of Mysticism: Origins to the Fifth Century. New York: Crossroad, 1994.

Miller, William R., Janet C'de Baca. Quantum Change: When Epiphanies and Sudden Insights Transform Ordinary Lives. New York: Guilford Press, 2001.
A challenging study on understanding how change occurs. Documents "Ebenezer Scrooge" transformational experiences in real life.

Staal, Frits. Exploring Mysticism. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1975.

Underhill, Evelyn. Mysticism. London: Oneworld Publishing, 1999.
A classic study of the mystical experience in Western religions. Sees this as being "in love with the Absolute."

Yandell, Keith E. The Epistemology of Religious Experience. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1993.