"Religion & Sex: Studies in the Pathology of Religious Development" by Chapman Cohen. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.
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Chapman Cohen. Religion & Sex: Studies in the Pathology of Religious Development
Religion & Sex: Studies in the Pathology of Religious Development
Table of Contents
PREFACE
RELIGION AND SEX. CHAPTER ONE. SCIENCE AND THE SUPERNATURAL
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CHAPTER TWO. THE PRIMITIVE MIND & ITS ENVIRONMENT
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CHAPTER THREE. THE RELIGION OF MENTAL DISEASE
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CHAPTER FOUR. SEX & RELIGION IN PRIMITIVE LIFE
NOTE TO PAGE 104
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CHAPTER FIVE. THE INFLUENCE OF SEXUAL AND PATHOLOGIC STATES ON RELIGIOUS BELIEF
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CHAPTER SIX. THE STREAM OF TENDENCY
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CHAPTER SEVEN. CONVERSION
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CHAPTER EIGHT. RELIGIOUS EPIDEMICS
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CHAPTER NINE. RELIGIOUS EPIDEMICS—(CONCLUDED)
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CHAPTER TEN. THE WITCH MANIA
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CHAPTER ELEVEN. SUMMARY & CONCLUSION
INDEX
Отрывок из книги
Chapman Cohen
Published by Good Press, 2019
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"When I say that all religions depend for their origin and continuation directly upon inspiration, I state an historic fact. It may be known under other names, of credit or discredit, as mysticism, ecstasy, rhapsody, demoniac possession, the divine afflatus, the gnosis, or, in its latest christening, 'cosmic consciousness.' All are but expressions of a belief that knowledge arises, words are uttered or actions performed not through conscious ideation or reflective purpose, but through the promptings of a power above or beyond the individual mind."[3]
The connection between very many, at least, of these inspirational moods and pathological states is too obvious to be ignored. Professor James admits that "we cannot possibly ignore these pathological aspects of the subject." His notice of them, however, reminds one of the preacher who advised his hearers to look a certain difficulty boldly in the face—and pass on. No serious attempt is made to deal with them. A huge mass of "religious experiences" is thrown at the reader's head without any adequate explanation. It is a glorified revival meeting in an expensive volume. The testimony of a crowd of religious enthusiasts of all ages is accepted at practically face value. Thus, a religious writer who experiences the fairly common feeling of exaltation during a storm at sea, and explains his carelessness of danger as resulting from his "certainty of eternal life,"[4] is gravely cited as evidence of the working of the religious consciousness. What, then, are we to make of those who experience a similar feeling, but who are without the certainty of eternal life? The declaration of St. Ignatius that a single hour of meditation taught him more of the truth of "heavenly things than all the teachings of the doctors" is given as evidence of mystic illumination.[5] So with numerous other cases. We are even informed that "nitrous oxide and ether, especially nitrous oxide, when sufficiently diluted with air, stimulate the mystical consciousness in an extraordinary degree."[6] There seems no reason why the same claim should not be made on behalf of whisky. If one were not assured to the contrary, one might conclude that Professor James wrote this volume to poke fun at the whole tribe of mystics and their followers.
