Sola Fides at the Core of Varieties: Luther as Religious Genius in William James’s Thought

Abstract

Classical American pragmatism is an estimable source to understand religion as an inescapable human endeavor. Despite logical divergences among the approaches of classical figures, they share a primeval interest in religion. Charles Sanders Peirce, for example, gave religion a central role in his philosophy, especially through his conception of evolutionary love; Josiah Royce linked religion and morality in an attempt to assert the vitality of the idealist tradition. Finally, John Dewey fought “militant atheism” through a vision that could be called religious naturalism. As part of the core of this movement, William James’s philosophy has religion as a fundamental issue too. Numerous books and articles have already been written on James’s views on religious experiences and religion. Thus, it is not my purpose to repeat or rephrase either James or the literature, but to explore a couple of neglected connections: the line that can be drawn between Luther and James, on the one hand; and on the other hand, the role that Hegel’s conception of religion could play in relation to Luther and James. Accordingly, I will support the view that inwardness is one of the foremost ways to understand the links between these thinkers. Given this general framework, one of the main issues relates to institutional creeds, particularly to the role of the Protestant spirit and denominations in classical American philosophy. As regards James, he tends to oscillate between identifying his writings as belonging to the general spirit of Protestantism, on