The case of Stephen H Bradley, reported by William James in The Varieties of Religious Experience, is arresting. At the age of 14, he had a vision of Jesus. It lasted only a second. Christ was in the young man's room, "with arms extended, appearing to say to me, Come." From that day on, Bradley called himself a Christian.
Then, when he was in his mid-20s, he attended a revivalist meeting. It left him cold, and that troubled him, as he regarded himself as religious. Then, later that evening, he was gripped by an even more profound experience than the first.
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