# Saint Teresa of Ávila — The Varieties of Religious Experience character guide

> Saint Teresa of Ávila in The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Saint Teresa, Teresa, Saint Teresa:

**First appearance:** 0016-lectures-xvi-and-xvii-mysticism

## Snapshot

The Spanish mystic whose raptures and prayer manuals force James to ask whether the fruits of a vision can be judged without first judging the God behind it.

## Who they are

Teresa stands behind James's 'Critique of Pure Saintliness,' where he confesses that measuring a religion by human fruits quietly assumes a theology of one's own. Her contemplations, insisting on the absence of sensible images, exemplify the mystical sine qua non he describes. She matters because she makes the empirical method uncomfortable with itself, exposing how much instinct and prejudice guide our verdicts on sanctity.

## In the story

### [Lecture I: Religion and Neurology](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/chapters/lecture-i-religion-and-neurology)

Cited as an example of a religious figure dismissed by medical materialism as an hysteric.

### [Lectures XI, XII and XIII: Saintliness](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/chapters/lectures-xi-xii-and-xiii-saintliness)

Mentioned as an example of the common spirit of piety and charity among the regenerate.

### [Lectures XVI and XVII: Mysticism](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/chapters/lectures-xvi-and-xvii-mysticism)

Described as 'expert of experts' in describing mystical states, quoted on the 'orison of union'.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters/saint_teresa
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_varieties_of_religious_experience_se/characters