Reading as Spiritual Experience: Theological, Affective, and Cognitive Approaches
Religions July 29, 2025 Dennis F. Kinlaw 1 citation
Literary reading can give rise to experiences that readers identify as spiritual, according to this theoretical and philosophical paper. Framed by William James's concept of mystical susceptibility and psychological models of spirituality as altered states of consciousness, the essay examines how engagement with narrative may occasion shifts in perception, affect, and cognition. Drawing on theologians like Teresa of Avila, affect theory from Rita Felski, and cognitive studies from Tanya Luhrmann on absorption, the article suggests that absorption—a psychological and aesthetic phenomenon—connects empirical studies of attention and transformation with theological and affective insights. Literature is proposed as a form of engagement capable of opening readers to spiritual insight measurable through qualitative means.