Substance and Shadow, Or, Morality and Religion in Their Relation to Life

Substance and Shadow, or Morality and Religion in Their Relation to Life is an 1863 theological work by Henry James Sr. (1811-1882), the American religious philosopher and father of the novelist Henry James and the psychologist William James. James Sr. developed an idiosyncratic theology from Swedenborg and Fourier, arguing that conventional moralism and self-righteous religion are the shadow that must die so that the substance, a redeemed social humanity in which God dwells, can be born. Substance and Shadow is among the fullest statements of his system, attacking the moralistic self as the root spiritual evil. His writing influenced his sons profoundly. The book is a primary source for the intellectual formation of the James family and for nineteenth-century American religious thought outside the churches. Free PDF download available on BDeBooks.