William James, complete religious experience is far more than simply a theoretical, or abstract living-in -- the moment feeling. For him, religion has to be lived and experienced in a wholesome, holistic manner. It has to be conscious and permeate man's entire being.

James described this in the following way:

If religion be a function by which either God's cause or man's cause is to be really advanced, then he who lives the life of it, however narrowly, is a better servant than he who merely knows about it, however much. Knowledge about life is one thing; effective occupation of a place in life, with its dynamic currents passing through your being, is another. (489)

For James, this "effective occupation" requires experience that is a "full fact":

A conscious field plus its object as felt or thought plus an attitude towards the object plus the sense of a self to...
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