2.2 Types of religious experience

Question 1

Explain the significance of William James on religious experience

Answer 1

• American philosopher & psychologist
• lived 1842-1910
• he wrote one of the key texts on religious experience, The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study of Human Nature, based on a series of lectures he gave in 1902
• drawing on developments in psychology & neurology, James expected that religious experience are psychological phenomena occurring in our brain but argued that this does not mean that they are just psychological phenomena
• James identified four core characteristics of religious experience: PINT (Passive, Ineffable, Noetic [quality], Transient)

Question 2

Define passive

Answer 2

• it comes to the recipient unbidden (unexpected)
• the experiencer feels overwhelmed by the power of God
• the experience controls you & not you it
• the person feels that they are taken over by a superior authority

Question 3

Define ineffable

Answer 3

• it cannot be described in ordinary language
• the experiencer is aware of what the experience means, in a sense, but cannot describe it

Question 4

Define transitory

Answer 4

it is fleeting or momentary, meaning that the experiencer experiences time in a different way

Question 5

Define noetic

Answer 5

• the believer gains some kind of knowledge which could not have been reached by reason alone, only by the revelation of experience
• it provides revelations of universal & eternal truths

Question 6

Describe the first stage of a religious experience (Dramatic/conversion event) (not finished: write about examples)

Answer 6

• conversion experiences raise interesting issues; although the inner experience cannot be empirically detectable, the resulting changes in behaviour are something that can be empirically observed
• often, these changes occur dramatically over days & weeks, which for many believers is a powerful piece of evidence for the existence of God
• conversion is also not limited to individual experience; communal conversation experience can occur, in which a group of people experience a change in behaviour or beliefs at the same time

Question 7

Describe the key features of a dramatic/conversion event

Answer 7

• overwhelming sense of guilt & sin leads to a change in way of life
• scholar Rudolph Otto says it is direct i.e. numinous (“wholly other” -> holy)
• Isaiah: “Woe is me. I am unclean”
• something that inspires awe & wonder
• a vision
• John Wesley was a religious scholar whose trust in God increased dramatically after a religious experience

Question 8

What mental occurrences lead up to differences in conversion processes?

Answer 8

1. conscious & voluntary experience, called ‘volitional type’ (gradual conversion)
2. involuntary & unconscious experience called ‘self-surrender type’ (sudden conversion)

Question 9

What is a ‘gradual conversion’?

Answer 9

the conversion takes place over a length of time, possibly even years

Question 10

What is a ‘sudden conversion’?

Answer 10

the conversion takes place suddenly, when a clear decision is made & a particular date can be given for the event

Question 11

Describe the second stage of a religious experience (near-death experiences)

Answer 11

• near-death experiences are said to occur when someone ‘dies’ & is resuscitated
• professor Kenneth Bing (b.1935) has identified some common aspects, such as an out-of-body experience, a feeling of peace, entering darkness & seeing light
• similarly, neuropsychiatrist, Peter Fenwick (b.1935) identified several features which represent the ‘full syndrome’ of near-death experiences, including a tunnel, experiencing a barrier, a life review, a decision to return, a rapid return to the physical body & removal of the fear of death