2.2.1 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 type of 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 type of 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

Question 12

Define ‘prayer’ in terms of a religious experience

Answer 12

prayer is a form of religious experience in which people seek a union with God

Question 13

How does an intention affect the existence of a prayer?

Answer 13

it does not happen to people when they are least expecting it, but is something they choose to do, in the hope of having an encounter with God & gaining a greater understanding of what God wants them to do

Question 14

What may trigger an urge to pray?

Answer 14

• people might hope to have an encounter with God at times when they are feeling especially grateful for something; when they have an important decision to make & and are unsure of what to do; when they feel helpless in the face of suffering, & want to ask to help to alleviate someone’s situation; or when they know that they have done something wrong, feel guilty, & want to be forgiven
• some religious people pray every day as part of their daily routine, & others pray only occasionally

Question 15

What are the types of prayer (according to its purpose)?

Answer 15

• prayers of worship & thanksgiving, praising God, & showing recognition of God’s power, & thanking God for specific things
• prayers of petition, where people ask God for help, or perhaps for some kind of sign to indicate the right choices to make; they might pray for healing for the sick, peace in times of conflict, or comfort for people who are in difficult situations
• prayers of confession and repentance, where people contemplate the wrong they have done & seek God’s forgiveness

Question 16

Describe the variety of prayer

Answer 16

• prayer can be communal, where people gather together & say or listen to the same words of prayer, or are silent together
• can be individual, where someone says a quick prayer as they go about their everyday life, or retreats to somewhere quiet & private, away from others to pray
• prayer is used in services of religious worship; different religions & different denominations within those traditions have different practices
• some follow the words of a prayer book, some are led by a minister or reader, & some use spontaneous prayer where anyone in the congregation can speak
• some use techniques of quiet contemplation & meditation; many religious traditions use a combinations of these
• although experiences vary significantly, the purpose is the same: to initiate a religious experience, from which the individual hopes to learn & be strengthened in their faith

Question 17

What is Teresa of Avila significant for?

Answer 17

the philosopher William James described Teresa of Avila as ‘one of the ablest women, in many respects, of whose life we have the record.’

Question 18

What makes Teresa of Avila unique?

Answer 18

although Teresa came from a wealthy family, she chose to devote her life to study & prayer in a Carmelite convent

Question 19

What did Teresa of Avila’s work consist of?

Answer 19

born in 1515, Teresa was a keen reader, & an admirer of the writings of Augustine as well as of the work of the mediaeval mystics: she studied their experiences of contemplative prayer, & decided to follow the spiritual path they suggested

Question 20

How does Teresa of Avila take inspiration from Augustine?

Answer 20

Augustine had written an autobiography detailing his religious life, the questions he struggled with, & the answers he found, & Teresa’s own writings followed his example

Question 21

What changed Teresa of Avila’s perspective on religious experiences?

Answer 21

• a period of serious illness left her with paralysis for several years, after which she began to experience visions of Jesus
• she was embarrassed at first to tell other people about them, in case they thought she fancied herself as the new Saint Paul or Saint Jerome, but some of the authorities in her religious order were encouraging, & asked her to write her prayer life & her religious experiences in the hope of inspiring others
• when she wrote, Teresa scribbled at breakneck speed, never going back to rewrite anything, & and saying that she wished she could write with both hands simultaneously so that she could get everything down onto paper as quickly as it came into her head

Question 22

What did Teresa of Avila say about prayer in her autobiography?

Answer 22

• Teresa said that her aim in setting out different stages of prayer was to help people to realise that there was much more to be gained from prayer than just a few moments each day of repeated words
• she wrote: “And anyone who has not begun to pray, I beg, for love of the Lord, not to miss so great a blessing”.

Question 23

What is Teresa of Avila’s interpretation of prayer?

Answer 23

• Teresa saw prayer in terms of a spiritual exercise, where, if taken seriously, it is possible to progress through different levels
• at the beginning, prayer takes a lot of effort, but it is worth it because the aim is to work towards a point in which the soul achieves a spiritual union with God
• each stage takes a considerable amount of time to develop and cannot be rushed
• in her autobiography, Teresa used the analogy of someone watering a garden in the hope that everything will eventually grow & flower - some methods of getting the water to the garden are harder than others

Question 24

Describe the first stage of prayer as said by Teresa of Avila

Answer 24

• meditation: this is the first stage of prayer, for beginners, & and the only one of the four stages that can be achieved at least in part by someone’s own efforts
• people should set aside distractions & anxieties, & concentrate their thoughts on the life of Jesus
• Teresa recommended that people might look at a field, or water, or flowers, to help them get rid of distractions; they will eventually be filled with love for God
• Teresa compared this stage of prayer to watering a garden using a bucket to draw up water from a well
• it is hard work, & sometimes the well is dry, & sometimes the gardener feels like giving up, but it is important to continue

Question 25

Describe the second stage of prayer as said by Teresa of Avila

Answer 25

• the prayer of quiet: this is the second stage, which cannot be achieved by the individual but comes upon them