Miracles And Religious Experience Flashcards
What is a miracle?
A transgression of a law of nature by a particular volition of the deity- Hume
What is the purpose of miracles?
They should have a purpose ascribed to God but we may not know God’s purposes.
Maurice wiles- he intervened in miracles to increase faith
What are the characteristics of miracles for Aquinas?
- logically impossible
- could be done by nature but not as quickly
- could be done by nature but is done in a way that goes against the laws of nature
What are Hume’s arguments against miracles?
- it was more likely that a natural law wasn’t broken than it was
- men of good education never collectively claim miracles
- already held belief will cloud your judgement
- only ignorant and barbaric nations make claims of miracles
- testimony of miracles given by different religions contradict
What does Swinburne say are features of religious experience?
- Through a non religious object ( sunset- public)
- Through an unusual public object ( jesus’ resurrected body)
- Through private sensations describable by using normal language ( dream)
- Through non- describable private sensations
- No particular sensation- strong sense of encounter with the holy- private
What are Walter Stace’s characteristics of religious experience?
- non spatial and non temporal
- gives feeling of the holy
- paradoxical
- pure consciousness
What are William James’ characteristics of religious experience?
- ineffability
- noetic quality
- transient
- passivity
Which results in:
- awareness of beyond physical world
- elation
- surrender to benevolent power
- changes focus on to spiritual
What does Freidriche Schkiermacher see religious experience to be?
Religious experiences are feelings and we need to examine them to examine the structure of religious belief
What does Steven Katz claim affects religious experience?
- all experiences are processed by personal beliefs- plurality
- culture affects experience
- it is not paradoxical
What is Descartes argument against religious experience?
We cannot trust our senses in everyday experience so religious experience could be even more deceptive.
- response- this is speculative/ we don’t know that we should be untrusting of our senses
What are arguments against religious experience and responses?
- only because a person is already religious. Atheists don’t have them.
- R / atheists are often converted by religious experience
- religious experience could be lucky coincidences
- R / god may act through coincidence. For not have to be only a strange event.
- religious experience might be due to hallucination
- R / our senses are all we have so we must trust them. The nature of religious experience means that it must be from God
- why are some people selected for religious experience?
- R / we don’t know God’s greater plan- could be unknowns positive outcomes
What is the anti - realist challenge?
The view that religious experience is only perceived as religious because of personal interpretation, not because God caused them
What are Hume’s criticisms of religious experience?
- insufficient good witnesses
- tend to be observed by ignorant and barbaric nations
- conflicting claims in different religions
What are arguments in favour of religious experience as proof of God?
- Caroline Frank Davies- believed religious experiences tipped the scales in favour of God’s existence
- Swinburne- principle of credulity- what one believes is probably the case
- principle of testimony- reasonable to believe the testimony of miracles provided by others
What are arguments against religious experience as proof?
- Vardy- conflicting claims challenge each other from different religions
- Vicious Circle ( Flew and Kats)- all claims are due to pre existing beliefs- conclusion argument is reliant and same as the first premise
