Nature of Religious Experience

Question 1

What are visions?

Answer 1

Perceptions beyond normal experience that typically include dream-like qualities and intellectual content like a message or insight

Question 2

What can visions be?

Answer 2

Corporeal (physical) or spiritual, collective, individual

Question 3

What did St Teresa suggest about visions?

Answer 3

The highest form of a vision was a sense of God’s presence without sensory aspects

Question 4

What is a conversion?

Answer 4

A positive psychological change in conviction and orientation

Question 5

What could you convert to/from?

Answer 5

Atheism -> agnosticism or one one religion -> another

Question 6

What can conversion experiences be?

Answer 6

Intellectual or moral, collective or individual, sudden or free, active or passive

Question 7

What is mysticism?

Answer 7

A unique experience of direct access to the divine realm

Question 8

Who outlined 4 characteristics of mystical experience?

Answer 8

William James

Question 9

What were James’ 4 characteristics?

Answer 9

Ineffable, noetic, transient, passive

Question 10

What does ineffable mean?

Answer 10

Defies expression and is indescribable and indefinable

Question 11

What does noetic mean?

Answer 11

Gaining knowledge or insights that are unobtainable by the intellect alone

Question 12

What does passive mean?

Answer 12

The recipient does not bring the experience about themselves

Question 13

What does transient mean?

Answer 13

The experience is short-lived but its effects last longer than the experience itself

Question 14

What can mysticism be?

Answer 14

Transcendent, ecstatic, unitive

Question 15

What does transcendent mean?

Answer 15

Experience is of a different spiritual dimension that may apprehend a greater reality or insight

Question 16

What does ecstatic mean?

Answer 16

Standing outside of oneself

Question 17

What does unitive mean?

Answer 17

Sense of oneness with the divine or a sense of wholeness within reality, removed from the barriers of the physical realm

Question 18

What is prayer?

Answer 18

Communication with God

Question 19

What did St Teresa see the ultimate goal of prayer as?

Answer 19

Union with God

Question 20

What were Teresa’s 2 analogies to describe the types and stages of prayer?

Answer 20

The garden analogy and mansion analogy

Question 21

How many stages of the garden analogy are there?

Answer 21

4

Question 22

How many types of mansions are there?

Answer 22

7, 3 stages

Question 23

What is stage 1 of the garden analogy?

Answer 23

Drawing water from the well is the hard work to help the individual focus

Question 24

What is stage 2 of the garden analogy?

Answer 24

Using a winch is becoming more withdrawn from the world and focused

Question 25

What is stage 3 of the garden analogy?

Answer 25

Irrigation is being open to the flow of God

Question 26

What is stage 4 of the garden analogy?

Answer 26

Heavy rain is the moment when all sense of self-effort in prayer is completely diminished and the flow of God is directly united with the soul

Question 27

What is stage 1 of the mansions analogy?

Answer 27

Mansions 1-3, just before one achieves unity with God

Question 28

What is stage 2 of the mansions analogy?

Answer 28

Mansions 4-5, when one first achieves unity with God and God is implanted into the soul

Question 29

What is stage 3 of the mansions analogy?

Answer 29

Mansions 6-7, depict spiritual marriage in which there is a sense of spiritual ecstasy and painful longing with the mystical marriage entailing intuitive and constant awareness of God