Religious Experience Flashcards
Mystical experience
A type of religious experience, found in all religious traditions, in which a person believes they have encountered God on a deep, personal level.
Ineffable
Impossible to express in words.
An ineffable encounter has to be directly experienced - just as a musician can truly hear a symphony, and only someone who has been in love can truly understand love.
The ineffable nature shows the experience is unlike any normal experience.
Noetic
The person feels they have gained new and direct knowledge of God which could not be known through reason alone (knowledge which goes deeper than that of everyday events)
There is a ‘curious sense of authority’.
Transient
The experience is over quite soon (usually lasting for half an hour or less) - but has long lasting effects.
The effects show the reliability of the experience.
Passive
The experience may not be desired or expected.
The person feels as if the experience is being controlled from outside themselves - they are the recipient rather than the instigator.
They feel ‘grasped and held’ by a superior power.
This suggests there is something external that acts on someone in a personal way.
Carl Jung on REs and psychological factors
He considered spirituality and religion as essential to a healthy mind.
He interpreted Paul’s conversion from a psychological perspective (Paul showed symptoms of an emotional breakdown).
Ludwig Feuerbach on REs
Humans assign attributes of God which are also seen in human nature, and people have invented God. They are worshipping their own nature.
Deep layers of the mind (Freud)
The ego: the conscious self, we are aware of our everyday thoughts, opinions and decisions.
The id: the unconscious self, not obvious to us, containing memories, emotions and desires that we may not want to admit ourselves.
The super-ego: inner ‘moral voice’ telling us whether something is right or wrong, created as we grow up, through our parents, siblings and peer groups, becoming imprinted on our personality.
Freud - God is an illusion
Religion (and therefore RE) is a purely psychological construct; an illusion, a deception of the mind.
Religion is also a form of regression to the safety and comfort of infancy. Theists cannot cope with adult life, so they invent a parent-figure who will protect and defend them, God.
It’s an infantile neurosis.
How can the sensations of REs be created artificially?
Endorphins (chemicals produced in the body to cope with pain or stress)
Medication (used to treat patients suffering severe trauma)
Long periods of fasting (vitamin B deficiency, Julian of Norwich, Teresa of Avila seeing hallucinations).
Brain stimulation (God helmet, Persinger, weak magnetic signals through the brain)
Why might critics disagree with artificial causes of REs?
Maybe you have to fast to meet God, to prepare and meditate. You need to reach a state of mind where we can come into contact with the divine.
Maybe a loving God would want to make himself known at a time when a person is feeling vulnerable!
