Religious Experience Flashcards
Conversion experience
A change of heart and turning around of one’s priorities following a new direction in life
William James definition
‘The feelings, acts and experiences of individual men in their solitude so far as the apprehended themselves to stand in relation to whatever they may call the divine’
Passive
Cannot be actively sought
Transient
Experience only lasts a short time but leaves impression of being important
Noetic
Provide some kind of insight or carry a message
Pragmatism
A concept is considered true if it works satisfactorily in practice
Mystical experience
A direct experience of God or ultimate reality, a sense of oneness of all things; beyond normal awareness
Ineffable
So extraordinary they can’t be described
Pluralism
All religions are valuable and hold truth
Empiricism
All knowledge and truth are derived from the senses, experiences and observation
Corporate religious experience
A religious experience shared with many people
Principle of credulity
Things are as they seem unless we have evidence to the contrary
Principle of testimony
We should believe people are telling us the truth unless we have good reason to believe otherwise
Volitional conversion
A gradual change and slow development of new moral and spiritual habits
Self surrender conversion
A sudden, pivotal or crisis experience followed by change
