Religious Experience Flashcards
Who is Rudolf Otto
A German philospher
What was Otto’s book called?
‘the idea of the holy’ [TIOTH]
What did Otto look at when exploring the idea of religious experience?
He looked at aspects of religious experience were beyond rational [a priori] and empirical [a posteriori] reasoning; instead he focused on the ‘feelings’ of the recipient.
What does numinous mean?
From the Latin ‘numen’ meaning supernatural/divine power. Set apart from the ethical ideas of the holy.
What happens to a person once they feel the numinous?
The numinous is the one who feels the presence of a supernatural or divine power as part of the religious experience.
What did Otto believe that couldn’t be explained?
He believed there was a dimension of human experience that was ‘non-rational’ and could not be explained in empirical terms.
What does Otto state in chapter 4 of his book?
Otto says the numinous experience is “the deepest and most fundamental element in all strong and sincerely felt religious emotion.” Otto says the only way to sum up the intensity of this experience is by using the Latin expression: ‘ Mysterium tremendum’
What does transcendent mean?
Far away, not communicable with, awe inspiring out of this time and universe, impersonal.
What does imminent mean?
Close by, communicable with, pray able to, God within me, God acting within time and the universe, personal
What did Martin Buber say about God?
Buber stated that God is the ‘Eternal Thou’ and, as such, God can reveal himself to man on a personal level, which leads the human to a special religious experience of life and the world.
What can this understanding of God be interpreted as?
This understanding of God can be interrupted as contact with God through other people and nature. As Buber put it, ‘in each thou, we address the Eternal Thou.’
What does Otto believe about relationships?
With every relationship anyone has we experience trust, commitment and compassion.
Buber thought that we can only really show our love of God by showing love to those around us such as people, animals and even places which illicit our love
How can relationships be linked to loving God?
‘Love God and love our neighnour as ourselves.’ Some like Buber state that there are 2 sides of the same coin, Buber has said that we show our love for God by being in loving relationships on earth.
1 John 4:19-21 = ?
“We love because he first loved us”
