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Philosophy, ethics and religion. > Religious experience > Flashcards

Religious experience Flashcards

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Religion Crash Course flashcards
1
Q

What is a religious experience?

A

When a person believes they have had an encounter with God.

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2
Q

What is revelation?

A

When you gain new knowledge that would otherwise not be known.

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3
Q

What are the different types of religious experience?

A

Corporate
Personal Testimony
Conversion

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4
Q

What is corporate religious experience and give examples.

A

Experience by more than one person.
St Paul
Toronto blessing
Whirling Dervish
Lourdes
Pentecost–> Beginnng of the Book of Acts. All had same sensation of the almighty.

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5
Q

What is Anthony Flew’s key quote regarding corporate religious experience and what’s his analogy for it?

A

‘Collecting together a series of weak arguments does not make a strong argument’
10 leaky buckets don’t make one strong bucket.

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6
Q

What does J.L Mackie say about corporate religious experience?

A

People unintentionally exaggerate accounts. Mass hysteria.

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7
Q

What is a personal testimony and give examples.

A

People’s own personal experiences of God.
Numinous
St Teresa of Avila–> she had a few agonising moments in Hell, kept having visions of heaven.
St Bernadette

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8
Q

What is Swinburne’s principle of credulity?

A

Testimonies should be taken at face value unless there is significant evidence to prove them wrong.

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9
Q

When and what was Swinburne’s book?

A

The Existence of God (1979)

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10
Q

What did the Existence of God categorise personal testimonies into?

A
  1. Experience of God through common, public sensory images, like the ocean.
  2. Experience of God through unusual, public, sensory objects, like the Bush that was burned but not consumed.
  3. Experience of God through private sensations (one person) and can still be described in usual words, like dreams.
  4. Experience of God in private sensations that cannot be described (ineffable). Theresa of Avila ‘I cannot discern in what form’.
  5. Experience of God not mediated by any experiences, aware of God through intuition.
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11
Q

What is conversion religious experience and some of the examples?

A

Going from no religion to a religion or one religion to another.
Saul to St. Paul–> ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’, road to Damascus.
Nicky Cruz
Guru Nanak

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12
Q

When was William James alive?

A

1842-1910

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13
Q

What was William James’ book?

A

The varieties of Religious Experience

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14
Q

What were the key points of William James’ book?

A

Verification of religious experience isn’t crucial.
Experience of the person was real to them and that’s what’s important, ‘self-authenticating’.
Religious experience solitary, individual experience.
Not logical proof God exists but it can be used as evidence.
Part of a person’s ‘psychological makeup’, natural thinking.

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15
Q

What did William James think religion provided?

A

‘Consistency, stability’

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16
Q

What was William James’ profession and what does this mean?

A

Psychologist, doesn’t go to it in an atheist or theist approach.

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17
Q

What was William James’ process?

A

Collected testimonies, analysed them and then categorised them.
Had a pragmatic approach, could only see the effects so studied the effects on people.

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18
Q

What were William James’ findings and give an example.

A

Profound effects
Life transforming
Happier outlook on life, sense of morality.
Nicki Cruz went from being a gang leader to a follower of God.

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19
Q

What was William James’ view on minds?

A

There’s a difference between a ‘healthy minded soul’ and a ‘sick soul’ and people who have religious experiences had a ‘healthy minded soul’.

20
Q

What are the four ways to define religious experience?

A

Ineffable
Noetic quality
Transiency
Passive

21
Q

What does ineffable mean?

A

Cannot be put into words

22
Q

What’s noetic quality?

A

knowledge gained about God/revelation that wouldn’t otherwise be known.

23
Q

What’s transiency?

A

Doesn’t last long but has a lasting effect on a person.

24
Q

What does passive mean?

A

No control and has been taken over by the experience.

25
Q

What are Willian James’ conclusions?

A

The effects are real so there must be a real cause.

26
Q

What is mysticism?

A

Direct knowledge of God, spiritual truth or ultimate truth is revealed.

27
Q

What is mystical experience?

A

Experience of something transcendent, beyond our awareness.

28
Q

When was FC Happold alive?

A

(1893-1971)

29
Q

What was FC Happold’s book?

A

Mysticism

30
Q

What were Happold’s three aspects of mystical experience?

A

Soul mysticism- Complete self-fulfilment (not necessarily God)
Nature mysticism- God is everywhere (immanent)
God-mysticism- Souls desire of their immortal and infinite ground (God)

31
Q

What did Happold think were the two types of Mysticism?

A
  1. Mysticism of Love and Union- the need to be a part of something bigger ourselves.
  2. Mysticism of Knowledge and Understanding- looking for answers to secrets of the universe (noetic quality).
32
Q

What is the psychological criticism of religious experience?

A

May be interpreted as illusions, our minds play tricks on us, children have imaginary friends.

33
Q

What is Myers key quote regarding religious experience?

A

‘prayers is a vital component to psychological well-being’

34
Q

What does Feuerbach say about religious experience?

A

Religion is an illusion
Religion is a fiction people mistake for reality.
If people were able to reach potential, no need for religion.
‘God is an invention of the human mind’.

35
Q

What does Freud say about religious experience?

A

Religion is a psychological phenomenon that shields us from harsh reality.
Religion is ‘obsessional neurosis’. Like praying is obsessive, links to OCD.

36
Q

What does Freud think about the mind?

A

The id: human instincts and desires.
The ego: external influences like trauma, education and upbringing.
The superego: human reason, where conscience is found.

37
Q

What are Freud’s strengths?

A

Founder of psychoanalysis
Clear parents/environment effect morals and ethical ideas.

38
Q

What are Freud’s weaknesses?

A

Flawed date collection, unethical case studies.
Saying children from single parent households will be immoral, unethical and illogical.
Reductionist, too simple a conclusion.

39
Q

What is the physiological criticism to religious experience?

A

Drinks, drugs, tiredness and dehydration effect mental state which gives hallucinations.

40
Q

What’s Ockham’s razor?

A

William Ockham stated ‘entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity’. The simplest solution is usually the best.

41
Q

What does Bertrand Russel say about the physiological critique of religious experience?

A

‘if you eat too little you see visions and if you drink too much you see snakes’.

42
Q

What’s delirium tremens?

A

Vitamin B deficiency causes hallucinations/visions. Eg. Monks diets are limited, Guru Nanak and St. Paul had limited diets, could explain visions.

43
Q

What does Alston say about religious experiences?

A

Our sense experience is generally reliable so why shouldn’t we believe it?
If we say we saw a sheep people would believe you, why not this?

44
Q

What are biological explanations for near-death experiences?

A

Mobbs and Watt have associated near-death experiences with parietal and prefrontal cortices of the brain.

45
Q

What does Rudolf Otto describe the Divine as?

A

‘Mysterium tremendum et fascinans’, awe-inspired mystery.

46
Q

What did Rudolf Otto think they key characteristics to religious experience were?

A
  • Mystery
  • A quality of ultimate importance.
  • A quality that is attractive and dangerous.

Philosophy, ethics and religion. (48 decks)

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