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RS November Mock exam > Religious experience > Flashcards

Religious experience Flashcards

1
Q

What is a religious experience?

A

A non-empirical occurrence that may be perceived as supernatural

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2
Q

Who is associated with numinous experiences?

A

German theologian Rudolf Otto

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3
Q

The German theologian Rudolph Otto used the term numinous in…

A

“The idea of the Holy” (1936) in referring to being in the presence of an awesome power

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4
Q

What did Otto claim about the many visions recorded in the Bible?

A

Many of the visions recorded in the Bible (such as Moses’ vision of the burning bush) are experiences of the numinous

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5
Q

How did Otto describe numinous experiences?

A

An apprehension of the Holy other

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6
Q

Why can we not reason our way into understanding numinous feelings?

A

We cannot reason our way into understanding numinous feelings because such feelings are non-rational (they are beyond the rational and cannot really be explained). We are then left with a feeling “mysterium tremendum et fascinans” - a “tremendous and fascinating mystery”

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7
Q

What is a mystical experience?

A

Experiences where the recipient feels a sense of “union” with the divine

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8
Q

Who is William James?

A

An American Philosopher and Psychologist

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9
Q

In what book did James introduce his four criteria that characterise all religious experience?

A

“The varieties of Religious Experience”

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10
Q

What are William James’ 4 criteria that characterise all religious experiences?

A
  • Ineffable
  • Noetic
  • Transient
  • Passive
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11
Q

Ineffable

A

The experience is beyond language and cannot be put into words to accurately describe

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12
Q

Noetic

A

Some sort of knowledge or insight is gained

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13
Q

Transient

A

The experience is temporary

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14
Q

Passive

A

The experience happens to a person; the person does not make the experience happen

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15
Q

What did _____________ state that supports the idea of ineffability?

A
  • St Teresa of Avila

“I wish I could give a description of at least the smallest part of what I have learned, but, when I try to discover a way of doing so, I find it impossible”

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16
Q

What does James say is the most useful descriptor of a mystical experience?

A

“defies expression, that no adequate report of its contents can be given in words”

It is ineffable - it has to be directly experienced to be appreciated

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17
Q

James’ pluralist argument for religious experience

A

There must be an explanation of why these four criteria are found in mystical religious experiences around the world - it clearly cannot be chance.

James concludes that mystical experiences are the core of religion, whereas teaches and practices are “second hand” religion, i.e. not what religion is really about. This makes James a pluralist, the view that all religions are true.

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18
Q

What is a critique for James’ pluralist argument for religious experience?

A

Cross-cultural similarity of the features of religious experiences could have a naturalistic explanation. It could be that all human beings hallucinate similarly because they evolved similarly. We can explain the cross-cultural similarities without needing the therefore unnecessary explanation of a higher spiritual reality.

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19
Q

What is James’ Pragmatism argument?

A

James was not satisfied with the attempt to dismiss religious experience as mere hallucinations. He points out that (unlike hallucinations) religious experiences can have positive and profound life changing effects.

  • Case study of an alcoholic
20
Q

Outline James’ Case study of an Alcoholic

A

James pointed to the case study of an Alcoholic who was unable to give up alcohol but then had a religious experience, after which he was able to give up the alcohol. After the experience, they had gained power which they lacked before.

21
Q

What did Walter Stace say that relates to mysticism?

A

“Either God is a mystery or He is nothing at all. To ask for a proof of the existence of God is to ask for a proof of the existence of beauty”

22
Q

What does Stace define mysticism as?

A

“non-sensuous and non-intellectual union with the divine. In its highest form, the senses cease to work, and the rational intellect - the conscious “I” - ceases to work as well, being replaced by pure consciousness

23
Q

According to Stace, what are the two types of mystical experiences?

A

. Introvertive
. Extrovertive

24
Q

In what book does Stace talk about extroverted and introvertive mystical experiences?

A

“Mysticism and Philosophy”

25
Q

What are introvertive mystical experiences?

A

A religious experiences in which sense experience is totally suppressed and the conscious “I” is replaced by pure consciousness/ the one/ the void

26
Q

What are extrovertive mystical experiences?

A

A kind of “half-way house” to introvertive religious experience. Unlike the introvertive experience, sense experience is still active although objects are transformed by the “unity that shines through”

27
Q

Who is Richard Swinburne?

A

An English Philosopher

28
Q

In what book does Swinburne develop an argument for the existence of God?

A

“The existence of God” (1991)

29
Q

What two principles are associated with Richard Swinburne?

A
  • Principle of credulity
  • Principle of testimony
30
Q

What is the Principle of credulity?

A

The basic principle states “if it seems to a subject that x is present, then probably x is present; what one seems to perceive is probably so”

31
Q

What is a challenge Swinburne provided for the principle of credulity?

A

The circumstances in which the experience occurred generally produce unreliable results (e.g. intoxication from drugs or alcohol) or the recipient of the experience is unreliable (e.g. a notorious pathological liar)

32
Q

What is the principle of testimony?

A

Swinburne appeals to a basic rational and verifiable idea - that people usually tell the truth. The principle of testimony suggests that we should accept the statement of what was experienced unless we can demonstrate positive grounds showing it to be mistaken.

33
Q

What is a challenge to religious experience from Philosophy?

A

Can the finite experience the infinite? To recognise omniscience, you would have to be omniscient yourself - it takes one to know one!

34
Q

Who is Sigmund Freud?

A

An Austrian neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis

35
Q

What did Freud believe that people were?

A

Completely material - if we could understand everything there is to understand about the physical/biological side to life, we would completely understand human beings

36
Q

What did Freud suggest the urge some people felt towards religion was?

A

Freud suggests that the urge some people felt towards religion was no more than psychological obsession. Freud saw religious experiences as illusions.

37
Q

What did Freud claim recipient’s of religious experience’s were doing?

A

Freud claims that the recipient’s of religious experience’s were simply projecting their ultimate beliefs about suffering, helplessness and separation, along with salvation, hope and desire to be reunited with one’s parents (in this case portrayed as God)

38
Q

What does Freud refer to religion and religious experience as?

A

Mass delusion or paranoid wish-fulfilment

39
Q

How does Freud say religious experience brings religion closer to science?

A

Freud has often said that paranoid delusions are like philosophical statements or scientific theories - they are all trying to make sense of the world and our place in it

40
Q

In what book does Freud talk about religious experience?

A

The Future of an Illusion (1927)

41
Q

Who is Michael Persinger?

A

An American-Canadian cognitive neuroscience researcher

42
Q

What does Persinger argue about religious experience?

A

He agrees that temporal lobes have a significant role in religious experiences, and argues that religious experiences are no more than the brain responding to external stimuli

43
Q

What is Persinger’s God Helmet?

A

Persinger claims that by stimulating the temporal lobes with a unique machine he can artificially induce (in almost anyone) a moment that feels just like a genuine religious experience

44
Q

Outline Persinger’s God Helmet experiment

A

Persinger has developed a helmet which can produce weak magnetic fields across the hemispheres of the brain, specifically the temporal lobe. Over 900 people who have taken part in the experiments claim to have had some form of “religious” experience

45
Q

What is a critique for Persinger’s argument?

A

Maybe God created us with the temporal lobes to be able to communicate with us

RS November Mock exam (8 decks)

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