Religious experience Flashcards
who said ‘mysterium tremendum et fascinans’
in which book?
rudolf otto
book- ‘idea of the holy’
what does ‘mysterium tremendum at fascinans’ mean
fearful and fascinating mystery
describe Swinburne’s
- principle of testimony
- principle of credulity
-POT: we should believe others’ experiences unless we have good grounds not to
- POC- we should believe our own experiences unless we have good ground not to
what is Schleliermacher’s argument on religious experience
they are ‘self authenticating’ and dont need proving to see if they are genuine
they are primarily emotional and can be experienced by all
how did James define religion and in what book
religion is the ‘feelings, acts and experiences of individual men in their solitude’
book- the varieties of religious experience
what was Caroline Franks Davis objection to Swinburne’s principle of testimony
in what book?
- God’s existence too important to rely on one account and a single experience
- the evidential force of religious experience
what was William Alston’s argument on religious experience
they are ‘prima facie’ and should be taken at face value and accepted
give 2 examples of corporate experiences
Toronto blessing
lady of Medjugorje 1981
who said ‘religion is the opium of the people’ and what is meant by it?
- Marx
- religion is like a drug that people take to help them in difficult situations
- religous experience is a product of a person’s desperate situation
argument against lady of medjugorje experience
- Ivanka first one to see figure
- recently lost mother- could be product of grief and trauma
- friends lied to her to avoid upsetting her
Describe Freud’s argument on religious experience
- ‘infantile neurosis’
God is a made up parent-figure as we cannot cope in this world alone
Describe Feuerbachs argument on religious experience
- God is man ‘writ in large letters’
- God is a figure of our imagination, of all the things we want to be
how does James being a pragmatist link to ‘fruits not roots’
pragmatist- looks for practical results
we can assess validity of religious experience by assessing EFFECTS (fruits) instead of the CAUSES (roots)
