Religious Experience

Question 1

What did William James believe about religious experiences?

Answer 1

You should not look at the cause of an experience but instead at the effect.

Question 2

Quote for William James?

Answer 2

‘We can experience union with something larger than ourselves…find our greatest peace’

Question 3

What four characteristics does James use to identify religious experiences?

Answer 3

Passive

Ineffable

Noetic

Transient

Question 4

Passive

Answer 4

The person does not instigate the experience.

Question 5

Ineffable

Answer 5

The experience is impossible to describe.

Question 6

Noetic

Answer 6

The experience gives knowledge that cannot be understood through the use of reason alone.

Question 7

Transient

Answer 7

The experience itself does not last long but the effects last a lifetime.

Question 8

Corporate experience

Answer 8

An experience shared by a group of people.

Question 9

Personal experience

Answer 9

An individual experience.

Question 10

Mystical experience

Answer 10

A direct experience of God or ultimate reality, an awareness of something beyond normal.

Question 11

Conversion experience

Answer 11

An experience that leads to a change from one set of belief to another.

Question 12

Why did Schleiermacher believe religious experience was so important?

Answer 12

He believed that you could not be religious based on doctrines alone - you had to experience religion to be at the heart of faith.

Question 13

How does Schleiermacher’s believe differ from the Catholic tradition?

Answer 13

Catholics state that experiences should be tested against the church’s teachings whereas Schleiermacher believes the experiences have priority over statements of belief.

Question 14

Why did some people criticize Schleiermacher?

Answer 14

He reduces religion to being like an emotion, removing the basis that religion claims are made from facts.

Question 15

What is Saul’s religious experience?

Answer 15

Saul aimed to prosecute all Christians because of his belief.

A light shone down and Jesus spoke to him, this experience changed his life and he began to spread to word of Jesus.

He became St Paul.

Question 16

What does Starbuck mean by adolescent phenomena?

Answer 16

Conversion experiences are simply a natural part of who you are i psychological rather than divine.

Question 17

Why does Kant reject religious experiences?

Answer 17

He argues that it is logically impossible to experience God as we are rooted in the phenomenal world.

Question 18

An example of a corporate experience?

Answer 18

Pentecost - the holy spirit comes down and allows the disciples to feel God.

Toronto blessing - Everyone gathered in a church in Toronto where all could feel the presence of God.

Question 19

What is Swinburne’s view on religious experiences?

Answer 19

We should believe what people tell us unless there is good reason to doubt.

Question 20

What is Swinburne’s Principle of Testimony?

Answer 20

Unless someone is not of sound mind, we should believe them.

Question 21

What is Swinburne’s Principle of Credulity?

Answer 21

Things are probably as they seem, if it seems that way to a person, we should probably believe them.

Question 22

How does mass hysteria disprove corporate experience?

Answer 22

This shows how easily influenced our minds can be as it is collective, obsessional behavior.

Question 23

Julian or Norwich’s experience

Answer 23

Mystical experience

During her illness, she had a series of visions of Christ which lasted several hours. She experienced overwhelming love and passions from God.

It emphasized the love and mercy of God.

Question 24

Saint Teresa of Avila experience

Answer 24

Mystical experience

An angel appeared to her and pierced her heart with a flaming arrow, causing her immense pain.

She experienced numerous visions and hearing the voice of God.

Question 25

What dopes Happold believe about religious experiences?

Answer 25

There are strikingly similar features between mysticism found throughout different cultures.

Question 26

What are the three qualities all religious experiences have according to Rudolph Otto?

Answer 26

Recognizing that God is both attractive and dangerous - cannot be controlled.

Recognizing the mystery - God can never be fully understood.

Recognizing the importance - God is of ultimate importance.

Question 27

What does Feuerbach believe about religious experiences?

Answer 27

They have origins in the human mind rather than coming from God.
People are actually worshipping human nature, they take the most admirable aspects and project this.

‘We make God in our image’

Question 28

What does Freud believe about religious experiences?

Answer 28

People who feel themselves to be in the presence of God are simply tricking themselves. This is infantile neurosis as it ought to be grown out of in order to live a better life.
The super-ego is mistaken for God.
People have three desires: afterlife, father figure, justice.

Question 29

What does Winnicott believe about religious experiences?

Answer 29

Illusions are comforting and you cannot live without them.

Question 30

What is Persinger’s God helmet experiment?

Answer 30

The helmet transmitted weak magnetic signals through the brain where people reported feeling similar things to that of religious experiences.

Some argue that these people were influenced to feel certain things as they knew the outcome.