Religious experience Flashcards
that one with no order
What is Mystical experience
Experiences of God or of the supernatural which go beyond everyday sense experience
Conversion experience means what
An experience which produces a radical change in someone’s belief system
What is a corporate religious experience
Religious experiences which happen to a group of people as a ‘body’
What is a numinous experience
An indescribable experience which invokes feeling of awe, worship and fascination
Principle of credulity is what
Swinburne’s principle that we should usually believe what our senses tell us we are perceiving
Principle of testimony has what definition
Swinburne principle that we should usually trust that other people are telling the truth
Naturalistic explanation
An explanation referring to natural rather than supernatural causes
Neurophysiology is what
an area of science which studies the brain and the nervous system
What is Thomas hobbes interpretation
What is difference between a man saying that Gd spoke to him in a dream, and a man dreaming that God has spoken to him
What is Bertrand Russell ops
Suggested that some people drink to much and see snakes, while others fast too much and see God.
what is Wittgenstein interpretation
Developed the idea that we all see things in a particular way, if you think of the picture, it just depends on which way we look at it
what is Vincent Brummer interpretations of the duck or rabbit picture
Pointed out that the problem with the duck/rabbit picture is that what is truly is, is a line drawing
What is Vincent Brummer problem with religious experience
Its when people start to claim that they have interpreted the event correctly, and assert truth when they attach a religious element to it. Should it be left down to a matter of interpretation?
How is times we interpreting things wrong be a problem of interpretation
People can hear and see things that aren’t there. (E.G we hear our names be shouted, hearing the door knock, something wasn’t there)
how can mystical experience be a problem for interpretation
People use Ouija boards
how can conversion experience be a problem for interpretation
A man was on his own went blind and turned Christian because he thought God blinded him
How can numinous experience a problem of interpretation
People visit lona will feel a sense of awe and remote
How can corporate experience cause a problem for interpretation
Cult believing the world was going to end and so they all poisoned themselves and all died
What type of experience is Lourders ST Bernadette
Mystical
Give a brief summary of what ST Bernadette saw at Lourdes
Saw a vision of the virgin Mary at the grotto. It angered her parents when she said this and said that she was craxy and banned her from going again. One of the times she went back Virgin mary told her to break a certain part and water will come out. It was cared for and became clear. This time the village saw the water change and someone got healed by the water. The church says miracles can still happen today
How many times is St Bernadette go back to the grotto after she was banned
17
What experience did it become when the town saw the water change in Lourdes
A corporate
How can we test Lourdes
We can have more medical test
Check multiple people with the same disease
will she fall ill again
What experience did Ian have
A numinous experience
Explain Ian experience
He had alot of tumours which caused him to have 2 day Scherzer and then started to believe every object had conscience and everything was bond together with one bounding everlasting love.
What is Ian opinions on other people
That he doesnt care what people think because it has changed him
What is Schleiermacher opinion on what religion is based on
Personal experience and that experience is the heart of religion.
Who has the consciousness of the divine according to Schleiermacher
Everyone
What does Schleiermacher mean when he says that religious experience is ‘self-authenticating’.
there is no need for testing
What did Schleiermacher called religion
‘A sense and taste for infinite’ as well as ‘the feeling of absolute dependence’
Although feelings and experience were all-important he still thought Christianity wasn’t the only religion but the highest
Too much emphasis on the subjective, reducing religion to emotion.
IS a strength or weakness of Schleiermacher
Weakness
In schleiermacher weakness that requires the bible and the church
that there has to be possibility of testing experience against the bible and church
what is the problem with Schleiermacher and drugs
if we cant test and validate how do we know it isn’t just hallucinations or drugs
When did William James talk about religious experiences
In his lectures in Edinburgh which then also subsequently got published as the varieties of religious experience
When William James talked about ineffability
That these experiences are beyond the ability of our words to express. He describes the experiencer entering the mystical state of mind as ‘negative’. Therefore words cant describe the nature of what she is experiencing
In Williams idea of common characteristics of religious experience what is meant by the noetic quality
It gives a kind of knowledge of any other human experience
What does William James mean by transience when talking about the common characteristics
Meaning the experiencer has the experience for a short time, rarely more than half an hour, but the effects of the experience are life changing
Passivity is one of William James characteristics but what was his intentions when meaning this
Meaning that those in the grip of such an experience claim that they have no will of their own because they are under the influence of a superior power
Does William James characteristics have a set order
No
What is Rudolph Otto example of mystical experience:
John the cross, Teresa of Avila, they aren’t Christian in nature
What was Ottos opinions on conversion experience
Saul (or otherwise known as Paul) was openly ready to arrest Christians and changed after God/ Jesus blinded him
What was ottos example of corporate experiences
Bosnia 1981. 6 children got reported of seeing the virgin Mary, Toronto vineyard airport church (Toronto blessing) where people laughed in serious moments and speaks in tongues
What was Rudolph Otto experience with Numinous experience
Samuel and his visions and the voice of god, Wind in the willows written by Kenneth Grahame and a rat and a mole have something they describe as mystical or numinous experience whilst out on a river with the God pan and the baby otter with them
What example can we use a criticism because it doesn’t follow the normal definition of a conversion experience
St Ignatius of Loyola - Raised catholic in Basque but not exactly devout. Took pride in being in the military. Took alot of cannon balls injuries to the leg. Spent years recovering and found God. This made him form the Jesuits whose motto was “for the greater Glory of God” signifying him no longer seeking Glory through military exploits
What did Otto mean by Numinous experiences are “wholly other”
God is a completely different order than anything in ordinary existence
How did Otto describe a meeting with God
“A mystery tremendous and fascinating” But doesnt mean fascinating as simply something interesting, rather draws someone in, to compel someone by attraction
What did Ninians Smart comment on religious experience
“religious experience has it own kind of logic”
Whats the problem with religious experience has it own kind of logic
That mean that we can neither question or understand it
Some people pre-disposed to want to take part in a well-recognised phenomenon like speaking in tongues
Is a weakness of what
Corporate experience
Why is the children in Bosnia a criticism of corporate experience
they could of without meaning to changed each other memory of the events that took place
why would someone making fun of believers be a problem for corporative experience
That when someone is having a phenomenon, they are doing it to make fun of believers in hope that they will join in
what’s the problem for Toronto blessing for corporative experience
Why would God make people behave in a laughable way? What would he be trying to communicate during the Toronto blessing?
What does the holy spirit be a problem with corporate experiences
That why is it “playing” with a small group of believers instead of challenging all the tragedies occurring in the world
