Religious experience Flashcards
God and the world
Einstein quote
“the most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. it is the source of all true art and science. He to whom the emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead - his eyes are closed”
-refers to numinous
Religious experiences
-Peterson et al in ‘Reason and Religious Belief’ defines a religious experience as one where a “person has or believes they have had an encounter with God”
-religious experiences are revelations
-revelations = knowledge is gained about God that would otherwise not be known
types of religious experiences: Corporate (group) Religious Experiences
-examples; Toronto Blessing, Whirling Dervish and Lourdes
-Flew says that collecting together a series of weak arguments doesn’t make a strong argument e.g ten leaky buckets
-having ten leaky buckets doesn’t make one good bucket
-Mackie - people unintentionally mislead/exaggerate accounts
Examples of Corporate Religious Experiences
-Toronto blessing
-Origins: Began in 1994 at Toronto Airport Vineyard Church, Canada, during revival meetings
-Holy Spirit Manifestations: Marked by unusual physical and emotional reactions such as laughter, crying, falling, and shaking, believed to be caused by the Holy Spirit.
-Speaking in Tongues: Participants reported speaking in unknown languages as a spiritual gift.
-Healing and Renewal: Many claimed spiritual and physical healing, along with a renewed sense of faith and connection to God.
-Controversy: Critics viewed the phenomena as emotional excess or lacking biblical basis, while supporters emphasized its transformative effects – mass hysteria
-Charismatic Movement: The blessing became influential in charismatic and Pentecostal circles worldwide.
-Lasting Impact: Inspired global revivals, bringing attention to experiential worship and the role of the Holy Spirit.
types of religious experiences: Personal Testimonies
-examples, Numinous, St. Teresa of Avila and St Bernadette
-Swinburne, principle of credulity: testimonies should be taken at face value, unless there is significant evidence to prove them wrong
Richard Swinburne
-in ‘The Existence of God’ provides 5 ways to categorise personal testimonies
1.experience of God through a common, public, sensory object, e.g see God in a sunset, a way that God can be encountered (numinous)
2.experience of God through an unusual, public, object, e.g appearance of Virgin Mary at Lourdes
3.experience of God through private sensations that can be described in normal sensory language, e.g God in dreams and visions
4.experience of God through private sensations that cannot be described in normal sensory language, e.g feel or experience something, cannot be spoken about (ineffable)
5.experience of God that isn’t mediated by any sensation, e.g person claims to be aware of God through intuition such as higher meditational states of Hinduism/Buddhism
Teresa of Avila (1512-1582)
“I was at prayer… when I saw Christ at my side- or to put it better, I was conscious of Him, for neither with the eyes of the body nor with those of the soul did I see anything… but as this was not an imaginary vision, I could not discern in what form…”
Examples of Personal Testimonies
-St Teresa of Avila
-Ecstatic Visions: Experienced intense mystical visions of Jesus, angels, and heaven.
-Transverberation: Felt a physical and spiritual piercing of her heart by divine love, famously depicted in art.
-Union with God: Described a profound spiritual connection and closeness to God, beyond ordinary comprehension.
-interior Castle: Likened the soul’s journey to God to entering deeper chambers within a castle, symbolizing stages of spiritual growth.
-Catholic Recognition: Her experiences were deemed authentic by the Church, and she was canonized as a saint and Doctor of the Church.
Conversion
-examples, Saul to St Paul, Nicky Cruz, Guru Nanak
-conversion- when you go from no religion to religion or one religion to another
examples of conversion experiences
-Nicky Cruz
-Gang Leader Conversion: Former leader of a violent New York gang, the Mau Maus.
-Encounter with Faith: Met preacher David Wilkerson, who spoke about Jesus’ love for him despite his actions.
-Transformation: Experienced a profound spiritual awakening, leading to repentance and abandoning his gang lifestyle.
-Evangelism Work: Became a Christian evangelist, sharing his story to inspire faith and transformation in others.
-Social Outreach: Works to help at-risk youth and gang members through faith-based programs.
William James (1842-1910)
-‘The Varieties of Religious Experience’
-James believes verification of RE wasn’t crucial
-the experience of the individual was real and that is what is important - ‘self authenticating’ for the person who has the experience (clear that God exists)
-RE =’solitary’ in which individuals experienced the Divine or God
-admitted not a logical proof that God exists, but evidence in support of God
-experiences explained as a part of a person’s psychological makeup - ‘psychological phenomena’ = natural like thinking or self awareness
-RE is central to religious belief
-James leaves open the possibility of God’s existence
-purpose of religion is not God but “more life, a larger, richer, more satisfying life.”
-religion leads to “consistency, stability”
James: method
-James was a psychologist
-collected many testimonies of people who claimed to have had religious experiences
-analysed them
-categorised into types
-then noted common features
-he noted effects on people’s lives
-known as ‘pragmatic’ approach
-means he was concerned with the actual, practical effects on people, not supernatural speculations
-‘effects’ James could not see their actual RE but he could see/study their effects
James: findings
-commonly, these experiences have a profound effect on people - life transforming
-positive effects: happier outlook on life, sense of purpose and meaning, benefits to sense of morality, better relationships with others
-distinguished between the ‘healthy minded soul’ and the ‘sick soul’:
-healthy minded: open to ideas and possibilities, optimistic and hopeful
-sick soul: cynical and sceptical
-Religious experience tends to make people healthy minded
Four ways to define Religious experience
- ineffability: most recognised characteristics of RE - beyond words
- noetic quality: knowledge and information gained about God/revelation
- transiency: experience doesn’t last long but lasting effect on person - well remembered
- passive: undergoing RE no control, taken over, consumed
James: main conclusions
-effects are real= real cause, if God is believed to be the cause, then God exists to those individuals
-real and true = positive effects, whereas things that are false have negative effects
-religious experience has positive effects, so source is more likely to be real and true
-therefore God is likely to be real and true
-scripture is often seen as the central source of Churches but James emphasises the importance of revelation and prayer
-this notable change in behaviour is why James suggested that RE was the inspiration and source of religious institutions
-compared parallels and similarities between RE and other types of experiences (dreams and hallucinations)
-suggested that RE could link to our subconscious ideas
-concluded that RE on their own do not demonstrate God’s existence although they can suggest the existence of ‘something larger’
