Religious Experience Flashcards
How did William James define religious experience?
He broadly defined it as “the feelings, acts, and experiences of individual men.”
Why did James argue that verification is not crucial for religious experiences?
He believed they are real and important to the person experiencing them, making them self-verifiable.
What are the four characteristics of religious experiences according to James (PINT)?
Passivity: The person is not in control of the experience.
Ineffability: The experience cannot be described in human language.
Noetic quality: It leads to a greater understanding.
Transiency: The experience is temporary.
How did James argue that religious experiences support belief in God?
He claimed that if religious experiences have real effects, their cause must also be real. If God is the cause, then God is real to those who experience Him.
What are the five types of religious experience according to Swinburne?
Common, public sensory object: Seeing God in nature.
Unusual, public sensory object: Supernatural appearances (e.g., Virgin Mary at Lourdes).
Private sensations describable in normal language: Dreams or visions of God.
Private sensations indescribable in normal language: Feelings beyond words.
No sensory experience: Direct awareness of God through intuition.
What is Swinburne’s Principle of Testimony?
It states that we should generally believe what people report unless we have good reasons not to.
What is Swinburne’s Principle of Credulity?
If something appears to be present, we should assume it is unless there is evidence to the contrary.
How did Antony Flew criticize Swinburne’s argument?
He used the “leaky bucket” analogy, arguing that multiple flawed arguments for God do not make a strong case when combined.
What did J.L. Mackie argue against Swinburne’s Principle of Credulity?
He stated that it is more likely that a person is mistaken than that God is the explanation.
What did Bertrand Russell say about religious experience?
He compared it to hallucinations, arguing that it can be explained scientifically and does not require supernatural causation.
How did Michael Martin challenge Swinburne’s argument?
He suggested that the same principles could be used to argue that God does not exist.
What is a corporate religious experience?
An experience that happens to a group of people, such as the Toronto Blessing of 1994.
What are the strengths of corporate religious experiences?
They show shared responses, making them seem more valid than individual experiences.
What are the weaknesses of corporate religious experiences?
They may involve group pressure and can contradict sacred texts.
What is a personal religious experience?
An individual experience of God, such as a numinous experience or speaking in tongues.
How does pluralism support religious experience?
William James and John Hick argue that religious experiences in different faiths point to a shared truth about divine reality.
What did Rudolf Otto mean by ‘mysterium tremendum et fascinans’?
It describes religious experience as awe-inspiring, terrifying, and fascinating at the same time.
How did Immanuel Kant criticize Otto’s view?
Kant argued that we cannot experience God through our senses because He exists in a different realm.
Why did William James believe conversion experiences support belief in God?
Because they lead to profound life changes, which he considered empirical evidence of their truth.
What is the most famous example of religious conversion?
Saint Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus, where he saw a vision of Jesus and changed from persecuting Christians to becoming a missionary.
How did Sigmund Freud explain religious experience?
He viewed it as wish fulfillment, calling religion a “universal obsessional neurosis.”
What physiological factors can influence religious experience?
Lack of sleep, fasting, dehydration, illness, and drugs can all cause hallucinations.
What was Michael Persinger’s scientific challenge to religious experience?
He created the “God Helmet,” which induced religious-like experiences through brain stimulation.
How can Persinger’s research be used both for and against religious experience?
It suggests that religious experiences may be brain-generated, but it does not rule out the possibility that God works through the brain.
What principle can be used to argue against supernatural explanations of religious experience?
Ockham’s Razor—natural explanations are simpler and should be preferred unless there is strong evidence otherwise.
