Religious experience Flashcards
what does Rowan Williams say about religious experience?
“the touch of God is dangerous”
“revelation itself, as the church’s history shows is bound up with tragic possibilties”
what are two things that separate religious expereince?
the religious experience itself
the interpretation of the experience
what is conversion experience ?
change from one set of beliefs to another with life changing consequences
what is fanaticism as discussed by Rowan Williams?
when certainty leads to a refusal to deny the possibility of wrongness
What difference does Thomas Hobbes ask about dreams and a man?
The difference between a man saying god spoke to him in a dream
and a man dreaming that God spoke to him
Russell quote about snake and god
Some drink to much and see snakes, others fast too much and see God
Wittgenstein and the illusion of the rabbit duck picture
wittgenstein ‘seeing-as’ - we interpret experience in a certain way
developed by John Hick into ‘experiencing as’
what are the different way that individual religious experiences can be understood?
- as union with a greater power
- psychological effect such as a illusion
- the product of a phsiological effect
example of conversion expereince
From Saul to Paul
As Saul traveled toward Damascus, he encountered a blinding light and heard a voice, revealing himself to be Jesus. This encounter caused Saul to fall to the ground and experience a profound transformation. Jesus instructed Saul to go into Damascus, where he would be told what to do.
Blindness and Restoration: Following his encounter with Jesus, Saul was blinded and unable to see. He was led to Damascus and spent three days in a state of blindness and fasting. During this time, God sent Ananias to restore Saul’s sight and reveal to him the truth about Jesus.
What were William James’ 4 characteristics for a geniune (not that they are divine or real, but that they are honest) religious experience?
- ineffability
- noetic quality
- transcience
- passivity
what is meant by ineffability?
beyond the ability of our words to express
what is meant by noetic quality?
gives knowledge unlike the knowledge of any other human experience
- insight into the nature of God
transience in the context of religious experience
short time, but the effects are life-changing
passivity
refers to the experiencer having no will of their own as they are under the influence of a superior power
What does Brummer say about the duck rabbit drawing
not a duck or a rabbit, but a line drawing
What were Richard Swinburne’s two principles?
Principle of Credulity - people should be believed unless we have good reason to disbelieve them
Principle of testimony- people in general are truthful and there needs to be good reasons to doubt their honesty
What are the issues with Swinburne’s principles?
Testimony is likely to be about something rare and unusual, religious experience is something not in the everyday and known
God cannot be defined, which increases the possibilities of error
One can be truthful in saying what they believe to be true but this does not mean that their truth has been correctly perceived
What is a truth claim?
Belief that their interpretation is the correct one
Difference in experiences on the other hand are okay
What was St Teresa of Avila’s mystical experience?
series of visions
experienced the ‘ecstasy’ also known as transverberation as a mystical experience of an arrow piercing her heart with the love of God
intellectual insights into the divine
experienced accusations that her experiences were a result of sexual frustrations and they were psychologically driven
what is the difference between a conversion expereince and a mystical experience?
A conversion is a radical shift in belief system, often involving a turning away from a previous belief and embracing a new one, while a mystical experience is a profound, often sudden, sense of union with the divine or a deeper reality
What is a corporate experience?
an experience shared by a group such as a Toronto blessing
‘holy laughter’
mass hysteria?- is it simply influence of those around us, those attracted to charismatic and evangelist worship are already predisposed to this kind behaviour
- in actuality is an individual experience - since everyone has their own perceptions
problems with the corporate experience
- speaking in tongues was more comprehensible than holy laughter, what does it actually show us/teach us
- what is God trying to achieve, lacks logic, doesn’t reveal God in any way
- could be argued that rather than helping the faithful, if it is an act of God then it is not a God worthy of human worship
What is numinous - name given by Otto?
any experience of God which transcends the everyday
what does Otto mean by the wholly other and mysterium tremendum et fascinans
the term wholly other signifies a God that is not among human beings but of an entirely different order
this meeting through mystical experience is somewhat a seduction
