Religious Experience Flashcards
A religious experience is beyond ordinary empirical evidence, another explanation may be:
Individual & subjective
Corporate
Ineffible
What is a religious experience?
It is an encounter with the divine - an experience of God as a personal reality
Individual & subjective
Where an individual is made aware of a transcendent reality
Corporate
Where a group of people appear to be influenced by powers beyond normal understanding
Ineffable
A state of feeling that defies expression
Emperical
Evidence from observation
Example of a religious experience - Corporate experience
Toronto Blessing
What is the ‘Toronto Blessing’?
Began in Jan 1994 - Toronto Airport Vineyard Church. People began to hysterically laugh, bark like dogs, being stuck in positions of paralysis. These experiences were attributed to the Holy Spirit entering people’s bodies. it spread all over the USA and eventually was bought into the UK at the Holy Trinity Church, Brompton, London
Opening essay quote - St Teresa of Avila
‘God establishes himself in the interior of his soul in such a way, that when I return myself, it is wholly impossible for me to doubt that I have been in God and in me.’
Why do religious experiences occur?
To make some kind of awareness to a person - changing their past behaviour because of a specific religious experience happening
What is a direct experience?
A direct experience is one which is where the person having the experience feels like they’re in contact with God.
What is an indirect experience?
An indirect experience is an inner experience of God’s action of creation.
Issue with direct and indirect experiences
They are less likely to prove that they’re true, this is because a person could be lying, be under the influence of alcohol or drugs or be mentally ill.
What is an awareness experience?
where a person sees the work of God when looking at the world
What is a numinous experience?
a numinous experience is where a person encounters the holiness of God.
What is a corporate experience?
It happens to a large number of people
What is a near-death experience?
When someone ‘dies’ and then comes back to life
Example of a near-death experience
Medical operation - Things such as the bright light of Jesus when the patient awakes.
What factors can lead to religious experiences?
Music, atmosphere and prayer
Why can music and atmosphere help lead to religious experiences?
Because most religions use music when they worship, where beliefs are shared together which produces a communal and social experience involving the heart and the mind.
Why can prayer help lead to religious experiences?
Prayer involves a person privately trying to communicate with God, for reasons such as: asking for guidance or forgiveness.
A common experience linked to prayer is….
When people begin to speak in tongues
What is speaking in tongues?
It is where a person begins to speak in a language that is unfamiliar to them.
Views towards the idea of music and atmosphere being a factor likely to cause a religious experience
It is likely to increase in the room when everyone is together doing the same thing, such as dancing, therefore they may get really involved with the music and the atmosphere in the room thinking that they may have had some kind of religious experience, when actually it is just in their imagination.