Religious Experience Flashcards
1
Q
William James’ definition of religious experience
A
The feelings, acts, and experiences of individual men in their solitude, so far as they may apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatever they consider the divine” - William James in ‘The Varieties of Religious Experience’, 1902
Passive
Ineffable
Noetic
Transient
2
Q
Rudolph Otto’s definition
A
Defined by numinous: the presence of something greater than your
3
Q
Luke Timothy Johnson on defining religious experience
A
It is a response: We are not the initiator
It is from the Ultimate: From a transcendent source
It involves the whole person (Wach): body and mind will and emotion are stimulated, though not always simultaneously or to the same degree
It is intense: Not in a loud, dramatic way (misleading) but in a way as to capture distinctiveness of experience. Can be ‘intense’ in silent meditation
It prompts action: An action appropriate to the experience (ie with Paul). Aspects of life are newly organised around the experience
4
Q
Qualities of religious experience
A
- Non empirical
- A ‘mental event’ tailored to an individual
- Result of intensive training/self discipline
- Sense of joy and other intense emotions
- Encouraging: encourages good action and belief that everything will be ok
- Wonder
- New insight/a sense of knowledge gained
- A sense of oneness
5
Q
Triggers of religious experience
A
Tyler+Reid:
- Music
- Prayer
- Meditation
Peter Cole:
- Mantras/religious symbolism
- Ritual
- Holy people
- Holy places
- Sacred scripture
6
Q
Categorising religious experiences (4)
A
- Revelation
- Conversion
- Visions
- Mystics
7
Q
Types of conversion (3)
A
- Athiesm to faith
- Faith to alternative faith
- Belief to trust/reaffirmed belief (Ie John Wesley)
ALSO
- Intellectual (thinking)
- Moral (acting)
- Social (way of life)
8
Q
Qualities of conversions
A
- Involve a life-changing turnaround
- Give a greater understanding of faith, and stronger belief in the divine
- Awareness of wrongness in subjects life/become convinced that positive change is needed
- Can be a sudden conversion or a gradual conversion
9
Q
Types of vision (3)
A
Corporeal: A supernatural manifestation of an object to the eyes of the body. Normally either a figure or a bright light
Imaginative: The subject is ‘imaginatively’ aware of things they can’t actually see. Usually short lived
Intellectual: An awareness of an abstract concept, not an object or person
Can be experienced by either a group or an individual
10
Q
Qualities of visions
A
- Visualising an image or an event
- Seeing/interacting with religious figures ie The Blessed Virgin Mary at Lourdes
- Places ie Guru Nanak in 1499 was taken to God’s court
- The future ie book of revelation 20:12-15 Judgement day
11
Q
Defining Mystical experiences
A
“Mystical experiences are experiences where the recipient feels a sense of union with the Divine…and involves the spiritual recognition of truths beyond normal human understanding…the closest a human can ever come to actually meeting the divine” (Jordan p 17-18)
12
Q
Qualities of mystical experiences
A
- Knowledge of God/Ultimate reality is gained
- Sense of freedom/being outside spacetime and the limiatations of the human condition
- Sense of unity with the divine
- Sense of bliss
William James’ characteristics of mystical experience:
Ineffability: No words to describe it
Noetic quality: Subjects claim insight into vital truth
Transiency: Short duration
Passivity: Loss of control, in the grasp of superior power
13
Q
Teresa of Avila’s seven stages of the mystical quest
A
1) AWARENESS that there is more to life than our current state/perspective
2) PURGATION or the awareness of the holiness of God in contrast to the sinfulness of the individual
3) ILLUMINATION is the result of self discipline, to create a sense of the presence of God ie in prayer. no union with the divine
4) ‘THE DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL’ is an interim stage between Illumination and Rapture and involves the subject feeling hopeless and despairing. A symbolic ‘death’ of the old, sinful self so that the subject can progress
5) RAPTURE is a trance like state where the subject is removed entirely from the world and cannot act in it. May lead to frustration at real world as it is no longer satisfactory. Subject is passive, and physical changes may involuntarily occur ie levitation or lower pulse rate
6) SPIRITUAL MARRIAGE between the individual and God
14
Q
Propositional Revelation
A
- Communication of truth explicitly from God to humanity
- Expressed in statements, propositions, DOGMA
15
Q
Non-Propositional Revelation
A
- A truth revealed after reflection on a religious experience. The truth is implicit in the experience rather than explicitly given
- Come through visions, dreams, meditation (Buddhism), Mysticism…
16
Q
Davis’ 5 features of revelations
A
- Sudden, and of short duration
- New knowledge acquired
- Said knowledge is acquired from an external agent
- Knowledge received by subject with utter, unquestioning conviction
- Ineffability (impossible to put into words)
17
Q
Contents of revelations
A
- Universal truths, or truths about the nature of the divine
(i) For instance, enlightenment in Buddhism
(ii) Julian of Norwich, revelation of divine love - The future
(i) Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179): “…princes and peoples will reject the authority of the Pope”
18
Q
Thompson’s two approaches to revelation
A
- Experiential: Concerned with the experience itself. Religious claims taken from the experience by the subject and others are viewed in the context of the experience itself. Claims are ‘filtered through’ the experience and/or the person. Experience speaks for itself, rather than having the essence of it lost whilst trying to define the experience exactly
- Propositional: Definitive propositions are extracted from the experience, which are then claimed to be religious truths as supported by the original experience. However can take on power of their own by becoming foundational truths ie establishing a religion
19
Q
Mysticism case study 1: Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), nature of experiences?
A
NATURE OF EXPERIENCES:
- First visions at 3, “The Shade of the Living Light”, realised visions at 5 years
- Wrote ‘Scivas’ (know the ways) to record her visions. Became ill when writing + feared it was punishment for her hesitancy in declaring visions. Had only confided in Jutta (tutor)
- Received Papal conformation papers to confirm her visions were authentic
- Aged 42, divine illumination. Vision from God which gave her understanding of the religious scripture. God instructed her only to “write that which you see + hear”
- Died Sep 1179, sisters claimed two streams of light crossed sky when she died
20
Q
Mysticism case study 1: Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), impact at time?
A
IMPACT AT TIME
- Council of Trier 1147, Pope Eugènius III declares visions authentic
- Dubbed ‘Sybil of the Rhine’, writings spread across Europe
- Breaks from Monastery and moves to Mount St. Rupert to write ‘Scvias’
21
Q
Mysticism case study 1: Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), impact today?
A
IMPACT TODAY
- art, poetry, writings, theological + philosophical contributions still relevant
- ’ Saintly inspired’ artist: “I feel Hildegard speaks to me”
- 17th September, saints day
- October 2012, Pope Benedict XVI names her a Doctor of the Church
22
Q
Mysticism case study 1: Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), controversy?
A
CONTROVERSY
- Visions the result of debilitating Migranes. Scintillating scotomata causes total blindness in areas of vision, so intense light Hildegard saw was truly this
23
Q
Mysticism case study 2: Julian of Norwich (1342-1416), nature of experiences?
A
NATURE OF EXPERIENCES
- Wanted three things: (i) NDE to ‘touch’ on death (ii) Stronger understanding of Christ’s compassion (iii) Three ‘wounds’ of contriction (crushing remorse), compassion and longing for God
- Experienced a near-deadly illness whilst still young, touching on the physical/mental experience of death. Last rites administered then she had 15 revelations:
- Saw the virgin Mary and the reason behind Christ’s suffering as she visualised him suffering on the cross
- Told that “it was neccesary that there would be sin, but all would be well”
- 16th revelation following night: Satan assails her, but her visions allow her protection
24
Q
Mysticism case study 2: Julian of Norwich (1342-1416), impact at time?
A
IMPACT AT TIME,
- Became anchoress (recluse) in room built off the wall of the Church of St. Julian in Norwich (hence her name, though little is known about her)
- Wrote Revelations of Divine Love in 1395, first book in English written by woman
- Taught that God had no wrath and saw no wrath “except on man’s side” as a “perversity and an opposition to peace and to love”
- Despite patriarchy, saw God as mother
- Shrine made for her in 1416
25
Mysticism case study 2: Julian of Norwich (1342-1416), impact today?
IMPACT TODAY
- Still regarded as one of the most important Christian mystics
- As of 2013, has been an annual week long celebration of her life in Norwich
- Feast day on 13th May
26
Conversion case study 1: Paul's conversion, events leading up to conversion?
EVENTS LEADING TO CONVERSION
| - Muttering threats of murder and violence against Jesus and his disciples
27
Conversion case study 1: Paul's conversion, knowledge gained
KNOWLEDGE GAINED
| - forgiveness of God
28
Conversion case study 1: Paul's conversion, events of conversion
EVENTS OF CONVERSION
- heavenly light, Saul is blinded for three days, did not eat or drink for three days
- Jesus speaks: "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"
- Instructed to enter city and await further instruction
- Jesus appoints him to testify to what he has seen
- Says he will send Saul to the Gentiles and his people to get them to turn from Sin/Satan and live
29
Conversion case study 2: John Wesley, events leading up to conversion
- Methodist preacher
- Preached to what he believed to be the Christian message
- He believed working in Savannah's mission fields in Georgia would make him righteous before God
30
Conversion case study 2: John Wesley, events of conversion
- Read Martin Luther's preface to the book of Romans
- Felt
(i) Strangely warmed
(ii) Absolved of sin
(iii) Trust in Christ
- 'The moment I awaked, "Jesus, Master", was in my heart and in my mouth'
31
William James' characteristics of conversion
- Life changing, regeneration
- Assurance of the truth of the divine
- Greater understandings of faith
- Adoption of religious attitude/way of life
- Awareness of wrongness of life and the positive changes needed
32
William James' types of conversion
- Volitional (willing)
- Self surrender (involuntary and unconscious)
- Can be sudden or gradual
33
James H. Leuba's view of religious experiences
- James H. Leuba, reductionist approach views religious experience in physiological terms only
34
Peter Cole on Visions
- Image or event (Peter, Acts 10:9-16)
- Religious figures
- Places (Guru Nanak and God's court)
- Fantastical figures (Ezekiel + Revelation)
- Future (Revelation 20: 12-15)
Can be
- Group
- Individual
- Corporeal (physical things)
- Imaginative (imagining the vision)
35
St Teresa of Avila
• St Teresa of Avila states, ‘I wish I could give a description of at least the smallest
part of what I have learned, but, when I try to discover a way of doing so, I find
it impossible …’
36
Vision case study one: Moses and the Burning bush
Overview: Bush burned but did not burn out, Moses investigated. Voice reveals itself as God (I am the God of your father...I am who I am) and instructs Moses to bring the Israelites out of Egypt
37
Vision case study two: St Bernadette at Lourdes
```
• In 1858, a sickly 14-yearold
girl called
Bernadette Soubirous
experienced a series of
visions of Our Lady and
discovered a clear water
spring in a cave.
• Bernadette witnessed a
total of 17 visions in the
spring of 1858 and is
often also credited with
having witnessed an
18th on the evening
before she left Lourdes.
```
38
Foundational religious experience: the prophet Muhammed (PBUH)
- When he was roughly forty, Muhammad began having visions and hearing voices.
- Searching for clarity, he would sometimes meditate at Mount Hira, near Mecca.
- On one of these occasions, the Archangel Gabriel (Jibra'il in Arabic) appeared to him and instructed him to recite "in the name of [your] lord."
- This was the first of many revelations that became the basis of the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam.
- These early revelations pointed to the existence of a single God, contradicting the polytheistic beliefs of the pre-Islamic Arabian Peninsula.
- -->
- Initially overwhelmed by the significance of what was being revealed to him, Muhammad found unflinching support in his wife and slowly began to attract followers.
39
How can religious experience show us that God exists?
- William James: religious experience is final arbiter of truth. It is the final thing one needs to indicate that God exists
- Richard Swinburne: Uses a cumulative argument for God's existence. Added to natural theology, design argument, cosmological argument it makes it far more likely
- William Alston: Knowledge in everyday life is acquired from experience. Ie we see a car, therefore there is a car. If we have an experience and others have too, why should we doubt ourselves?
40
How can religious experience show that God is immanent?
- proof of a transcendent God would disprove religious experience, as in religious experience God is directly acting within God's creation
41
How can religious experience show that God is omnibenevolent?
- Religious experience often produce a moral or social change that testifies to the love received from God
- Supported by Swinburne and James
42
How can religious experience prove that Jesus is from God?
- Miracles and appearences of Jesus post-mortem show he must be of God
- The signs worked by Jesus attest that the Father has sent him…they bear
witness that he is the Son of God.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church)
43
How can religious experience show that God is arbitrary?
- If God can intervene directly, why are his actions so rare?
- : God helping Joshua to destroy Jericho in the Old Testament, but 218 killed and 3,500+ injured in Nepal earthquake May 2015
44
How can religious experience show that 'God' is the product of a psychotic condition?
- V S Ramachandran argued that Religious experience and therefore God is the
manifestation of a physiological condition known as ‘temporal lobe epilepsy’
- What Prof. Ramachandran discovered to his surprise was than when the
temporal lobe patients were shown any type of religious imagery, their bodies
produced a dramatic change in their skin resistance, much greater than people
not suffering from the condition.
- Michael Persinger is a cognitive neuroscience researcher who agrees that the
temporal lobes have a significant role in religious experiences, and argues that
religious experiences are no more than the brain responding to external stimuli.
• Persinger claims that by stimulating the temporal lobes with a unique machine
he can artificially induce in almost anyone a moment that feels just like a genuine
religious experience.
45
Religious experience can't be verified: Ineffability
Problems caused by ineffability – If God is beyond
human understanding (i.e. "unintelligible" according
to Ayer) or cannot be known through reason but
only through faith (i.e. "cannot be proved" according
to Ayer) then he can’t be verified.
See quote by St. Teresa of Avila
46
Religious experience can't be verified: Lack of empirical evidence
Lacking empirical evidence - Ayer regards a
genuine experience as one which people can express
or test empirically. For example, if I have a vision of
alien life on Mars then there are things I can do to
test this vision - I could build a telescope to detect
the aliens or astronauts could travel to Mars to meet
them. Ayer argues that religious experiences aren't
like this at all
47
Religious experience can't be verified: Cannot verify directly or indirectly
Cannot verify directly or indirectly - By directly,
Ayer is suggesting that we can also observe or
experience what someone else has had.
Unfortunately, this is not true for religious
experience as it often happens to individuals.
Furthermore, we cannot indirectly verify a religious
experience either as we do not have sufficient
evidence to support it.
48
Religious experience can't be verified: It is a psychotic illness
- V S Ramachandran argued that Religious experience and therefore God is the
manifestation of a physiological condition known as ‘temporal lobe epilepsy’
- What Prof. Ramachandran discovered to his surprise was than when the
temporal lobe patients were shown any type of religious imagery, their bodies
produced a dramatic change in their skin resistance, much greater than people
not suffering from the condition.
- Michael Persinger is a cognitive neuroscience researcher who agrees that the
temporal lobes have a significant role in religious experiences, and argues that
religious experiences are no more than the brain responding to external stimuli.
• Persinger claims that by stimulating the temporal lobes with a unique machine
he can artificially induce in almost anyone a moment that feels just like a genuine
religious experience.
49
Religious experience can be verified: Coroporeate experience
There are two examples of group or corporate
experiences which could strengthen the argument
from religious experience. The examples are the
Toronto Blessing & Fatima.
50
Religious experience can be verified: Strong verification
Strong Verification - The strong verification
principle as proposed by the Vienna Circle suggests
that only those statements / events that can be
experienced or observed are meaningful. William
James would argue that religious experience would
fit within their criteria
51
Religious experience can be verified: Personal verification
- Can be verified by the receiver on a personal level who experiences the numinous
52
Religious experience can be verified: Direct and Indirect
Direct and indirect verification - Many would also
argue that religious experiences can be verified if we
apply Ayer’s weak verification principle. Direct
verification – Bernadette had in total 18 visions of
the Virgin Mary. The vision spoke to Bernadette and
gave her instructions that she was to take back to her
local priest. Therefore, Bernadette would accept the
visions as verifiable due to her own observation and
experience.
Indirect verification – 150 years on from
the events in Lourdes the town has now become a
popular Catholic shrine. It attracts around five
million people each year and sixty seven miracles
have been confirmed in Lourdes. The events
therefore offer accumulated facts that make the
experience of Bernadette to be verified
53
Does religious experience have value beyond the believer? - No value at all
No value at all
Dawkins and other ‘neo-athiests’ argue that religious experiences are an illusion
Freud: interaction with a ‘God’ is the reminence of a past tragedy initiated by the Oedipus complex
Evidence that some religious experiences are biologically/psychotic episodes. Ie Schizophrenia
Maimonedes on the limitations of religious language
54
Does religious experience have value beyond the believer? - No
William James argues that religious experience is ineffable and therefore you cannot convey your experience of God - “men in their solitude”
Religious experience is in fact an illusion, so it has no value beyond the believer as it is false
Wittgenstein: Rejected picture theory in favour of the ‘language game’ theory. Religious language is relevant only to the people playing the ‘game’ Those not in the language game will not find religious experience meaningful, won't understand meaning of religious language.
Hare - bliks, understanding relative to world view. Religious experience can only be understood depending on world view.
Religious experiences are personalized' only meaningful in that situation. E.g Mary
visited by angel about immaculate conception, only meant for one person. > no value beyond individual
55
Does religious experience have value beyond the believer? - Yes
Value beyond individual
Foundational revelation = one of the types of religious experience
E.g. Muhammad and Angel Gabriel, the Buddha
The Vedas - started w/ religious experiences of Rsis hearing words directly from Brahman
May argue that since these experiences come directly from God, they have value for everyone, since they are completely true (in the eyes of believers)
J of N - book called “revelations of divine love”, contains details of her experiences of God during illness - God’s loving nature - “I saw that there was wrath only in man, not in God”
Counterpoint - she said herself that her book doesn’t even begin to describe the true experiences that she had - ineffable; “I wish i could explain the smallest amount of what I felt”
--> Religious experience might be ineffable, but that in itself captures the magnitude of the issue and makes the argument for the existence of God more compelling --> conversion = impact beyond believer
Although sharing religious experiences will inevitably fall short of the true feeling of the experience, it can still have value beyond the individual - may respect the fact that they do not understand the full experience
