Religious Experience Flashcards
meaning of experience in this context:
- experience is an empirical source of knowedge
- the senses provide knowledge to the mind
what is a religious experience based on? in terms of its knowledge
it is a knowledge claim about God or a religious figure (saint, angel, prophet,demon etc) based on a sense contact/experience
meaning of knowledge according to Plato:
true justified belief
what are the two types of religious experience that Richard Swinburne describes as being in the public realm?
- God is experienced in a public object or scene e.g. a sunset
- an experience contrary to natural law - miracles, e.g. turning water into wine
what are the three types of religious experience that Richard Swinburne describes as being in the private realm?
- a personal experience which can be described in normal language
- a personal experience that cannot be described in normal language (an ineffable (too great to be described in words) mystical experience
- no specific experience - rather a constant feeling of the presence of God
what is a foundational religious experience?
a religious experience which leads to the formation of a new religion
examples of a foundational religious experience:
- moses and the burning bush
- the visions of Muhammad which lead to the formation of Islam
arguments for and against the conversion of Paul being a religious experience:
- similar things to other religious experiences such as seeing a bright light, change in physical appearance
- it is very likely he had an epileptic seizure which has the same effects as listed above, this condition was unknown so in the ancient world people believed it was a religious experience
- however some argue that an epileptic brain is more susceptible to God so God chooses them to receive visions
what does the word numinous describe?
- numinous describes the abstract awesome power of a deity
- sense of awe and wonder in the presumed presence of the divine, for example the feeling when one enters a cathedral
forms of religious experience: (4)
- visions
- miracles
- mystical experiences
- near death experiences (NDE’s)
what is a vision?
a vision is a claim by an individual or group to have seen or heard something from the divine
what three subgroups can visions be divided into?
- corporeal
- imaginary
- intellectual
what is a corporeal vision?
- a corporeal vision is a claim to have seen an existence external to the receiver
- may be a fully clear and accurately represent a figure of the divine, or it may be formless or be a light, from which a voice proceeds
- e.g. at Lourdes the girl seeing the virgin mary
what is an imaginative vision?
- an imaginative vision is one that appears in the mind, it is not seen or heard by the senses
- likely to appear during sleep so can be ‘dreams’
- e.g. king herod had a dream so he ordered all the male children to be slaughtered
what is an intellectual vision?
-an intellectual vision is one without any familiar elements, but gives us some understanding of the divine
what is a miracle?
- the term is often misused
- miracles include God doing what nature cannot do, also God doing things things that nature can do but is unexpected
why might God not interfere with nature too often and perform miracles?
because it interferes with free will
what arguments did David Hume put out against miracles?
- no scientific evidence
- if one believes, based on experience, that natural laws exist, then it is contrary to believe that natural laws can be broken
- we believe in miracles because it’s comforting
- reports of miracles tend to come from rural areas with little scientific knowledge
what two choices do we have when we hear about a miracle?
- believe in the continuation of natural laws
- believe our narrator, thereby believing that natural laws can be broken
when does David Hume say we should believe in miracles?
when it would be a greater miracle if the miracle wasn’t true
what are the different definitions of mysticism?
- a direct immediate experience of ultimate reality,
- for Christians it is communion with God,
- for Buddhists it is realisation of enlightenment
- the ability to see truth in a special way
what is a mystic?
someone who has experienced a different state of consciousness and it has brought them new understanding of ultimate reality
what does William James say about how religion started?
- there must have been some form of experience between God and man for religion to start
- religious experience precedes formal religion
what does it mean if God is cognitively real?
He is perceptible by the human senses
what are the four elements to a religious mystical experience?
- passive
- noetic
- ineffable
- transitory
meaning of passive?
the person experiencing the phenomenon is the receiver not the instigator
meaning of noetic?
it creates knowledge for the person who has the experience
meaning of ineffable?
the experience cannot be described in normal human language
meaning of transitory?
the experience doesn’t last long, although the effect may
what is the problem of an experience being both ineffable and noetic?
if the person who has had the experience says that God is beyond human understanding, then knowledge can’t have been created
what can religious experience be used as evidence for? (4)
- that God exists
- that God is omnibenevolent
- that God is arbitrary
- God is immanent
how can a religious experience prove God exists? (William James)
- religion is founded because of a religious experience
- that experience must have a source
- source is God
- therefore God exists
how do religious experiences show the benevolence of God?
- that God brings about a positive change in someone’s behaviour shows his concern and love for humanity
- religion can fill a need in someone’s life and to give someone that shows God’s loving nature
problems with God being arbitrary:
- if God can intervene, why are miracles so rare
- why does God help some at the cost of others
- why do some people receive miracles and others not
things to consider with religious experiences being a valid source of knowledge:
- reliability of the informants
- accuracy of sense events as sources of knowledge
- use of reason based on experience
- the existence of other feasible explanations
when is the accuracy of sense experiences an issue?
when the experience is cognitive, when the sense experience has an impact on the mind
problems with sense experiences:
- although people may have the same sensory imput, the interpretations may be different
- the sense deceive
- we can’t even prove we exist
what two types of statements are there, and which type is a religious experience statement? by A.J Ayer
- those which refer to something that exists externally in the world
- those which describe experiences of the mind
- religious experiences describe experiences of the mind
what does a religious experience need to prove for it to be valid?
that it came from an external source
what are some alternative feasible explanations?
- effect of epilepsy
- drugs/alcohol
- a dream interpreted as coming from a divine source
- the strength of faith that convinces the believer that an imagined experience was real
- an active imagination
