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Religious Studies Ethics A2 > Religious Experience > Flashcards

Religious Experience Flashcards

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1
Q

meaning of experience in this context:

A
  • experience is an empirical source of knowedge

- the senses provide knowledge to the mind

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2
Q

what is a religious experience based on? in terms of its knowledge

A

it is a knowledge claim about God or a religious figure (saint, angel, prophet,demon etc) based on a sense contact/experience

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3
Q

meaning of knowledge according to Plato:

A

true justified belief

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4
Q

what are the two types of religious experience that Richard Swinburne describes as being in the public realm?

A
  • 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
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5
Q

what are the three types of religious experience that Richard Swinburne describes as being in the private realm?

A
  • 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
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6
Q

what is a foundational religious experience?

A

a religious experience which leads to the formation of a new religion

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7
Q

examples of a foundational religious experience:

A
  • moses and the burning bush

- the visions of Muhammad which lead to the formation of Islam

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8
Q

arguments for and against the conversion of Paul being a religious experience:

A
  • 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
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9
Q

what does the word numinous describe?

A
  • 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

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10
Q

forms of religious experience: (4)

A
  • visions
  • miracles
  • mystical experiences
  • near death experiences (NDE’s)
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11
Q

what is a vision?

A

a vision is a claim by an individual or group to have seen or heard something from the divine

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12
Q

what three subgroups can visions be divided into?

A
  • corporeal
  • imaginary
  • intellectual
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13
Q

what is a corporeal vision?

A
  • 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
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14
Q

what is an imaginative vision?

A
  • 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
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15
Q

what is an intellectual vision?

A

-an intellectual vision is one without any familiar elements, but gives us some understanding of the divine

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16
Q

what is a miracle?

A
  • 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

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17
Q

why might God not interfere with nature too often and perform miracles?

A

because it interferes with free will

18
Q

what arguments did David Hume put out against miracles?

A
  • 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
19
Q

what two choices do we have when we hear about a miracle?

A
  • believe in the continuation of natural laws

- believe our narrator, thereby believing that natural laws can be broken

20
Q

when does David Hume say we should believe in miracles?

A

when it would be a greater miracle if the miracle wasn’t true

21
Q

what are the different definitions of mysticism?

A
  • 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
22
Q

what is a mystic?

A

someone who has experienced a different state of consciousness and it has brought them new understanding of ultimate reality

23
Q

what does William James say about how religion started?

A
  • there must have been some form of experience between God and man for religion to start
  • religious experience precedes formal religion
24
Q

what does it mean if God is cognitively real?

A

He is perceptible by the human senses

25
Q

what are the four elements to a religious mystical experience?

A
  • passive
  • noetic
  • ineffable
  • transitory
26
Q

meaning of passive?

A

the person experiencing the phenomenon is the receiver not the instigator

27
Q

meaning of noetic?

A

it creates knowledge for the person who has the experience

28
Q

meaning of ineffable?

A

the experience cannot be described in normal human language

29
Q

meaning of transitory?

A

the experience doesn’t last long, although the effect may

30
Q

what is the problem of an experience being both ineffable and noetic?

A

if the person who has had the experience says that God is beyond human understanding, then knowledge can’t have been created

31
Q

what can religious experience be used as evidence for? (4)

A
  • that God exists
  • that God is omnibenevolent
  • that God is arbitrary
  • God is immanent
32
Q

how can a religious experience prove God exists? (William James)

A
  • religion is founded because of a religious experience
  • that experience must have a source
  • source is God
  • therefore God exists
33
Q

how do religious experiences show the benevolence of God?

A
  • 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
34
Q

problems with God being arbitrary:

A
  • 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
35
Q

things to consider with religious experiences being a valid source of knowledge:

A
  • reliability of the informants
  • accuracy of sense events as sources of knowledge
  • use of reason based on experience
  • the existence of other feasible explanations
36
Q

when is the accuracy of sense experiences an issue?

A

when the experience is cognitive, when the sense experience has an impact on the mind

37
Q

problems with sense experiences:

A
  • although people may have the same sensory imput, the interpretations may be different
  • the sense deceive
  • we can’t even prove we exist
38
Q

what two types of statements are there, and which type is a religious experience statement? by A.J Ayer

A
  • 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
39
Q

what does a religious experience need to prove for it to be valid?

A

that it came from an external source

40
Q

what are some alternative feasible explanations?

A
  • 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

Religious Studies Ethics A2 (7 decks)

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