Religious Experience

Question 1

name three types of religious experience

Answer 1

prayer
visions
charismatic worship

Question 2

give some examples of charismatic worship

Answer 2

slain in the spirit

speaking in tongues

Question 3

give three dangers of religious experiences

Answer 3

completely open to interpretation
can lead to hateful or destructive events
creates elitism

Question 4

are all religious experiences dramatic?

Answer 4

no

Question 5

give three examples of dramatic religious experiences

Answer 5

the visions of bernadette, st paul or theresa of avila

Question 6

what are the majority of religious experiences like?

Answer 6

gradual, gentle, people find god in ordinary things and the beauty of creation

Question 7

what is the mnemonic for william james’ mystical experience criteria?

Answer 7

p.i.n.t.

Question 8

what does the p in p.i.n.t. stand for?

Answer 8

passive

Question 9

what does the i in p.i.n.t. stand for?

Answer 9

ineffable

Question 10

what does the n in p.i.n.t. stand for?

Answer 10

noetic

Question 11

what does the t in p.i.n.t. stand for?

Answer 11

transient

Question 12

what is a passive religious experience?

Answer 12

those in the grip of such an experience will have no will of their own - under the influence of a superior power

Question 13

what is an ineffable religious experience?

Answer 13

experiences beyond the ability of words to express

Question 14

what is a noetic religious experience?

Answer 14

gives knowledge unattainable through human experience

Question 15

what is a transient religious experience?

Answer 15

a short but life-changing experience

Question 16

name richard swinburne’s two principles of testimony

Answer 16

principle of credulity

principle of testimony

Question 17

what is the principle of credulity?

Answer 17

if some one believes they have had an experience, they probably have

Question 18

what is the principle of testimony?

Answer 18

we believe in the testimony of others

Question 19

what are the three main cases against religious experience?

Answer 19

psychological neurosis
physiological influences
sociological influences

Question 20

which two scholars suggest religious experiences stem from psychological neurosis?

Answer 20

freud

timothy leary

Question 21

which two scholars suggest religious experiences stem from physiological influences?

Answer 21

harlow

d lasbourough

Question 22

which scholar suggests religious experiences stem from sociological influences?

Answer 22

karl marx

Question 23

what does freud suggest about the psychology of religious experiences?

Answer 23

religious belief in god is the projection of a need for an eternal father figure

Question 24

what did timothy leary highlight about the psychology or religious experiences?

Answer 24

when mystical experiences were compared with the accounts of drug users they were indistiguishable

Question 25

which medical case did harlow highlight in order to explain religious experiences?

Answer 25

phineas gage

Question 26

explain the story of phinieas gage

Answer 26

a railworker who survived a metal pole through his brain after an accident, his personality was completely altered after the incident

Question 27

how does harlow highlight the physiological influences on the brain through the story of phineas gage?

Answer 27

our body is directly linked to our personality and therefore could be the cause of these radical changes

Question 28

what physiological aspect links many of the catholic mystics?

Answer 28

many suffered severe illness before their visions, could be mediation or the illness itself that caused their experience

Question 29

what illness does d lasbourogh theorise that st paul had?

Answer 29

epilepsy- would account for the blindness and voices heard

Question 30

how did karl marx argue religious experiences were influences by society?

Answer 30

an individual would see things relating to their faith

a christian would not see vishnu