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RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE Flashcards

1
Q

What is religious experience?

A

A subjective experience interpreted in a religious framework
The concept originated in the 19th century as a defence against the growing rationalism of western society

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2
Q

St Augustine classified visions into 3 categories in De Genesi ad Litteram. What are they?

A

Corporeal
Intellectual
Imaginative

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3
Q

Where do imaginative visions take place?

A

Through the minds eye

Often are dreams

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4
Q

What does the experiencer experience in an imaginative vision?

A

No power to direct the experience
Sign that comes from God
Given to the experiencer without being perceived by the normal processes of sight

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5
Q

Examples of imaginative vision

A

Matthew: Joseph’s dream where the angel appeared and told him that Nary was pregnant through the Holy Spirit
Genesis: Pharaoh warned about the seven year famine, leading him to put Joseph in charge

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6
Q

How are corporeal visions experienced?

A

Empirically verified- God is seen through/by means of the object like nature
Shown through the senses (sight)
Seen in the same way one would see a chair- light from the object strikes the retina of the eye

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7
Q

Examples of corporeal vision

A

At Fatima Mary appeared to the 3 seers, revealing a 3 part secret (hell, ww2 and unknown)
Bernadette at Lourdes heard the sound of rushing wind and saw a dazzling light and white figure in a grotto. Asked to return to the grotto every day for a fortnight- la Quinzaine sacree. 5m pilgrims

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8
Q

Bernadette at Lourdes quotes

A

A dazzling light, and a white figure

A chapel should be built and a procession formed

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9
Q

The three seers at Fatima quotes

A

If my requests are granted … there will be peace

Wheee the souls of poor sinners go

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10
Q

Intellectual visions

A

No image
The person claims to ‘see things’ the way they really are
Enlighten the soul and are hard to describe

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11
Q

How are intellectual visions spiritually illuminating?

A

They can be about the world, Holy Spirit, god, trinity

The highest form of mystical union with God

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12
Q

Example of intellectual vision

A

St Teresa of Ávila
Spanish mystic
Saw Jesus as he really was, seeing his ‘presence’ and not his form
The light of an intellectual vision is an illumination of the understanding of the soul; her soul met the clear knowledge of Jesus

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13
Q

St Teresa of Ávila quotes from her autobiography

A

I saw nothing with the eyes of the body, nothing with the eyes of the soul
There is a light not seen, which illumines the understanding

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14
Q

Who is Rudolf Otto?

A

German Lutheran theologian

Most famous work is ‘the idea of the holy’

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15
Q

Key ideas of Otto

A

An experience is the basis of all genuine religion
It is outside our everyday experience; it’s unique
It is a sense of wholly other
The emphasis is on Gods transcendence

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16
Q

What is, for Otto, an experience of the numinous?

A

It refers to a presence and reality that can’t be understood by the senses or intellect
Sui generis- religious experience is of God as the wholly other which can’t be grasped

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17
Q

What is the numinous?

A

Comes from the Latin Numen referring to a deity or spirit
Means ‘relating to the power of a deity’
Common to all religious experience according to Otto

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18
Q

What does sui generis mean?

A

Unique/of its own kind

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19
Q

What is, for Otto, the idea of the holy?

A

‘Holy’ means separate or other than

Attempts to describe the sense of a reality outside one’s experience of themselves and the world

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20
Q

Otto: what does Moses’ experience illustrate about the holy?

A

REs are encounters with the holy
The holiness of God is a central feature of the call narrative of Isaiah too who sees a vision of God enthroned in the Jerusalem temple surrounded by seraphim who call to each other ‘holy, holy, holy is the lord’

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21
Q

What is significant about Isaiah’s experience?

A

The threefold repetition (trisagion) is the strongest form of emphasis used in OT Hebrew
Gods essence is holiness and in the face of this Isaiah feels impure until one of the seraphim touches his lips with a burning coal to forgive his sins

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22
Q

Exodus quote

A

The angel of the lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush

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23
Q

Otto: what is mysterium tremendum et fascinans?

A

Latin
Means fearful and attractive mystery
Expresses the complex nature of numinous experiences
Focuses on God as transcendent. God is so far removed from humanity that we approach him with dread, awe and fear

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24
Q

Example of mysterium tremendum et fascinans

A

Peter watched Jesus produce a miraculous catch of fish and his immediate response was to understand his own inadequacy: ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man’ (Luke)

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25
What is mysterium?
Something removed from humanity Can be experienced but not understood Makes us wonder
26
What is tremendum?
Gods overwhelming energy | Creates a sense of understanding our absolute dependence on God as we are nothing
27
What is fascinans?
The attractive nature of an experience creates a desire for a relationship with God Makes us aware we need salvation
28
Who is William James?
American philosopher and psychologist | The varieties of religious experience
29
Is religious experience primary or secondary? | James
Primary | Organised religion is a response to REs
30
What do mystical experiences reveal about God?
He is temporal and finite as he interacts with us in time
31
James: ineffability
Private experience Makes sense to other mystics Can’t be described Only negative language can describe it
32
What is the true purpose of humanity for James?
Union with the higher universe The point of mystical experiences is that God meets the individual ‘on the basis of his personal concerns’- each individual receives from god uniquely
33
James: passivity
Mystical experience control the person They’re unable to direct what happens Results in unusual behaviour e.g. Teresa of Ávila elevated
34
James: noetic
The experience gives insights into genuine truths | They give intuitive knowledge rather than intellectual
35
James: transient
Mystical experiences last no more than 1-2 hours Hard to reproduce the memory Life changing
36
How does James value drug induced states?
A mystical experience | Special state of consciousness
37
Who is Walter Stace?
British philosopher | Mysticism and philosophy
38
What is mysticism for Stace?
A non sensuous and non intellectual union with the divine In its highest form the senses cease to work and the rational intellect (the conscious ‘I’) ceases to work, replaced by pure consciousness Nothing to do with the occult, visions or auditory experiences
39
For Stace, are visions and voices mystical experiences?
No as a vision includes visuals and voices include audio- sensuous instead
40
What’s a mystic?
Someone who’s had a mystical experience
41
Stace: introvertive
The ultimate mystical experience Senses are totally suppressed. Pure consciousness No awareness of the world- non spatial and non temporal No intellectual function Ordinary human consciousness replaced with mystical consciousness The introvertive mystical consciousness is ineffable peace acc. To the Hindu Mandukya Ineffable
42
Stace: extrovertive
All things are one Normal objects are seen with physical senses but are transfigured by a ‘unity that shines through’ Sense of the one as life in all things Half way house to introvertive experiences
43
Who does Stace think God is ?
Either a mystery or nothing at all
44
James claims there is a fine line between mysticism and insanity. If we can’t describe REs does this mean they didn’t happen? Religious response
Ineffability is a characteristic in all REs | Just because they are hard to investigate does this mean they’re false?
45
Mystical experiences are elitist. Rare and extraordinary so as to be unbelievable Religious response
Vatican II says that mysticism is a gift open to all but only a few are prepared to engage in the discipline and effort required
46
Freud claimed visions were just illusions made by subconscious fears and desires. E.g weeping Madonna in Sicily. They’re symptoms of immaturity or mental illness Science
Jung argues that people may wish them or find them comforting but this doesn’t disprove them
47
Religious experiences can be stimulated through devices like Persinger’s God helmet. Its stimulation of the temporal lobe is similar to REs
God can choose to communicate with someone via TLE or drugs New Johns Hopkins university research found that an encounter with God even if drug fuelled made people less afraid of death and improved their outlooks
48
Who is Swinburne?
British philosopher
49
Swinburne rejects attempts to prove gods existence through...
Logic | He bases his arguments in the probability of Gods existence
50
What is Swinburnes principle of testimony?
In the absence of special considerations what a person thinks they’re seeing is what they’re seeing How believable is someone’s own experience
51
What is Swinburnes principle of credulity?
In the absence of special considerations what a person claims they’re seeing is what they’re seeing How believable is what somebody says they’ve seen
52
Swinburne principle of testimony quote
If it seems to a subject that x is present then probably x is present
53
Swinburne principle of credulity quote
The experience of others are (probably) as they report them
54
Special considerations to Swinburnes principles
The person has lied before The claim seems unlikely It’s hard to prove god was present There are other ways of accounting for the experience such as the god helmet
55
What are Swinburnes rejection of the special considerations?
Lying before doesn’t mean they’re lying now Seeming unlikely doesn’t mean it’s not true God underpins everything- he could provide the experience no matter how it’s given
56
Strengths of Swinburnes principles
James: transformation in lifestyle is a powerful argument for the genuineness of RE Cumulative argument: they’re proof of god. It strengthens and is strengthened by the arguments for the existence of god
57
Weaknesses of Swinburnes principles
Leap of faith- moves from normal experiences to metaphysical encounters As REs are private they can’t be investigated by science or confirmed by others There’s still no proof god is the answer
58
What does non intellectual mean?
The I of the rational intellect is replaced by pure consciousness
59
Mystical experience is...
The human soul moving towards an intimate Union with the divine
60
What is entheogen?
Generating/becoming the divine from within- drugs like LSD that are known to generate REs
61
Isaiah quote
Holy holy holy is the lord of hosts
62
Quote from Kenneth Grahame in the wind in the willows
Afraid? Of Him? O, never... and yet ... I am afraid
63
James quote
‘Cosmic consciousness’ in which ‘the universe is composed of ... a loving presence’
64
Stace quote from Mysticism and philosophy
Everything appeared to have an “inside”’
65
What are REs value for religious faith? | Abraham, life changing
James- REs can bring about a zest for life. People can feel a ‘lyrical enchantment’. Swinburne- they can be life changing; produce hope, courage, love REs have been the cause of the founding of several religions so are the basis for faith- Abraham’s RE confirmed his faith. He believed god would he faithful to his promises
66
What are REs value for religious faith? | Pilgrimage, consciousness
Places associated with REs are sites of pilgrimage. The faith of those who visit these sites is enriched James- There’s more to consciousness than what we believe in everyday life. Modern science points to layers beneath what we observe with our senses- multi layered consciousness with REs occurring in one of those deeper layers?
67
Who is H. H. Price?
Welshman
68
What is Prices belief in?
Interested because the believer can hope for benefits from that belief. It’s also disinterested as it’s a good thing in its own right that god exists REs will confirm religious faith from any religious tradition; people then claim their religion holds the truth
69
What is Price’s belief that?
Merely accepting a proposition | It’s possible to believe that god exists but it doesn’t carry any sense of value that we’d find in belief in

Philosophy (30 decks)

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