Religious Experience

Question 1

What does ‘numinous’ mean?

Answer 1

A feeling of awe and wonder.

Question 2

What are William James’ four attributes of a religious experience?

Answer 2

Transient (lasts a few moments).
Ineffable (cannot be described).
Noetic (you learn from it).
Passivity (you do not act, or you are not in control).

Question 3

What are St Teresa of Ávila’s two criteria for a religious experience?

Answer 3

It must fit with Christian teaching. It must leave you with a sense of peace.

Question 4

What are the two types of Public Experience? (Swinburne)

Answer 4

Ordinary: interpreting a natural event as religious.
Extraordinary: appears to violate our understanding of nature.

Question 5

What are the three types of Private Experience? (Swinburne)

Answer 5

Describable in ordinary language (e.g. dreams).
Non-describable: where God reveals Himself beyond human description.
Non-specific: looking at the world from a religious perspective.

Question 6

Define direct and indirect conversion experiences.

Answer 6

Direct: A numinous encounter with God.
Indirect: learning about God through observation, prayer, teaching, etc.

Question 7

Briefly outline what happened at the Toronto Blessing.

Answer 7

Pastor Randy Clarke gave testimonies to the congregation, who responded by laughing, crying, dancing, shaking, etc. There were cases of healing, personal transformation and awareness of love.

Question 8

What does it mean to question whether a religious experience is veridical?

Answer 8

If it is actually what it seems to be in reality, not just a delusion or a product of the mind, etc. (e.g. LSD)

Question 9

What is Swinburne’s principle of credulity?

Answer 9

The idea that we have good reason to accept what other people tell us as true, unless we have evidence that they are wrong.

Question 10

What is Swinburne’s principle of testimony?

Answer 10

We should believe others’ testimonies unless we know it is in their nature to lie or joke.

Question 11

What does Freud say about religion and people’s subconscious desires?

Answer 11

Religion is an illusion which serves to meet people’s psychological needs (e.g childish desire for a father figure leads to idea of God the Father). Religious experiences also fulfil our subconscious desires. They are only a product of the mind.

Question 12

Karl Marx says religion is the “opium of the masses.” What would Marxism say about religious experiences?

Answer 12

The church seeks to oppress and control people. Religious experiences are a product of a person’s desperate situation in life, and can be linked back to biblical teaching.

Question 13

Fill the gaps: “These experiences clearly have _____ for those who interpret them. It is their way of ______ the world.” -Wittgenstein

Answer 13

1. meaning

2. understanding

Question 14

Fill the gaps: “Clearly these are genuine experiences as you will observe from the _____. If lives are changed dramatically for the better, then the claim that something ______ is at work is to be taken seriously.” - James

Answer 14

1. Effects.

2. Supernatural.

Question 15

Starbuck suggested there are strong similarities between conversion and what?

Answer 15

Normal adolescent development.
(Many young adults experience stages of anxiety and “finding a new identity.” Most conversions happen between 15 and 24.)

Question 16

Fill the gaps: “As with all religious experiences, these events are _____. They are the product of childhood insecurities. Just like our _____, these hallucinations are produced by our ________.” - Freud

Answer 16

1. Hallucinations
2. Dreams.
3. Subconscious