Religious experience Flashcards
When talking about William James and his beliefs what does the words : ineffable, noetic, passive and transient mean?
Ineffable = cant be described by words Noetic = give rise to knowledge so whoever experienced them learn something as a result Transient = not sustained for long religious experiences only last for no more than half an hour Passive = the experiencer does not get controlled by the experience but the experience controls them.
Briefly explain what Swinburne Principle of credulity and Principle of testimony mean?
In the principle of credulity Swinburne makes the simple claim that the way things seem to be is the way things really are. His exact quote is
“How things seem to be is good grounds for a belief about how things are”
Principle of testimony if there is no viable reason to not we should believe what people tell us and this case about religious experiences. Swinburne states that without religious experience the probability of the existence of god is about 50/50 but then if we add the testimony of religious experience it becomes greater than 50/50 so god then PROBABLY exists.
Give an evaluation of Swinburne’s principles?
Supporting points:
● As James pointed out, transformation in lifestyle
is a powerful argument for the genuineness of
religious experience.
● Other people’s claims to such experiences
combined with transformed lives give further
support.
● The argument for the existence of God from
religious experience both strengthens and is
strengthened by the inductive arguments studied
in the first chapter of this revision guide.
Points Against:
● It is a huge leap to go from saying that normal
observable sense experiences are reliable to
claiming the same for religious experiences,
which are metaphysical.
● Others can confirm claims about ordinary sense
experiences, whereas religious experiences are
essentially private and incapable of scientific
investigation. Can’t be a 3rd party who can verify.
● Even if every person was convinced that it was
an experience of God, that does not mean that
God is in fact the right explanation.
What are Rudolf Otto’s beliefs?
Rudolf states that religious experiences are encounters with the holy(the sacred). Otto also puts emphasis on the numinous experiences, which means relating to the power or presence of a deity.
Lewis uses the example of the different types of fears that you would experience if someone told there was a tiger in the room next to you and a ghost in the room next to you.
Our feelings of numinous experiences are SUI GENERIS as the wholly other (God) is beyond apprehension or comprehension - ineffable. They are also non-rational they go beyond reason
Otto also calls it ‘mysterium tremendum et fascinans’ which talks about how its power can chill and numb and inspires feelings of awe. Also feelings of stupor, blank wonder and dumb astonishment also humility in response to the power.
What is William James ideas on religious experience?
1) Religious experience is primary
They are an interaction with god and they produce positive results
2) James doesn’t see god as necessarily being omnipotent and s probably temporal
3) The visible world draws its chief significance from a more spiritual universe ( God)
4) With the psychological benefits of the experience comes a energetic zest for life and an assurance of love safety and peace
5) meanings of the key words prior
6) Religious experiences can range from those with little to extreme religious significance
7) god meets the individual on the basis of personal concerns James states that for us reality is on the level of the personal and private not on the level of cosmic
Also God exists factually
What are the beliefs of Walter Terrence Stace ?
- Stace defines mysticism as ‘non-sensuous’ and ‘non-intellectual’. The senses cease to work and the rational intellect( conscious I) ceases to work as well
-Mysticism has nothing to do with clairvoyance, telekinesis, and precognition
-Visions and voices are not mystical experiences - these mystical experiences “entirely transcends our sensory-intellectual consciousness”
Introvertive= Ordinary consciousness is replaced by an entirely new consciousness and normal intellect is not functioning
Extrovertive= sees the world of normal objects such as trees and tables but these objects are transfigured so that the non-sensuous unity shines through . Example for intro is Arthur Koestler and extro is American known as N.M
What does ‘Immaculate conception’ mean?
Immaculate conception = The Catholic doctrine of the conception of the virgin Mary in the womb of her mother (Saint Anne), free from ‘original sin’ through the merits of her son Jesus Christ. The term is also used as a way of referring to Mary
This is relevant to when we are talking about Corporeal visions and Bernadette in France seeing Virgin Mary who identified as ‘Immaculate conception’
When talking about Corporeal visions how many visions did Bernadette have in total?
- 18
What is the experiment which looks at religious experiences being explained by drugs?
- ‘Good Friday Experiment’
In 1962 Walter Pahnke conducted an experiment on 20 theology students. 10 students were given the drug psilocybin while the others were given a placebo. Those who took the drug experienced feelings similar to those induced by the ‘God Helmet’, which further provides further evidence that religious experience is produced by a particular state of the brain
What do these key terms mean;
- etheogen
- hallucinogenic
Etheogen - ‘Generating/becoming the Divine within’ - drugs such as LSD, mescaline and psilocybin that are know to generate religious experiences.
Hallucinogenic - Causing hallucinations e.g. drugs
Who invented the God helmet?
- Michael Persinger
What is the downwards processing model and the interaction model of religious experience?
- The downwards model is where from Gods consciousness the experiencer processes a given experience and derives meaning from it
- The interaction model is where Gods consciousness interacts with those who seek such a experience and the experiencer brings about the experience
What is a key thing to remember with Swinburne’s principle of credulity and principle of testimony?
- Swinburne’s 4 special considerations come under his principle of credulity not his principle of testimony
