Religious Experience Essay Flashcards
what is essay 1 ?
do religious experience prove the existence of God?
what is ur view essay 1 ?
yes
what scholars essay 1 ?
intro essay 1 ?
Religious Experience = An experience featuring or about God and Christianity.
Diff types = corporate, conversion, individual, mystical.
point para 1 essay 1 ?
William James - The Varieties of Religious Experience : A study of Human Nature (1917) , he was a phsyicologist and studied a large variety of mysitcal experiemces aiming to be objective and fair . Letting the facts speak for themselves , no bias in his work.
His use of pragmatism and empiricism is very useful , he has some things which must occur with a religious experience to make it deemed trustworthy that it provides evidence of a deity.
Pragmatism = He said the truths of RE’s can be found in the results.
Empiricism = he looked at empricially tested effects of RE.
Common core values of an experience = transient, passive, ineffable and noetic
Transient = The experience is short lived , usually between ‘half an hour, or at most an hour or two’, but effects are long lasting.
Passive = Feeling overwhelmed by higher power. ‘The mystic feels as if his own will were in abeyance… as if he was grasped and held by a superior power’
Ineffable = Cannot adequately describe the experience. ‘Defies expression’
Noetic = Gaining an intuitive knowledge/perception of God ‘States of insight into depths of truth…illuminations, revelations…’.
counter para 1 essay 1 ?
How can God be transcendant and imminant which he seems to be in a RE ?
Use of senses and observation can decieve us - Accounts collected by William James include people using drugs to alter their state of consciousness
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)- Pyschological explanation.
RE’s are maniestations for our desire for a divine father figure- could be hallucinations.
Religion is humanitys ‘universal obsessional neurosis ‘
Part of brain called the ‘god spot’ has been suggested the cause of RE . Prof Johnstone of Uni of Missouri - ‘certain parts of brain play more predominant roles , but they all work together to facilitate individuals spiritual experiences’,
1980’s - Researchers used ‘God Helmet’ to pass magnetic signals over the temporal lobes of the brain, resulting in some recipients sensing a spiritual presence in the room , where some also had visions of God.
Beneficial effects of RE’s might be a placebo effect , thinking you have someone looking after you (God), will make you feel better even if the belief is false.
counter counter para 1 essay 1 ?
William James - sees ‘fruits’ , changes/products of the experience after it occurs.
‘You will know them by their fruits’ Matthew 7:16 - long term beneficial effetcs
Ockhams Razor = The simplest explanation. For a theist it is the most possible explanation.
RE as brain activity does not mean there can be no objective reality to them as well.
point para 2 essay 1 ?
Swinburne principle of credulity and testimony suggest one should treat RE in the same way you would treat a normal experience - so why be more spectical abotu this ? Need to trust just like we trust God.
Principle of Creduality = We should believe things are as they seem to be if there is no overwhelming evidence to the contrary
Principle of testimony = We should believe what people tell us unless we have good reason to doubt.
Religious people have more RE’s as they are best placed to recognise them .
Near Death experiences
‘God is love’ - So whenever a person experiences ‘love’ they are experiencing God!
If God’s and is omnibenevolent it is reasonable why he would want us to experience him.
counter para 2 essay 1 ?
To last one - Why do only some people experience him ??
Privacy - impossible to empirically verify things
Karl Marx - Sociological explanation - They are illusions that humanity uses to deal with the harsh realities of life. ‘Religion is the opium of the people ‘
Richard Dawkins - ‘The argument from personal experience is the one that is the most convincing to those who claim to have had one . But it is least convincing to anyone else , and anyone knowledgeable about pyshcology ‘
Hume - catholics experience Mary and Hindus experience Krishna. - Therefore seems unlikely then one divine source causes religious experience.
counter counter para 2 essay 1 ?
(to the privacy )James looked at effects - which means they can be empirically verified as seen in first paragraph.
Experiences are expressed in different ways only due to our personality , culture and upbrining , but there are still common features
what is intro essay 2 ?
Corporate = experienced by a large group of people. Individual - RE experienced by just one person.
what scholars essay 2 ?
Swinburne, William James.
what is ur view essay 2 ?
corporate is better
point para 1 essay 2 ?
Toronto Blessing.
Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship. Uncontrollable ‘holy’ laughter as well as crying, shrieking and falling to the floor. - Acting under the influence of Holy Spirit.
Fatima - Portugal - 1917 - Crowd of over 30,000 gathered in response to visions that claimed a miracle would occur on that day. As the crowd looked up they reported the sun ‘dancing’ and making strange movements in this sky.
counter para 1 essay 2 ?
Mass Hysteria - A group of people can spontaneoulsy start to generate physical symptoms in repsonse to a pshycological stimulus such as fear.
Trivial Acts - Seems strange that God would interact with us in this way instead of through miracles and messages.
Toronto - Also negative long term effects - trauma - why would God hurt them ?
counter counter para 1 essay 2 ?
Empiricable and observable effects.
Children of Medjugorje saw the same vision of Mary and heard the message , which they have acted on since. William James - Fruits - see the changes
point para 2 essay 2 ?
More witnesses - makes the cumulitive testimony more conving.
Richard Swinburne - English Philosopher -
Creduality = persons ability to know whether a statement is true.
Principle of Creduality = We should believe things are as they seem to be if there is no overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Also works for corporate
counter para 2 essay 2
Corporate could also be mass hysteria.
Swinburne’s Principle of Testimony - We should believe what people tell us unless we have good reason to doubt.
Emprical Evidence of lasting changes in a person’s characeter
James called these ‘fruits’ - He also noted the common factor of transiency
Fruits = long lasting effects even though the experience was short.
Principle of Creduality - WE should credit the individual with having an RE unless there is evidence to prove its impossible
counter counter para 2 essay 2
Principle of Testimony - people may lie.
Many claim they have a RE for personal gain, fame, wealth and power.
Freud - infantile neurosis - idea that humans are unable to cope with the responsibilities of adult life.
what is essay 3 ?
Physiological explanations of religious experiences are more successful than physcological?
what is intro essay 3 ?
Religious Experience = experience that involves or is about God and Christianity.
what is ur view essay 3?
physcological
what scolars essay 3 ?
point para 1 essay 3 ?
William James only accepts a religious experience to be true if it is passive, transient, noetic and ineffable. (Define these). However, some believe that RE’s are not religious at all and are just explained by psychology.
William James - ‘fruits’ - long lasting changes in someone afterwards. Some believe the empirical evidence of change in character can be traced to psychological factors.
Phycologists refer to ‘inattentional blindness’ , e.g. if we see a clear road instead of a car coming towards us . In religious experience we can also be misled by our minds . We can be sincere in our beliefs about the experience. and even change our outlook as a result , but we can be sincerely mistaken .