Religious experiences Flashcards
William James
- defined religion as a personal experience
- primary experience of the divine was at the heart of religion and came before ‘second-hand religious life’
- Believed that religious experiences have a profound impact to them and feel very convincing to them. Because of this, he believes they should be taken seriously, even though they don’t prove anything
What did common core did William James suggest mystical experiences have?
- He suggests mystical experiences have a common core: (PINT)
*Passive - people feeling they were not in control of the experience and as if another power was acting on them
*Ineffable - experience was difficult to put into words
*Noetic - the experience provided insight or knowledge grasped through intuition. This can be called ‘revelation’
*Transient - experience lasted a short time but had much more significant effect on the person, often life-long
Define mystical experience and name an example
Mystical experience - an experience of something beyond normal awareness, something described as super-sense or sub-sense
*Example - Theresa of Avila
Define conversion experiences and explain the beliefs surrounding them suggested by the associated philosopher and an example of a conversion experience
*Conversion experiences - have long lasting effects on individuals and are seen to be the strongest evidence of the divine for James. This is due to the drastic, life changing effects that they can have
*Example - st.Paul on the road to Damascus, changing from a Christian persecutor to a christian evangelist/missionary
Rudolf Otto
- what
- what he thought religious experiences should be described as
- Otto aimed to explore accounts of the divine through the accounts of religious experiences, which he deemed to be central to religion.
- He thought religious experiences should be described as ‘mysterium, tremendum et fascinans’ meaning ‘fearful and fascinating mystery’.
What 3 characteristics did Otto think the divine had?
1)A quality of mystery, making the individual realise that God can never be fully understood
2) A quality of ultimate importance
3) A quality that is both attractive and dangerous
What did Sigmund Freud believe regarding religious experiences?
Religious experiences are neurosis caused by childhood insecurities. They are hallucinations caused by deep subconscious desires in the same way the dreams are when we sleep. This is because the idea of God existing is psychologically attractive - our wrongdoing can be forgiven and we can have hope in the face of death.
What did Friedrich Schleiermacher believe?
Religion itself is a personal experience. It offers a ‘taste’ of the infinite and as experiences they are ‘self-authenticating’.
What did Jung say regarding st.Pauls religious experience?
He argued that Paul exhibited symptoms of an emotional breakdown, perhaps triggered by his guilt at the number of Christians he had condemned to death
What are corporate experiences?
experienced by many people at the same time
Limitations of William James’ view on religious experiences
(-)Sigmund Freud would dismiss the validity of religious experience, arguing for a psychological explanation such as neurosis. James could have investigate these other methods of testing the cause/meaning of religious experience.
(-)Could be explained by mind-altering substances or illness
(-)James focuses on the subjectivity of religious experiences, rather than truth claims. Ineffability could be argued that mystical experiences don’t have suitable language to describe them rather than an indication of similarity. This may be due to logical inconsistencies with the persons experiences, which may further question the validity.
(-)Anthony Flew concluded that statements that cannot be tested empirically are meaningless. He would therefore reject James’ test of religious experience.
