Religious Experiences Flashcards
What dos the specification tell us we need to know?
-Mystical experiences
-Conversion experiences
-Corporate experiences
-Different ways religious experiences are understood
What does it mean to have a Mystical experience?
A experience which gives a sense of oneness and unity with the divine.
What is another type of experience which was referenced by Rudolf Otto?
Numinous experiences- sense of otherness with God
What are 3 ways Rudolf said a Numinous experience can be recognized?
1)Quality of mystery, realization that God is incomprehensible
2)God is the ultimate importance
3)God has the quality which is both dangerous and attractive, God is in control however individual still feels privilege.
When talking about William James what experience is he usually referring to?
Mystical experiences
What was William James?
Both a psychologist and a philosopher, he believed religious experiences was the very heart of religion.
Where did William James views come from?
The Gifford Lectures, which was turned into a book ‘the varieties of religious experience’.
How did William James respond to the fact that experiences tend to support a individuals worldview?
Distinction between the religious experience itself and how it has been interpreted.
!-Kant’s different worlds.
What is William James Suggesting with his Book?
That it could point to ‘something bigger’
(not necessarily God)
What are 2 things William James concludes?
-The world is part of a more spiritual universe
-Out true end is to unite with a higher universe
What are the 4 common features that William James proposed for mystical experiences?
-Passivity, not in control
-Ineffability, indescribable
-Noetic, Knowledge is gained
-Transiency, short-lived
What are the 4 common features of mystical experiences supposed to show?
How genuine a religious experience is.
What is most important to William James when questioning how genuine a religious experience is?
The effects (fruits not roots)
Though William James was a psychologist what did he believe and what example did he give?
That psychology/physiology cannot be the whole explanation for Religious experiences.
For example, St Paul is believed to have a epileptic episode however that does not mean that the experience was not genuine.
What are William James’s Three Key Principles?
-Pragmatism
-Pluralism
-Empiricism
Explain William James’s Three Key Principles.
Pragmatism-True if it works in practice, ‘truth’ whatever has value for us in the world
Pluralism-Truth in all faiths
Empiricism-The result of the experience is empirical data
Why does William James believe that conversions are the strongest evidence for the divine and what conversion example did he give?
Observable effects (life-changing)
ST PAUL
Why does William James believe conversion experiences point to a divine?
Converts find their greatest peace
What are 3 fruits W.James described of conversion experiences and the impact of longtivity?
-something beyond material world
-feeling of elation and freedom
-feeling of meeting a friendly power
What did W.James say in his book about how there can be doubt?
‘Cannot be cited as unequivocally supporting an infinitist belief’
What does William James suggest?
That there are other forms of consciousness.
ANALOGY OF DRUNKNESS
someone drunk is put in another state by alcohol so does a mystic is able to access different states of consciousness
Who proposed the principle of testimony and credulity?
Richard Swinsburne
What Swinsburne believe about religious experiences?
They should be treated the same way a private/individual experience would where your more likely to believe.
What is the principle of testimony?
Assume they are telling the truth unless you have reason to believe otherwise.
e.g untrustworthy,under the influence
What is the principle of credulity?
Unless there is overwhelming evidence you should believe things are what they seems.
What are 2 weaknesses to Richard Swinburne principle of Testimony and Credulity?
-Unwise to give benefit of doubt as results aren’t empirical
-Bertrand Russell, good effects aren’t necessarily evidence as that can be produced by fictional characters in books
Explain how the problem of other minds links to the principle of credulity and testimony being weak?
Even if a person is telling the truth you will never know as you cannot experience what they experience
-Qualia!
What is a example of a nouminal experience?
Moses and the burning bush.
What is a example of a mystical experience?
St Teresa of Avila.
Just as a sponge is saturated with water the soul is saturated by God.
What are 2 conclusions Happold draws from his study?
-Mystics believe the world comes from a divine ground which can only be known intuitively
-Our purpose is to discover our eternal self and unite with divine ground
How does St Teresa of Avila support William James’s Views?
Experiences should be subject to test to determine whether they are genuine.
Where does Otto’s idea’s come from?
His book The idea of the holy
According to Rudolf Otto how is a nouminal experience supposed to make a individual feel?
Awe and wonder, insignificant in God’s presence.
How does Otto describe nouminal experiences?
Mysterium: tremendum et fascinans
mysterious,tremendous and fascinating.
Explain St Teresa of Avila’s religious experience.
-she was a catholic nun and mystic
-vision of a spear and the golden tip was on fire
-pierced her side and gave a immense feeling of elation and love.
What are the 3 weaknesses of St Teresa of Avila’s experience being genuine?
-Could have been a result of sexual frustration
(she said if it was she would have felt disgusted)
-physiological explanation, she suffered from illnesses due to self mortification
-poor diet and vitamin D deficiency causes hallucinations.
What is evidence that St Teresa of Avila’s experience was sexual frustration?
‘penetrate’
‘utter several moans’
Explain Julian of Norwich’s religious experience.
-she was on her death bed
-saw a vision of Christ bleeding out in front of her
-had a overwhelming sense of God’s unconditional love.
-used language of love and motherhood
What are weaknesses of Julia of Norwhich’s experience?
-Vitamin D deficiency lead to hallucination
-Bertrand Russell ‘if you eat too little you will see visions, if you drink too much you will see snakes’
What is William James’s psychological view on conversion experience?
There subconsciousness is active similar to when someone is in a hypnotic state
Explain shift in energy William James as a explanation for conversion experiences.
Religious beliefs and identity become the centre of a person’s consciences.
What are the 2 types of conversions?
Volitional=slow development
Self-surrender=pivotal experience followed by change
Who gave the two types of conversions?
Edwin Starbuck
What was Edwin Starbuck?
A psychologist.
How did Edwin Starbuck explain conversion experiences?
A side effect of anxieties associated with adolescence.
e.g lack of belonging
What ages did Edwin find most conversions would happen?
15-24
Go through similar stages of incompleteness and anxiety before finding happy relief and a sense of identity.
What was Sigmund Freud’s belief of conversion experiences?
Wishful thinking
They are a product of childhood insecurities produced by our unconscious.
What was Antony Flew’s belief of conversion experiences?
They way there interpreted is based of background and upbringing.
e.g someone in Saudi Arabia would convert into Islam.
What did Wittgenstein believe about conversion experiences?
The experience only has meaning for those who interpret them.
Explain St Paul’s Conversion experience.
-On his way to Damascus to persecute Christians.
-Struck by blinding light hears Jesus say ‘why do you persecute me?’
-experienced 3 days of blindness
-converts to Christianity and becomes a missionary
What are the 2 weaknesses of St Paul’s conversion experience?
-Carl Jung, symptoms of emotional breakdown and guilt of persecuting Christians
-Shows the symptoms of temporal lobe epilepsy
What are the strength of St Paul’s conversion?
-Doesn’t remove the fact his experience was not genuine
-observable effects
Explain Davey Falcus conversion experience.
-Renowned criminal from Newcastle
-A bright light filled the room
-Jesus was standing over him and ‘son your sins are forgiven so sin no more’
-15 years of drug habits was broken
What is one discussion point of Davey Falcus’s conversion experience?
Psycholgical
He may have felt guilt/ wanted greater purpose because he felt empty
Explain Nicky Cruz’s Conversions.
-He was a Puerto Rican gang leader
-Wilkinson a preacher told him ‘Jesus loves you’ he slapped him
-he eventually went to a meeting lead by Wilkins and he felt overwhelmed guilt
-asked for God’s forgiveness and studied the bible
What are 2 weaknesses of it being a conversion experience Nicky Cruz?
-Psychological damage due to emotional and physical abuse
-Edwin Starbuck, 16 became gang leader
What is a cooperate experience?
A experience shared by a group of people.
Explain the Cooperate experience of Pentecost Acts 2.
-house of the apostles was filled with strong wind
-And they were filled by the holy spirit
-they began speaking in a language they didn’t know before
What did the Pentecost experience lead to?
The movement of Pentecostalism.
When did the Toronto blessing start?
1990s
Explain what the Toronto blessing was?
They would be filled with the holy spirit which would cause them to speak in tongue make animal noises and uncontrollable laughter.
What are the weaknesses of the toronto blessing?
-demonic activity (interpreted wrongly)
-Social conformity
-God revealing himself in a strange way
What are strengths of the toronto blessing?
-William James, changed lives strengthened marriages
-Shows there is no bias
How does William James understand religious experiences?
A union with a greater power.
‘something larger than ourselves’
How does John Hick associate with the union of a greater power?
‘experiencing as’
We may all experience the same things but perceive differently.
What does William James believe the only possible test is?
‘Judging of the fruits’
How can William James’s effects be countered?
Bertrand Russell
How does the volume of religious experiences support how genuine they are?
Significant volume
David Hay-30% of people questioned experienced a spiritual force
How do similarities support how real religious experiences are?
Considerable similarities would not be present if they weren’t
Which 3 psychologists provide explanations?
-Edwin Starbuck
-Feuerbach
-Freud
Explain Feuerbach psychological explanation.
-God is human invention formed by human desire
-All attributes of God come from human nature
Explain Freud’s psychological understanding of religious experiences.
-religion is neurosis
-religious experiences are a illusion
-trying to balance our conscious and unconscious mind
-minds construct a father figure who protects us
How does Carl Jung counter Freud’s claims?
Religion should not be seen as a illness that needs to be cured.
What are 2 physiological explanations of religious experiences?
-changes in hormones
-drugs,deficiencies,alcohol
(mind altering)
How does Richard Dawkins understand religious experiences?
-religious ideas are ‘memes’
-ideas that have evolved and been used in survival
‘virus of the mind’
Who used a ‘God Helmet’ to stimulate the temporal lobe?
Micheal Persinger
What did Micheal Persinger find using the God helmet?
Participants had sensations similar to religious experiences.
e.g felt a presence outside themselves
Why is Micheal Persinger’s God helmet experiment not widely accepted?
Because the same results cannot be replicated
What in St Paul’s writings suggest he had epilepsy?
‘Thorn in his side’
suggesting a reoccurring illness
What are 1 weaknesses of the physiological explanation?
It’s reductionist.
What is one strength of psychological explanations?
Inattentional Blindness
You can see a clear road but not the car coming towards us.
You can be misled by your mind in a religious experience.
Caroline Franks Davis said what supporting that religious experience is evidence of God?
Cumulative argument
Using other argument for evidence that there is a God, religious experience may be the thing which tips balance in favour of a God.
How does Antony Flew counter Caroline?
one leaky bucket cannot hold water what makes you think 10 can.All arguments proving God’s existence have faults adding them together doesn’t make a better argument
How does Hume critices religious experiences proving God’s existence?
Depending on faith and culture it could discredit religious experiences.
