Religious experiences Flashcards
Corporeal visions
Corporeal means “of the body”.
this is a vision with your senses
For example:
Bernadette of Lourdes seeing Mary
Imaginative visions
dreams
For example:
Joseph’s dream in genesis (stalks of grain bowing down to him)
Intellectual visions
A vision where there is no sensory revelation at all.
you simply know something you did not know before
For example:
St Theresa of Avila had a revelation about the trinity but was unable to put it into words
Augustines understanding of religious experiences
they are communications from God
they are visions, but not always visual
James and Stace’s understanding of religious experiences
they are mystical
An experience that brings you closer to God
C.S. lewis’ analogy of the Tiger and Ghost
If you know there is a tiger on the other side of a door, you fear it because you know what it could possibly do
if they was a ghost, you would fear it because you dont know what it could do.
Otto’s understanding of religious experiences
they are numinous
An encounter with the “wholly other”
the “wholly other”
a being unlike anything encountered before.
terrifying because it is unfamiliar, strange, and powerful.
A.J. Ayer’s (potential) response to REs
verification principle
no non-verifiable experiences should be trusted
Temporal Lobe Epilepsy
A seizure of the temporal lobe can lead to hallucinations.
objection to RE
freud’s Wish fulfilment
he says that RE’s may be a hallucination caused by a subconscious wish for reassurance or consolation.
This may be a way of protecting ourselves form unsavoury realities.
Foundational beliefs
A belief that is not derived from any other
P.I.N.T
Ineffable- beyond human language/ description
Noetic- Gain knowledge of the nature of god that you simply did not have before
Transient- The experience is temporary and cannot be sustained, though it could have long lasting effects.
Passive- Experience is not initiated by the mystic but rather they feel something acting on them
Numinous dread
being full with awe when encountering a divine being
Qualities of numinous experiences
Holy: “an apprehension of the wholly other”
sui generis (in a class by itself)
non rational feelings
numinous dread-“ mysterium tremendum et fascinans”
sense of unworthiness and need for covering
Numinous idea of the holy
Otto focuses on Holy in a moral sense.transcendent.
this is experiencing the wholly other
sui generis
In a class by itself
the wholly other is unlike anything ever experienced before
numinous feelings are a faculty that recognises the holy and responds to it
Numinous non rational feelings
We cannot reason them
they are no irrational (dont go against reason), but they are non-rational, they ar beyond reason
this leaves us with mysterious tremendous et fascinans
Sense of unworthiness and need for covering
coming up against a wholly other that is both infinitely more powerful and good than you.
we feel shame being even in its presence
Pluralism
different faiths have similar experiences.
all experiences are likely the same but perceived different due to religious structures
Pragmatism
Truth is not fixed.
truth is whatever had value for us.
Extrovertive mystical experience
for Stace, the experiencer understands the unity between all things in their pov
introvertive mystical experience
for stace, the experiencer loses their personal perspective and reaches a full understanding of the unity of consciousness
Objectivist vs subjective view of REs
obj- the view that if a RE happens, it means God must objectively exist
sub- RE can be true for the believer without saying God exists for sure
