Religous experience

Question 1

What are some examplkes of relgious orders founded on the basis of religious experience

Answer 1

Sikhism-Guru nanak
Franciscan monks-francis of assisi
Quakers -george fox

Question 2

What vision does isaiah receive in the bible

Answer 2

God calling him to be a prophet

Question 3

What is the night of power

Answer 3

Islamic belief that that was the night mohammed had the quran revealed to him

Question 4

What is a sensory religious experience/vision and give an example

Answer 4

When someone is awake and conscious adn has an econutner with an external reality using their senses
Berandette of Lourdes-vision of the virgin mary telling her where a stream was

Question 5

What is a corporate religious vision

Answer 5

Several people report experiencing the same thing

Question 6

Who was teresa of avila and what did she experience

Answer 6

16th cent catholoic nun. prolific writer
experienced visions (may have been epileptic)
Identified 3 types of visions
Corporeal vision-visions literally seem by eyes, most likely kind to be the devil
imaginative vision-Vision seen with the minds eye or ‘eyes of the soul’
Intellectual vision-Some deeper understanding gained about god-most important-could not be worked out alone by the recipient

Question 7

What criteria does teresa give for a vision being authentic

Answer 7

Clear and distinct
refers to things never thought by the person before
Gives a new level of understanding
Authentic vision leaves someone at peace whereas inauthentic leaves someone doubting and restless

Question 8

What was Julian of Norwichs religious experience like

Answer 8

She saw god as being all that was good, god pressed a hazelnut in her hand and she understood all is made by god

Question 9

What religions do and dont seek converts

Answer 9

do-christniaty, islam
dont-hindu, judaism

Question 10

What is an individual conversion experience and give an example

Answer 10

Something that causes someone to choose to switch religions
Charles wesley(clergyman)-had ann arguemnt with his brother about conversions.
a monthh later, heard someone preaching the bible and felt warmed by it- moved to living a life inspired by christanity, rather than agreeing with it

Question 11

What is active and passive conversion

Answer 11

Active-they take initiative e.g. reading the bible
passive-Taken by suprise

Question 12

Who is the most famous christian example of conversion

Answer 12

Paul of damascus

Question 13

What is a communal conversion experience and give an example

Answer 13

Group of people simulataneously have a religious experience and change their beliefs
The coming of the holy spirit in acts 2 or jesus calminng the storm

Question 14

What is Mysticism

Answer 14

Religious experience in which the sense of self is lost

Question 15

What features do mystical experiences have

Answer 15

Transcendent -beyond space and time
Ecstatic-beyond range of normal emotions
Unitive religious experience-lose notions of the ego

Question 16

What are the types of prayer

Answer 16

Worship and thanksgiving
Petitioning
Confession and repentance

Question 17

How did William James descirbe teresa of avila

Answer 17

One of the ablest women we have on record

Question 18

What layers of prayer does teresa of avila delineate

Answer 18

Meditation-like drawing a bucket from a well
Prayer of quiet-like using a pulley system for the well
Union-like using the water from a river
Rapture-it raining

Question 19

What book did Teresa of avila write about prayer and what does it say

Answer 19

The interior castle
Moving through the castles 7 layers to the light within is analgous to praying
Outside the castle everything is dark and filled with poisonous creatures

Question 20

When did William james publish his book and what was it called

Answer 20

1901
Varieties of religious experience

Question 21

What 4 characteristics does james apply to mystical experience

Answer 21

Inneffability-Experience cannot be expressed in normal language
(one must be in love to understand being in love)
Noetic quality-made to understand truths which could not be achieved through thought alone e.g. conversion
Passivity-Person feels like the experience is being controlled externally without their own autonomy
Transiency-Experience is over soon although its affects and it can feel like it lasted much longer

Question 22

Who is rudolf otto

Answer 22

German theologian and mystic-wrote das Heilige in 1923

Question 23

What was Ottos concept to explain mystical experiences

Answer 23

Numinous-The idea that science and rationality cannot explain religious concepts and refers to the feelings evoked by a non-rational sense of being in the presence of the holy

Question 24

What does Otto claim creature conscious means

Answer 24

That in a numinous experience, people become aware they were created rather than independent-inspired by schleiermacher

Question 25

What does the wholly other mean in the concept of the numinous

Answer 25

Numinous experiences are completely different and cannot be confused for any other- they are aware they are in the presence of something not entirely natural

Question 26

What word does Otto coin to attempt to express the feeling of being in the presence of god

Answer 26

Mysterium tremendum

Question 27

What does otto argue about the holy, as was fashionable at the time

Answer 27

Huamintys interest in the numinous has evolved from simple origins to the current complexity e.g. we see something scary we think of it as eerie and haunted in a primal sense of numinous awe
He argues the sense of holy is an a priori category of the mind- we are born with it

Question 28

What book features a reference to the numinous

Answer 28

Wind in the Willows-Rat and Mole hear music and have a msyticval experience

Question 29

What is the main issue with considering religious experience objectively

Answer 29

It is incredibly subjective

Question 30

Kants phenomena vs noumena. explain

Answer 30

Phenomena-how we perceive things e.g. sad music
Noumena-How things actually are. sheet music and air vibrations

Question 31

Explain persingers helmet

Answer 31

Helmet you can put on and it would stimulate brain waves that matched feelings of religious experience
criticism-Air travel can be simulated in a flight sim but this does not make real air travel false

Question 32

What are swinburnes two defenses of religious experience

Answer 32

Principle of Testimony-If other people experience religious happenings, we should trust them generally
Principle of Credulity-We should beleive the evidence of our senses, unless we have good reason to think we might be mistaken. If we have a religious experience, it stands to reason that it actually happened

Question 33

Whats caroline franks davis book called

Answer 33

1989-The evidential force of religious experience

Question 34

What are Franks Davis’ 3 challenges to religious experiences

Answer 34

Description related challenges-Things that are described but do not fit with our worldview have reason to be questioned e.g. someone claims they saw aliens
Subject related challenges-Questions about the person giving the desciption-e.g. drug addict, not sufficient training etc
Object-related challenge-We question whatever we are meant to be perceiving e.g. it is impossible for the object to exist e.g. it snowing in dubai

Question 35

What is Franks davis conclusion about religious experience

Answer 35

On balance, it fails against the challenges. However, relgious experience can still be vaild despite not being verifiable.
One off claims can also be true despite a lack of repeatability