SOURCE OF FAITH Flashcards
Explain Scholarly opinions on religious experience being a source of faith?
William James- “religious experience is fundamental, that form the essence of the religion”.
Nicholas Lash- religious experience relies on a minority of privileged pattern seekers, God is experienced in everyday life not through miraculous experiences and rejects that God can be experienced directly in the way James claims.
Alistair Hardy- “It alters behaviour and changes attitudes and may be seen by the individual as life enhancing, or he may recognise it as special force which gives him confidence and courage.
What does Aquinas believe about religious experience as a source of faith?
- It is vital. Viewed Christianity as rational because it can be supported by reason- however he did not think reason alone was sufficient, so divine revelation was a also required. REASON + DIVINE REVELATION= KNOWLEDGE OF TRUE INSIGHTS.
What was Luther’s take on religious experience as a source of faith?
- Belief in facts alone is not enough- trust in promise of God, not just believing but being prepared to ACT ON BELIEF.
Explain Luther’s boat illustration.
“The person who does not have faith is like someone who has to cross the sea but is also frightened that he does not trust the ship. So he stays where he is and is never saved, because he will not get on board and cross over”.
What is the difference between belief IN and belief THAT?
Belief in shows utter conviction and no doubt. The person with belief in is prepared to act upon their beliefs with no regard to the consequences.
Belief that is belief in the facts but not trust, they are not prepared to act upon their beliefs.
Is religious experience needed for individuals?
YES: It allows confirmation of faith, brings new knowledge and understanding, James sees it as “fundamental to form essence of religion”, Aquinas believes this + reason = knowledge of true insights, Luther believes religious experience unites the believer to Christ. Finally it also provides real life application, rather than it being an imaginary world.
NO: Not if they already have faith- the fruits may not be as noticeable, people can feel left out, this is not important for atheists, not necessarily relevant to believers today and they occurred so long ago that it may be like Chinese whispers and not accurate, St Paul’s teachings are also outdated and sexist.
Is religious experience important to religions as a whole?
YES: Founds some religions- without it these would potentially not exist, makes religions more genuine and no just an imaginary world without it religion would just be a collection of ideas, way for God to communicate, moulds and changes religions (VERY INFLUENTIAL).
NO: Theology comes first in Christianity, may make a religion difficult to be taken seriously e.g. speaking in tongues may be seen as being too super natural.
