Visions Flashcards
What is a corporeal vision?
Comes from a sense of sight
In a corporeal vision, a person will see an object that has religious experience clearly, in the same way that they can see any other object around them
What is an example of a corporeal vision?
St Bernadette saw visions of the Virgin Mary in Lourdes, France. These visions opened a spring of water said to have healing properties (approximately 70 healing miracles have taken place there since, and it is a place of pilgrimage)
What are imaginative visions?
-occur mostly in dreams
- In this type of vision, the person experiencing it has no control- showing that this vision comes from God
- It is seen in the mind
- Despite occurring in the mind, these visions have real effects of the people who receive them making them change their behaviour
Example of imaginative vision
Genesis 41- the Pharaoh dreams 7 thin cows eat 7 fat cows, and 7 withered stalks of corn devour 7 healthy stalks. Pharaoh understands that this dream is significant, leading him to ask Joseph to interpret it for him. Joseph correctly tells him that there will be a famine in7 years time and to prepare for it.
What is an intellectual vision?
- Have no image to be perceived
- However,they give people an awareness of how things really are/ the true nature of the world
- people experience am ‘illumimation’ of the soul and proof that God exists.
- This is a type of mystical experience so cannot be described in human words
An example of an intellectual vision
St Teresa of Avilla, whilst in prayer got a sense that Jesus was beside her, allowing her to draw on his presence whenever she needed to.’’ I saw nothing with the eyes of the body….I had the most distinct feeling of His near presence.’’ Teresa describes a’‘light’‘of understanding, and the fact that she ‘‘just knew’’ that God was with her, her soul was conveyed the clear knowledge of Jesus’s presence
What did Otto say about religious experiences?
Otto argued that all religious experiences are numinous- relating to the power (or presence) of a deity
Why can’t numinous experiences be put into human words?
Because they are beyond human reason, so they cannot be explained rationally or be put into human words
