MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE

MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE

• The recipient feels a sense of closeness with the divine. Human spirit mixes with the divine resulting in a greater understanding of God, the big picture and life itself
• Mystical experiences involves the spirtual recognition of truths beyond normal understanding
• Mysticism is seen as the closest a human being can come to actually meeting the divine
• The person having the mystical experience may feel suddenly caught up in a sense of unity of all things

WILLIAM JAMES MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE

• William james identified 4 signs of mystical experience:
• 1.Passivity - experience does not come from the mystic but rather they have a sense that something is acting upon them. The experience is controlled from outside themselves
• 2.Ineffable - no adequate description can be given in words. Language limitations prevent description.
• 3.Noetic - This experience is not just ‘feelings,’ but a deep and direct knowledge of God which could not have been achieved through reason alone. The ‘truth’ was revealed to them
• 4.Transient - the experience is temporary and cannot be sustained, its an experience that comes and goes.However the effects of the experience can last longer time perhaps lifetime
• CRITICISMS OF THIS :

EXAMPLES OF MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE

• ST TERESA OF AVILA - A women stricken by illnesses, who over 20 years in her late life, received many mystical experiences and felt that God was in her.
• -Mother Julian of Norwich 14/15th century was a nun - during meditation received 16 revelations from god. She saw the whole creation maintained by gods love even though man sins. She said god told her ' sin is inevitable , but al shall be well '

CRITICISMS OF MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE

• JL MACKIE - If mystical experiences are explainable psychologically then mystical experiences have no authority even for the person who has the experience.
• RICHARD DAWKINS
• - In his book 'The god delusion' he claimed that there is no such thing as religious or mystical experience , they are just expressions of a persons psychological needs.

GENERAL RESPONSES TO RELIGIOUS EXP.

• FREUD - Argued that Religious experiences are just 'ILLUSIONS' + just creations of the brain + false examples of our desires + Freud believes religious exp. could be hallucinations caused by unconscious which all humans have
• RICHARD DAWKINS - Wrote a book against religious experiences called 'THE GOD OF DELUSIONS' arguing that religious experiences just outcomes of alternative explanations
• AYER argued that religious experiences all together are FALLACIOUS + He also argued that humans are mistaken + unreliable to believe in them so therefore there is no proof for existence of GOD
• FLEW - Used the idea of having a blik to show that religious believers will not allow anything to count against their religion therefore they will always defend if they had a religious experience
• Starbucks argued that religious experiences may just be the normal process / development of adolescences finding its sense of identity
• Religious experience = subjective + not testable by empirical means
• KANT - Rejects the possibility of rebellious exp. as we do not have the sense to experience God , as go belongs in the NOUMENAL REALM.God is not an object within time + space

CONTINUATION OF GENERAL RESPONSES

• MARX- Described religion as the 'OPIUM OF THE MASSES' argued that religion should be overthrown + religious exp = product of culture
• SWINBURNE - CUMULATIVE ARGUMENT : 1.So many people have had religious experiences in past that they simply cannot be making up.God must be the cause of it . 2. Cumulative argument shows that its probable that god exists , therefore the claim that religious experience are true and accurate are more likely to be true then false
• RESPONSE TO CUMULATIVE ARGUMENT : 1.Universal consent does not prove anything , many ppl can be mistaken or deceived e.g. believing the world was flat
• 2.Flew rejects this argument using his '10 leaky buckets analogy' to show that 10 deeply flawed arguments do not make 1 good one
• PHYSIOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE : Over-excitement in the Limbic system leads to ppl to be more likely to have religious experience due to HYPER - RELIGIOSITY
• CRITICISM OF PHYSIOLOGICAL EXPLANATION = Not everyone who claims to have a religious experience has a abnormal brain system