Value of religious experience

Value of religious experience

1. Religious experience lies at the heart of ( mainly monotheistic) religious faiths and their scriptures and tradition, without the initial foundation experience there would be no world religions. Thus, for believers, in particular those of the abrahamic faith, religious experience is central to their understanding of religion and practices in everyday life

2. All of the major world fiaths have a tradition of mysticism, in which religious experience plays an unprecedented role

   • Prominent saints in the Catholic tradition have a mystical dimension to their life - Eg St Julian of Norwich and St Teresa of Avila
   • Within Islamic tradition there is the mystical sect of Sufism
   • In judasism there is the mystical tradition of Kabbalah

3. Belief in the veracity of religious experince does not imply explicit acceptance of all religious experiences Thus with many beleivers there is an underlying notion of hierarchy in terms of the acceptance of religious experinces.

   • For example, traditional Christians opposition to pentecostal practices and Traditional Muslims with Sufism.
   • Thuis is due to the awareness of false prohpercy and the illusion of false divinity

4. Three critical criteria must be fulfilled in order for a religious experience to be treated as veridical

   • 1) Must not conflict with other ways of knowing God
   • 2) The result of a religious expereince must make a noticeable difference for the better int he life of the recipient
   • 3) The person should be regarded as someone who is not suffering form any kind of psychiatric disorder.