Religious Experiences

Religious Experiences

1. Types

   • Mystical
     • William James
       • categorised mystical REs that cannot be described with words as PINT
         • Passive
         • Noetic
         • Ineffable
         • Transient
       • Accepted that some REs can be induced but they still count
         • It is the change in the person which matters
       • Studied clients who had had REs - said the certainty of testimonies was enough
         • there was a common core of change despite all the differences
         • Don't need empirical/scientific fact because the subconscious self is just as useful
     • Teresa of Avila
       • Had a series of REs that cured her of illness
       • Set out 4 stages of prayer in analogy of the garden
         • Drawing water from the well
         • Drawing water from well with pulley
         • Irrigation
         • Rain
     • Julian of Norwich
       • Prayed for serious illness at age 30, got one, had REs which healed her
     • Sense of unity with the Divine and gaining of knowledge
     • eg. visions, voices, dreams
       • Visions can be corporeal, intellectual or imaginative
         • Corporeal - seeing a form or an image of a person eg St Bernadette of Lourds
         • Intellectual - seen as an experience rather than an observation
         • Imaginative - often occurs within a dream
       • Voices can be hearing the voice of God and may communicate knowledge
         • Can be disembodied, noetic, authoritative
     • Tillich - two stages: an encounter followed by a special understanding of that event which reveals a religious significance
     • F.C. Happold
       • 2 ways a mystical RE can be discussed
         • 1. Mysticism of Love and Union
           • Where a person longs to escape feelings of loneliness and seperation
           • We want to be individuals but we want to be part of something bigger
         • 2. Mysticism of Knowledge and Understanding
           • Where a person attempts to find answers to ultimate questions
       • 3 aspects of any mystical experience
         • 1. Soul Mysticism - recognising and contemplating the soul, resulting in soul fulfillment
         • 2. Nature Mysticism - recognising God in nature and realising he is immanent
         • 3. God Mysticism - recognising that your soul wants to return to an immortal, infinite state with God, achieved through worship
   • Numinous
     • Experiencing a sense of the Divine but with distance
     • Buber - can have a personal relationship with God and still class RE as numinous. God can reveal himself on a personal level, leading to special RE of life and the world
   • Corporate
     • A group experience of the Divine
     • Toronto Blessings
   • Charismatic
     • Can be dramatic, experience of the Holy Spirit, feel strong emotion
       • Features
         • induced through group prayer
         • led by a leader - feel presence of God through preacher
         • embodied by the holy spirit - knocked to the ground, speaking in tongues etc
         • feel God through their body
         • long lasting qualities - more piety (devotion)
   • Conversion
     • RE that leads to conversion to a religious life often seen as miracles
     • change in faith/personality. usually dramatic
     • deepening of faith, sense of peace, connected to the divine indirectly or directly
     • 3 types
       • intellectual - have greater understanding of God, noetic.
       • moral - change in morality and behaviour
       • social - join church/community.
     • can be conscious and voluntary or involuntary and unconscious
   • Prayer experiences
     • Method of communication between God and humanity
   • Kierkegaard - can only know God through a leap of faith which can come from REs. Knowledge of God can be different for each individual

2. Scripture

   • Propositional
   • Non propositional

3. Veridical?

   • Yes
     • Swinburne
       • REs are either public or private
         • Public - normal event interpreted in a religious way or witnessing unusual event with others
         • Private - explained by normal language, nt explained with normal language, ongoing impression of presence
       • Principle of credulity
         • should believe unless we have a good reason not to, reasonable to believe someone's account
           • Disbelieve if...
             • Person was hallucinating under the influence of drugs
             • do not believe in existence of God - cannot recognise as an RE
             • Evidence that the event was caused by something else other than God eg. with twin brothers you think you see one but you actually see the other
       • Principle of testimony
         • should accept what appears to be the case unless there is good evidence against the RE, if the experience is genuine then it is evidence for God
       • RE + other evidence = God exists
     • Brian Davies analogy of a Wild Animal: if it has been sighted once but another group can't find it it doesn't mean it doesn't exist
     • Alston - REs are sensory. Why shouldn't we trust our senses when we learn this way in everyday life?
   • No
     • Flew - cannot use Res + other evidence. All evidence is weak and is like using a "leaky bucket". Lots of weak evidence doesn't equal strong evidence
     • Alston - can't come to experience God and gain knowledge this way, may not inform us about God
     • Freud
       • REs are a defense mechanism to protect from trauma felt/repressed in the id, which prevents psychosis
       • REs are a result of desiring something that is missing from your life eg father
       • "collective neurosis" where religion is a safety blanket and REs are an extreme form of this
       • Due to lack of ego or projections of oldest and ultimate ideas that people used to hold
     • Marx
       • A societal construct used by the bourgeoisie to control the proletariat - to keep them happy
       • Happy workers = more efficiency, longer work lives, better attitudes to work
       • "opiate of the masses"
       • Imaginary projection of people's needs and the qualities deemed to be important
     • James response to criticisms
       • REs are not authentic because the God is different in each one depending on the religion
         • REs are an expression of emotion/feeling therefore you cannot empirically test. It is the similarities between the feelings experienced that matters
       • Need scientific techniques
         • Subconscious self is just as important in making sense of REs. It could be the 'higher self' that we want unity with and to develop
       • REs happen to most vulnerable in society, happen to mentally instable
         • People who have had REs are often more fulfilled and have greater understanding of the world around them than those who have athiest views
     • Visions - how can we be sure the voice is from God?
     • Starbuck
       • Conversion is a natural part of human development, common among 14-17 y/os
     • conversions
       • result of psychological causes
       • Freud - 'reaction to the hostile world'
       • prone to sudden and dramatic change in life = recreate in mind
       • usually happen to weak of mind and vulnerable