Religious Experience

Religious Experience

• It is when a person believes that they had an experience with God or another religious figure.
• It can range from God speaking to them, being aware of a presence or a miracle.
• People say that what happens draws them into a 'deeper' awarenss of God.
• It can be spontaneous and only happens to the individual, it makes it an unique experience that cannot be shared by anyone else.

It is not...

• A paranormal experience

1. Conversion; This is changing beliefs due to a religious experience. An example of this is Saul.

2. Numinous; This is a sense of awe or wonder. An example of this is a sunset or entering a church.

3. Mystical; This is being aware of the presence of God. An example of this is a sense of union or a transcending sense of joy and well being.

4. Miracles; This is when God acts in a special way as they go against the laws of nature. An example of this is Jesus turning water into wine.

William James (1842-1910)

• James did not want to make a juddement about religion as a whole as he did not want to prove that religious expereiences were either true or false as he looked at it objectively.
• The two questions he believed we should be asking are; 
• 1. Can experience such as these be used as evidence for the existence of God?
• 2. Does James' test show that religious experiences come from a real encounter with a God who exists 'out there' objectively?
• 3. Or does it show only the force of the experience within the mind of the individual, subjectively?

Key Words

• Monotheism; the belief that there is only one God.
• Foundational beliefs; a belief that is not derived from any other beliefs.
• Mysticism: the experience of having apprehended on ultimate reality.
• Ineffable; indescribable, cannot be expressed in words.
• Noetic; relating to the mind
• Transcency; not permanent, lasting for a short time only.
• Passivity; not active, not participating in the activity.
• Numen; something that is 'wholly other' than the natural word.
• Glossolalia; speaking in tongues, speaking in an unknown language.

Mysticism

• William James- 4 characteristics
• Buber-I-Thou
• St Teresa of Avila
• Otto-numen
• Monistic, Theistic
• Introvertive, Extrovertive

Conversion

• St Paul, John Wesley
• Gradual- sudden
• Change from one faith to another
• Changing from faith (believing) to faith (trusting)
• Change from no faith to a faith

Prayer

• George Miller
• Communion or conversation with God
• Glossolalia
• Seven types of Christianity

Richard Swinburne

• He bases the existence of God on religious experience.
• He accepts that there are arguments against religious experiences. Caroline Franks-Davis put forward 4 challenges;
• 1. The circumstances in which the experience occurred can produce unreliable results. For example if the person is intoxicated or a pathological liar.
• 2. The recipient did not have the ability to interpret the experience. For example the person is young.
• 3. Is it possible to show that whoever is claiming to have experienced was not there.
• 4. Whoever / whatever the recipient is claiming to have experienced was there, but not involved or responsible for the experience.

• Some believe a religious experience to be objective or subjective. (Objective= external to the mind and existing. Subjective= having the source within the mind)
• Freud saw religious experiences as a reaction to a hostile world. We feel helpless and seek a father figure. Therefore we create God to satisfy our needs.
• If there is no God, the experience of God cannot be valid.
• We dont all experience it. Surely, if there was a God, He would want everyone to know about Him and not just a selected few?
• If there is a reason why people who are not crdible are chosen? Can they be trusted?

John of the Cross (1542-1591)

Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)

Bernadette of Lourdes (1844-1879)

• Mystical; whe you become overwhelmingly aware of the presence of God.
• A sense of union & unity with the divine, transcending of time and a sense of joy & well-being.

St John of the Cross (1549-1591)

• He was brought up with his parents but then his father left the family.
• He got a job looking after hospital patients.
• He supported Saint Teresa but was kidnapped and tortured by his own order.
• He escaped and lived in a covent infirmary to escape his pursuers.
• He was praying and saw Jesus on the cross and created a picture of it.
• He created poems and literature that was religious.

St John of the Cross (1549-1591)

• He was brought up with his parents but then his father left the family.
• He got a job looking after hospital patients.
• He supported Saint Teresa but was kidnapped and tortured by his own order.
• He escaped and lived in a covent infirmary to escape his pursuers.
• He was praying and saw Jesus on the cross and created a picture of it.
• He created poems and literature that was religious.

Bernadette of Lourdes (1844-1879)

• She was illiterate and had several illnesses in her childhood.
• She saw the Virgin Mary in several occasions.
• Once by a stream at a spring which she was dug & found.
• Also to build a chapel.
• Her body remaind intact over 100's of years after her death.

Terea of Avila (1515-1582)

• She was a religious child then got involved in romantic literature and after an illness-she went back to religion.
• She had a shattering experience where she saw Christ wounded and from then she experienced visions.
• She was aided by St John of the cross in her endeavors.
• She had heights of mysticism, enjoyed countless visions and experienced various mystical favours.
• She enjoyed the  delights of prayer and the pleasures of secular conversation.

Richard Otto (1869-1937)

• He suggested that religion must derive from a being thar is totally separate from this world.
• A numinous experience reveals something about God, but cannot be explained in words, as the whole experience is at an emotional level

Martin Buber (1878-1965)

• He believes that you can have a personal relationship with God that can exist regardless of the concept if the numinous 2 relationships;
• 1. I-IT relations; when we stand in relation to something as an object which is entirely sepratae from us (how a doctor views a patient)
• 2. I-THOU relations; a shared intimate personal relationship. A mutual interaction (deep friendships, religious experience of God)