Religious Experience Flashcards

Question

The influence and impact of religious experiences

Answer 1

Paul -As Saul travelled towards Damascus, he had a religious experience - he was blinded by a bright light from heaven and fell to the ground. -As a result of his religious experience, Saul transformed his entire life. He stopped persecuting Christians, converted to Christianity and became the most famous evangelist in history. He went from persecuting Christians to promoting Christianity - he is today known as the founder of Christianity as a religion. St Bernadette of Lourdes Dave Falcus

Answer 2

We should assume things are credible unless we have evidence that proves otherwise. WE OUGHT TO BELIEVE THAT THINGS ARE AS THEY SEEM TO BE, UNTIL WE HAVE EVIDENCE THAT WE ARE MISTAKEN

Answer 3

We should assume people are telling the truth unless we have evidence that proves otherwise (innocent until proven guilty) IN THE ABSENCE OF SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS THE EXPERIENCES OF OTHERS ARE PROBABLY AS THEY REPORT THEM

Answer 4

-“ON OUR TOTAL EVIDENCE, THEISM IS MORE PROBABLE THAN NOT” -“WE OUGHT TO BELIEVE THAT THINGS ARE AS THEY SEEM TO BE, UNTIL WE HAVE EVIDENCE THAT WE ARE MISTAKEN” -“IF YOU SAY ... NEVER TRUST APPEARANCES UNTIL IT IS PROVED THAT THEY ARE RELIABLE YOU WILL NEVER HAVE ANY BELIEFS AT ALL” -“JUST AS YOU MUST TRUST YOUR FIVE ORDINARY SENSES, SO IT IS EQUALLY RATIONAL TO TRUST YOUR RELIGIOUS SENSE”

Answer 5

-Consistent with William James pragmatist belief that experiences should be judged by their 'fruits not roots. Transformation is lifestyle and outlook is a powerful and observable! argument for the genuineness of a religious experience -Swinburne does take into account 'special considerations' that may influence the reliability of someone's testimony. For example: some people are proven liars some people are drug-users or suffer from mental health disorders. This acknowledgment strengthens the case - it shows he has considered potential problems -Swinburne's approach reflects how human beings navigate through life in general - we would not be able to get through life if we demanded absolute proof before accepting people's testimony. As Swinburne says: IF YOU SAY ... NEVER TRUST APPEARANCES UNTIL IT IS PROVED THAT THEY ARE RELIABLE, YOU WILL NEVER HAVE ANY BELIEFS AT ALL" -Swinburne is making an inductive argument that seeks to investigate the probability of God's existence. Swinburne therefore acknowledges his method is not absolutely perfect, but it still ultimately makes God's existence more probable than not (to more than 50%).

Answer 6

-Swinburne is saying that normal sense experiences are reliable, therefore religious experiences are reliable evidence for the existence of God. This is a dubious claim - how can we move from being convinced of the reliability of the senses to the reliability of mystical and visionary claims about God? -Ancient Greek philosopher Plato said that we cannot trust our senses or empirica experience. as 'the bodv is an endless source of trouble for us We cannot rely or anv 'evidence that we gain from our senses. because they deceive us.even if someone helieves thev are telling the truth. that does not mean they necessaril are. This is illustrated by contemporary criticisms of religious experiences, whic show such experiences to be the result of hallucination, illness or substance/drug consumption -Personal testimony is not sufficient as absolute proof - even if every single person who had a religious experience wholeheartedly believed that is was an experience of God, it would not objectively prove 'God' is the right explanation for such an experience. French rationalist Denis Diderot declared that, if the entire population of Paris were to assure him that a man had been raised from the dead, he would not believe a word of it

Answer 7

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud: 20th century psychoanalyst, founding father of modern psychology. Human behaviour is explained by the subconscious mind. "Religion is an illusion" "The religions of mankind must be classed among the mass-delusions of this kind" Sigmund Freud argued that 'religion is an illusion'. Visions are at best signs of immaturity, at worst symptoms of mental illness. Religion is the projection of our greatest hopes, fears and desires (e.g. for protection, security).

Answer 8

Bertrand Russell: 20 century mathematician, logician and philosopher. "There is no difference between someone who eats too little and sees Heaven and someone who drinks too much and sees snakes" Religious Experiences have physiological psychological explanations. For example, they are hallucinations as a result of eating too little. They do not prove the existence of God because they have a scientific explanation - they are delusions

Answer 9

Charles Stross: British science riction and fantasy writer "One ape's hallucination is another ape's religious experience" Apparent 'religious experiences' are misinterpretations. Humans wrongly interpret physiologically originating experiences as divine. This is often as a result of social influences. For example, someone from a Christian background may have a vision of Jesus. The cultural relativism of such experiences demonstrates their human origins.

Answer 10

Albert Schweitzer: 20 century theologian, philosopher and physician "The most natural hypothesis is therefore that Paul suffered from some kind of epileptiform attacks ... It would agree with this, that on the road to Damascus he hears voices during an attack, and suffers afterwards from a temporary affection of the eyesight, if his experience at his conversion really happened during such an attack" Schweitzer studies the particular case study of St Paul, and finds the 'most natural hypothesis' is that Paul suffering from epileptiform attacks. Indeed, people with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE) are sometimes prone to religious visions and mystical experiences.

Answer 11

-We only have the word of the experient that the experience took place - they could be mistaken or lying. -Only certain people have received Religious Experiences - suggests God shows favouritism. Their private nature means they cannot be objectively proved. -The experiences can be explained psychologically, medically or by neuroscience. Freud: Visions are the result of subconscious fears and desires, symptoms of mental illness.

Answer 12

Does the origin matter? Or should we judge the experience by its fruits not its roots E.g what impact did pauls experience have

Religious Experience Flashcards

(36 cards)