Religious experience Flashcards
(25 cards)
What does Peterson et al define religious experience as?
A person has or believes they have had an encounter with God
What is a religious experience a type of?
A type of revealed knowledge of God
What is a corporate religious experience? Give X examples
A religious experience with two or more people
Anthony Flew- a series of weak arguments does not make a strong argument- 10 leadky buckets
Mackie
People may unintentionally mislead or exaggerate accounts
What is an individual religious experience? Give examples
A personal testimony
St Teresa of Avila
St Paul
Davey Fulcus
Swinburne
principle of credulity
testimonies should be taken at face value unless significant evidence against them
Where does Swinburne outline the 5 ways to categorise personal testimonies?
The Existence of God
What are Swinburne’s 5 categories?
Experience of God through a common, public, sensory object
Experience of God through an unusual, public, sensory object
Experience of God through private sensations that can be described in normal sensory language
Experience of God through private sensations that cannot be described in normal sensory language
Experience of God that is not meditated by any sensations
What is a conversion experience?
The conversion from no religion or a religion to another
What was William James’ book titled?
The Varieties of Religious Experience
What did William James believe?
Verification is not crucial
Religious experiences are ‘self-authenticating’
Even corporate experiences are ‘solitary’ experiences of God
COULD BE used as evidence for God
Religious experiences are central to religious belief
What was William James?
A psychologist, who took a pragmatic approach to religious experience (concerned with the practical effects)
What did William James distinguish between?
‘healthy minded soul’ and ‘sick soul’
Healthy: open to ideas and possibilities, optimistic and hopeful
Sick: cynical and skeptical
Religious experiences tend to make people ‘healthy minded’
What four categories did William James use to define religious experiences?
Ineffable - hard to describe in words/beyond human language
Noetic quality - revealed knowledge
Transient - short lasting but lasting effect
Passive - lack of control during
What conclusions did William James come to?
The effects are real, so the cause of the effects must be real, too
Their positive effects indicate the reality of them (as things that are false usually have negative effects)
So, it is likely that God is real BUT religious experiences are not sufficient proof- only that there is ‘something larger’
What is mysticism?
Direct knowledge of God, spiritual truth, or ultimate reality is revealed
- subjective, personal
What is a mystical experience?
An experience of something transcendent, beyond moral awareness
What does psychological mean?
What does physiological mean?
What does Myers say about prayer?
prayer is a vital component of the psychological wellbeing of many individuals
What does Feuerbach believe?
Religion is an illusion
Humans feel alienated, so they project their wishes onto God
Society will evolve and religion will disappear
God is an invention of the human mindW
What does Freud believe?
Religion is an ‘obsessional neurosis’
What does Freud believe about the mind?
3 distinct parts
Id - appetite
Ego - shaped by external traumas, education, and upbringing
Superego - Decision making
