Religious Experience

Question 1

3 Christian Mystics

Answer 1

1. Julian of Norwich
2. St Teresa of Avila
3. Bernadette of Lourdes

Question 2

What happened with Julian of Norwich

Answer 2

• Seriously ill from black death
• Saw 15 visions of Jesus
• Made a full recovery
• Experienced an overwhelming sense of God’s unconditional love

Question 3

St Teresa of Avila

Answer 3

• Felt Jesus (or conscious of him) next to her
• Vision of an angel
• Pierced her heart with a golden spear and fire
• Felt some of God’s power

Question 4

Bernadette of Lourdes

Answer 4

• Saw Mary in Lourdes
• Mary told her to drink from the spring so she dug out and did so
• Mary told her to eat the grass which she also did
• After, water started flowing from the spring
• This water gave miraculous healing abilities

Question 5

Does William James believe all RE are mystical?

Answer 5

Yes

Question 6

What did James believe about claiming an RE experience

Answer 6

Should be tested

Question 7

PINT

Answer 7

Passive
Ineffable
Noetic
Transient

Question 8

Passive meaning

Answer 8

The person was not in control of what happened to them

Question 9

Ineffable

Answer 9

Impossible to express in words/can’t be explained

Question 10

Noetic

Answer 10

Receives knowledge of God not otherwise available

Question 11

Transient

Answer 11

Not permanent, usually less than half an hour

Question 12

Whats the strongest evidence of a RE for James

Answer 12

Conversions where fruit is given out

Question 13

One of the most famous conversion experiences?

Answer 13

Paul

Question 14

Paul summary

Answer 14

• Proud strict Jew who hated christianity
• God blinded him with a bright light and asked why he was persecuting him
• Paul was healed by a christian and Paul began spreading the word

Question 15

What are the fruits

Answer 15

Long term practical effects of a religious experience

Question 16

Would William James consider Paul’s experience a real one?

Answer 16

Because his fruits changed, James would consider it a valid RE

Question 17

What could be said about Paul’s RE (counter)

Answer 17

It was an epileptic fit

Question 18

William James response to the counter

Answer 18

Even if it was an epileptic fit, doesn’t mean it wasn’t a RE

Question 19

St Ignatious of Loyola

Answer 19

• Wanted to be a military general
• Survived a war wound
• Focused on God after instead
• Founded the Jesuits

Question 20

What is a numinous

Answer 20

Rudolph Otto believed any ordinary word could not describe a RE so he made a new term numinous

Question 21

The 3 ideas of a Numinous experience

Answer 21

1. Mysterious
2. Tremendous
3. Fascinating

Question 22

Mysterious meaning (Numinous)

Answer 22

Conveys the otherness of God

Question 23

Tremendous meaning (numinous)

Answer 23

Captures the terror of encountering God

Question 24

Fascinating meaning (Numinous)

Answer 24

Feeling of wonder and rapture

Question 25

What is the wholly other

Answer 25

Its what God is. Can never be comprehended since he is unlike anything we can experience

Question 26

Indirect RE

Answer 26

For Otto, any awe and wonder (fascinating) can be a numinous experience and so even if youre looking at the trees it is also considered a RE

Question 27

Does God exist for Otto

Answer 27

Yes because a numinous experience is strong evidence

Question 28

What does Friedrich Schleiermacher believe

Answer 28

An RE is self authenticating

Question 29

What are the 2 principles Richard Swinbrune suggested

Answer 29

1. Principle of testimony 2. Principle of credulity

Question 30

Principle of testimony explained

Answer 30

- We trust people naturally or else how could we have a conversation with them (unless they are a known lair) - If someone tells about their RE there is no reason to doubt - They had a RE

Question 31

What does William James think about the principle of Testimony

Answer 31

Testimony alone is not enough and the fruits need to be analysed

Question 32

What does Rudolph Otto think about the principle of Testimony

Answer 32

Testimony alone isn’t enough, it is the feelings the person experiences that need to be analysed

Question 33

Is personal testimony enough

Answer 33

No because: - Anyone can lie - Could be drunk so unknown state - Person may have a bias

Question 34

What does F.C. Happold think about RE

Answer 34

RE reliable because of their similar features to everyone else

Question 35

Principle of Credulity explained

Answer 35

Trust our own RE unless we have a reason not too

Question 36

What is prior probability (Swinburne)

Answer 36

Swinburne says: 1. If the existence of something is highly improbable, then you should be skeptical 2. God’s existence is probable if all arguments taken into account 3. Arguments don’t PROVE God’s existence but make it highly probable

Question 37

What does A.J. Ayer say

Answer 37

Shouldn’t believe RE because God can be empirically proven. A feeling of God doesn’t prove him

Question 38

Whats a corporate religious experience

Answer 38

When 2 or more people experience the same religious experience

Question 39

What happened in the ‘Toronto Blessings’

Answer 39

- Broke into uncontrollable laughter - Speaking in tongues - Made animal noises

Question 40

Mass hysteria, what is it

Answer 40

It is when someone psychologically cannot control their laughter and can become infectious. This can describe the Toronto blessings

Question 41

Pentecost

Answer 41

Disciples started speaking in different languages

Question 42

What does Ludwig Feuuerbach say

Answer 42

God is an invention Humans have created God in their own nature to feel comfortable

Question 43

What did Sigmund Freud say about religion

Answer 43

Religion is an illusion

Question 44

Sigmund freud said that we have 3 deep layers affecting who we are, what is this?

Answer 44

1. The Ego 2. The Id 3. The super ego- inner voice