religious experience Flashcards
(14 cards)
what is a mystical experience
an experience of something beyond normal awareness, sometimes described as super sense or sub sense
whats the common core of a mystical experience
passive- they arent in control of the experience
ineffable-difficult to put into words
noetic- experience provided insight or knowledge grasped through intuiton
transient- lasted a short period of time
what are the examples of mystical experiences
julian of norwich wrote revelations of divine love after a series of visions when she was close to death, she saw a vision of christ bleeding in front of her but experienced an overwhelming sense of Gods unconditional love. unusually for her she used language of love and motherhood to describe jesus
teresa of avilia checked her visions with her own spiritual adviser as they were unsuaul. one of her most famous visions was a spear, its golden tip on fire, piercing her side and leaving her with an immense feeling of elation and love.
both of them struggled to explain their feelings and experiences, they were able to reflect on it, it ws passive and gave them insights into their faith as well as being short
why does james argue conversions are
their observable effects on an individual, james’ studies are based on pragmatism- the practical outcomes seen through how someone acted now and in the future and empiricism.
he uses the example of st paul in the bible
what does william james describe conversions to be
the inner self is aware of being divided and unhppy but during conversion to religion becomes happy and unified. religious ideas and morals that were previously not considered are now central to personal habits and consciousness.
what is another conversion experience James used
S hadley was described to be a homeless friendless dying drunkard, he considered suicide but had a conversion experience and never wanted a strong alcoholic drink again. the sick soul had been met, helped and unified.
what are the 2 types of conversions
volitional- gradual change and slow development of new moral habits.
self surrender-sudden pivotal or crisis experience followed by change.
what are the fruits of a conversion experience
a conviction of something beyond the material world
an immense feeling of elation and freedom
a change in the emphasis of life
how can psychological factors rule out God
starbuck argues conversion is a normal adolescent phenomenom as it occurs in people ages 15-24
freud argues religion is a neurosis which is rooted in a conflict between conscious and unconscious mind where the ego tries to balance the demands of the id and superego. freud claims our mind constructs a father figure who will defend and protect us and is in control. religious experiences are a form of regression to the safety and control of infancy. frued then argues religious experiences are a psychological construct.
feurback argues God is a psychological construct formed from human desires. e.g. desire to control led by an omnipotent God.
what are the problems with psychological explanations
religious expereinces are private and can be of value only to the individual. J hick developed the idea of experiencing as from wittgenstiens seeing as, we may all experience the same things but perceibe them in different ways, this allows for james conclusions as there could be an underlying other thats experienced but interpreted differently.
how do diets or substance abuse effect religious experiences
ancient mystics were known to have a poor diet which is linked vitamin B deficiency, a cause of hallucinations. its possible the visions experienced by teresa and julian were caused by vitamin deficiency
what do the effects of brain stimulation have on religious experience
brain scans on buddhist monks have located certain operators in the brain which are active during religious experiences. in 1997 michael persinger used the God helmet to stimulate the temporal lobes and found that pps had sensations similar to religious experiences, they felt passivity.
st paul felt the sight of a bright light, these are symptoms of a temporal lobe epilepsy.
what is a corporate religious experience
religious experience that is experienced by multiple people at the same time.experiences include the tower of babel and the toronto blessing- in the toronto blessing indiviudals spoke in tounges and among christians they say that this changed lives or strengthened marriages.
what is an individual religious experience
religious experience experienced only by one person, it relies on the principle of testimony and principle of credibulity
the principle of testimony is that we usually believe what people tell us unless we have a reason not to so if someone tells us they had a good day and we believed them, we should believe them if they said they had a religious experience.
the principle of credibulity is that unless we have overwhelming evidence to the contrary, we should believe that things are as they seem to be, there are cases that people have had experiences that subsequently turn out to be false but that doesnt mean all experiences should be false
