Religious Experience

The nature of religious experiences

The Ecstasy of St Theresa of Avila (1515- 1582)

St Bernadette of Lourdes

Conversion of St PaulHand stigmata

Whirling dervish from the mystical Sufi branch of Islam Toronto Blessing

Peterson et al • Religious experience: person has or believes they have had an encounter with

God• It can be described as “the spiritual recognition of truths beyond normal

understanding” (Jordan)

Religions experience includes:

1. Visions,

2. Voices,

3. Numinous experience (cathedral),

4. Conversion (St Paul),

5. Prayer,

6. Miracle,

7. Induced (meditation, Whirling dervish)

8. Un - induced experiences (stigmata),

9. Mysticism, (Evelyn Underhill (1952) defines it as, “the expression of the innate tendency of the human spirit towards complete harmony with the transcendental order”)

10.Charismatic experiences (believing Holy Spirit is present)

11.Corporate religious experience ( Toronto Blessing)

• Richard Swinburne in The Existence of God (1979)

1) Experience of God through a common, public, sensory object e.g. see God in a sunset or ocean. These things are not God, but a way that God can be encountered.

2) Experience of God through an unusual, public, sensory object e.g. appearance of Mary at Lourdes or a bush that burned but was not consumed.

3) Experience of God through private (one person) sensations that can be described in normal sensory language e.g. a person might claim to experience God through a dream or vision.

4) Experience of God through private sensations that cannot be described in normal sensory language e.g. feel or experience something, but it cannot be spoken about. It is ineffable (inexpressible).

• Theresa of Avila (1512-1582)“I was at prayer…when I saw Christ at my side- or to put it better, I was conscious of Him, for neither with the eyes of the body nor with those of the soul did I see anything…but as this was not an imaginary vision, I could not discern in what form….”

5) Experience of God that is not mediated by any sensations e.g. person claims to be aware of God through intuition such as higher meditational states of Hinduism and Buddhism

Principle of credulity: Swinburne – testimonies should be taken at face value, unless there is significant evidence to prove them wrong.

William James

• Pragmatist (realist) Purpose of religion not God but “more life, a larger, richer, more satisfying life.”

• Religion leads to “consistency, stability” • “a curious sense of authority”• James believed that “if the hypothesis of

God works satisfactorily in the widest sense of the word, then it is true.”

William James

• William James in ‘Varieties of Religious Experience’ offers four characteristics to help identify a mystical experience:

• Ineffability- cannot properly be described• Noetic Quality- provide insights into

‘unobtainable truths’ through intuition, not intellect

• Transciency- few minutes to a few hours…but significance and effects can last much longer

• Passivity- loss of control to a higher being or reality- e.g.. Prophets receiving messages/ speaking in tongues…

FC Happold (1893- 1971)

Two types of mysticism:

1. Mysticism of Love and Union- need to be part of something bigger than ourselves

2. Mysticism of Knowledge and Understanding- need to find out answers to the ‘secrets’ of the universe/ to know the ‘whole story’

Three aspects of mystical experience:1.Soul mysticism- finding the soul, complete self-fulfilment (not necessarily involving God)2.Nature mysticism- belief that God is everywhere (immanent)3.God-mysticism- souls desire to return to their immortal and infinite ground, which is God.

Experience without the Religion

Soul mysticism• Lord Fenner Broadway (a humanist)

• “I stood looking over the green ocean towards the red sunset. A great calm came over me. I became lost in the beauty of the scene. My spirit reached out and became one with the spirit of the sea and sky…”

Ockham’s Razor

• William of Ockham 14th English logician• “entities must not be multiplied beyond

necessity”• In other words, the simplest solution that

covers all the facts, is usually the best• Support from Swinburne

Ockham’s Razor

• What conclusion should this lead to in answering the question, are religious experiences real?

• And does God exist?

• Anti-razors: Leibniz- Principle of Plenitude (anything that can happen will; every possibility within this world must be actualized. The world in which we live is but one among the infinitely many possible worlds that might have existed. )

• Kant- we shouldn’t rashly diminish explanations

Supporters• Myers: Prayer is a vital component of the

psychological well being of many individuals.

• Leuba: world religion signifies the conglomerate of desires and emotions springing from the sense of sin and its release.

Supporters

• Rudolph Otto: Numinous experiences involve feelings of power, awesome, Holy presence, so religion therefore must come from a separate force i.e. God.

• Soren Kierkegaard: Religious faith = miracle. Faith involves a leap, cannot be explained logically. RE can help this leap of faith occur.

Critics - Feuerbach:

• Religion is an illusion.• Religion is a fiction people mistake for

reality.• Humans can feel alienated in own lives

and project their wishes onto God• If people were able to reach potential no

need for religion• Society will evolve and religion will

disappear• God is an invention of the human mind.

Critics Marx: • “Philosophy has interpreted the world. The point

is to change it.”• Need to break free of chains of religion to reach

their potential = utopia.• Religion is a form of control• Religion is “the opiate of the masses.”• Social repression

Freud: • Explains away religion as purely a psychological

phenomenon – cushion us from harsh realities.

Main points to consider....• Schleiermacher – RE profound insight into truth. To much emphasis on

rational• William James: - Hierarchy (ineffability – no words, noetic quality, transiency,

passivity)• Happold: - urge to find meaning of life• Myers:- prayer• Scripture:- Moses – Angel burning bush/ Saul – Paul• John Wesley- numinous (awe/wonder)• Rudolph Otto:- numinous experiences= power/holy presence =must be God• Soren Kierkegaard:- faith involves a leap/no logic, therefore RE helps leap.• Toronto Blessing: Holy Spirit (Charismatic)• Meditation: Buddha, Hinduism• Principle of Credulity – Swinburne – testimonies at face value, unless

significant evidence against.• Feuerbach: religion illusion? Fiction due to alienation• Marx/Freud: Religion is social repression – illusion. Freud: Psychological

phenomenon. • Leuba:- religion in psychological and genetic terms as a projection of human

wishes and desires

2 Main Arguments

• Happold• Myers• John Wesley• Otto• Kierkegaard• Swinburne• Scriptural stories• relatively common - can all reports be

wrong?• People that have them, hold with great

conviction – ‘self authenticating’ • Often experienced by people who are not

mentally ill, on drugs, who are rational and intelligent.

• RE is God taking an involvement in human affairs so he is a personal being. But can’t do it too frequently as it would seriously jeopardise our free will.

• Feuerbach• Marx• Freud• Non physical/private/individual

so not easy to verify. How can we verify something we cannot fully understand/communicate or discuss properly?

For Against

Strengths:• Consistent – perhaps most powerful of all arguments for

existence of God• Individual knows and understands the meaning of what

they see or feel

Weaknesses:• Could be the influence of drugs – can produce

hallucinations/ similar effects and alcohol• In most occasions individuals undergo experiences not

groups• Religious Experience based on emotion – it is personal

response = empirical testing useless.• Each one portrays this ‘being’ differently – what is reliable?• Spontaneous so can never be verified (proven)

What are the strengths and weaknesses of Religious Experience including:

• Swinburne• William James

• Happold• Feuerbach

• Freud/ Marx