5: Religious Experience
Direct An experience when you become aware of God in a personal way - these are
Experience unplanned and beyond your control
Indirect By experiencing or thinking about events in daily life, your mind focuses on and learns
Experience something about God. These can be somewhat panned e.g. by focusing on a crucifix
Mystical An experience of direct contact or oneness with God or an ultimate reality. An
Experience experience of something transcendent - perhaps the most intense
Mysticism The belief that direct knowledge of God, spiritual truth or ultimate reality can be
achieved through subjective experience as an insight into the divine
Voice A communication of knowledge through a voice (of God or the Holy spirit) e.g. Moses
Experience and the burning bush
Conversion When a person alters their life from one set of convictions to another because of their
Experience experience
Cooperate A religious experience shared by a group of people
Experience
Corporeal A vision of a form or an image
Vision
Experience
Intellectual Not just a visual observation but also an intellectual experience
Vision
Experience
Imaginative A vision that occurs in a dream which is usually a message from God
Vision
Experience
William James He surveys the various types of religious experience as a psychologist and gathered 1st
- 'The Varieties hand accounts of religious experiences.
of Religious Critics argue that the experiences often take place within the conceptual framework
Experience' that already exists in the subject's mind i.e. it supports their existing beliefs. James
describes these as 'over beliefs'. He responds by saying that just because the experience
is interpreted to support our beliefs this does not mean it didn't happen. Kant also
believed that this was the case with all experience - we interpret things in a way which
fits with our understanding of the world.
James' 4 Passivity- those in the grip of the experience have no will of their own, they are under the
characteristics influence of a superior power
for a genuine Ineffability - the experiences are beyond the ability of our words to express
experience Noetic Quality - gives a kind of knowledge unlike the knowledge of any other human
experience
Transience - the effects of the experience are life-changing
James said that these characteristics prove that the experience is genuine but it doesn't
prove that they are of divine origin. He argues that religious experience is a
psychological phenomenon that occurs in the brain and that conversion experiences
cannot be used to convince others of the existence of God. He believed there is a
possibility for there to be a supernatural element to religious experiences but this is not
certain.
Teresa of She had a series of visions when she was 39
Avila's She was obsessed with martyrs and saints as a child. Her mother dies when she was
religious young and she turned to the virgin Mary for a spiritual mother.
experience She suffered from malaria- intense pain during which she saw divine visions and found
inner peace that transcended her physical pain. 'I saw Christ at my side- or to put it
better I was conscious of him, for neither with the eye of the body or of the soul did I see
anything'
Teresa of Avila Does it agree with Christian teachings?
criteria for a Does the experience leave the person at peace with God and the world?
genuine Does the experience produce a positive change in the subject?
experience
Teresa of Avila She was accused that her experiences were the result of sexual frustration but she
Accusers responded saying this would have left her with a feeling of disgust
Rudolf Otto's He explored mystical experience.
beliefs Numinous - description given by Otto to any experience of God which transcends the
everyday. It makes you feel in awe of the higher power.
Direct An experience when you become aware of God in a personal way - these are
Experience unplanned and beyond your control
Indirect By experiencing or thinking about events in daily life, your mind focuses on and learns
Experience something about God. These can be somewhat panned e.g. by focusing on a crucifix
Mystical An experience of direct contact or oneness with God or an ultimate reality. An
Experience experience of something transcendent - perhaps the most intense
Mysticism The belief that direct knowledge of God, spiritual truth or ultimate reality can be
achieved through subjective experience as an insight into the divine
Voice A communication of knowledge through a voice (of God or the Holy spirit) e.g. Moses
Experience and the burning bush
Conversion When a person alters their life from one set of convictions to another because of their
Experience experience
Cooperate A religious experience shared by a group of people
Experience
Corporeal A vision of a form or an image
Vision
Experience
Intellectual Not just a visual observation but also an intellectual experience
Vision
Experience
Imaginative A vision that occurs in a dream which is usually a message from God
Vision
Experience
William James He surveys the various types of religious experience as a psychologist and gathered 1st
- 'The Varieties hand accounts of religious experiences.
of Religious Critics argue that the experiences often take place within the conceptual framework
Experience' that already exists in the subject's mind i.e. it supports their existing beliefs. James
describes these as 'over beliefs'. He responds by saying that just because the experience
is interpreted to support our beliefs this does not mean it didn't happen. Kant also
believed that this was the case with all experience - we interpret things in a way which
fits with our understanding of the world.
James' 4 Passivity- those in the grip of the experience have no will of their own, they are under the
characteristics influence of a superior power
for a genuine Ineffability - the experiences are beyond the ability of our words to express
experience Noetic Quality - gives a kind of knowledge unlike the knowledge of any other human
experience
Transience - the effects of the experience are life-changing
James said that these characteristics prove that the experience is genuine but it doesn't
prove that they are of divine origin. He argues that religious experience is a
psychological phenomenon that occurs in the brain and that conversion experiences
cannot be used to convince others of the existence of God. He believed there is a
possibility for there to be a supernatural element to religious experiences but this is not
certain.
Teresa of She had a series of visions when she was 39
Avila's She was obsessed with martyrs and saints as a child. Her mother dies when she was
religious young and she turned to the virgin Mary for a spiritual mother.
experience She suffered from malaria- intense pain during which she saw divine visions and found
inner peace that transcended her physical pain. 'I saw Christ at my side- or to put it
better I was conscious of him, for neither with the eye of the body or of the soul did I see
anything'
Teresa of Avila Does it agree with Christian teachings?
criteria for a Does the experience leave the person at peace with God and the world?
genuine Does the experience produce a positive change in the subject?
experience
Teresa of Avila She was accused that her experiences were the result of sexual frustration but she
Accusers responded saying this would have left her with a feeling of disgust
Rudolf Otto's He explored mystical experience.
beliefs Numinous - description given by Otto to any experience of God which transcends the
everyday. It makes you feel in awe of the higher power.
