Religious experiences and the problem of evil
Conversion experience- experience converts someone to a different faith. They are usually dissatisfied
with their current ‘system of ideas’. example- Saul changing to Paul. Was a Jew and used to persecute
Christians, and then became a Christian. God turned him blind for 3 days and then restored his sight to make
him believe in god.
Also Ian McCormack. Got stung by 5 box jellyfish and was dead for 20 minutes and then claims he had a
conversation with God. Converted to a Christian.
A very different explanation was offered by D. Landsborough in ‘Journal’ (1987) in which he
argued Paul’s experience was an ‘attack of temporal lobe epilepsy, perhaps ending in a convulsion’.
Landsborough puts forward a biological explanation, a natural explanation for what was
interpreted as supernatural.
Corporate religious experience- happen to a group of people. Example- Toronto Blessings in 1994 in a
pentecoastal church. People spoke in tongues (glossolalia) and began laughing hysterically and barking like
dogs.
Corporate experiences are more numerically valid
They often show shared feelings and responses, which are more valid than individual experiences
Suggests that experiences come from God, not individual imaginations
Why would God show himself by making people laugh hysterically and bark like dogs?!
Hank Hanegraaff argues that such phenomena are the result of mass hypnosis and hysteria
William Sergeant argued that mass religious conversions are down to conditioning
Christian psychiatrist John White refers to corporate experiences as:"learned patterns of behaviour"
Numinous experience- Rudolph Otto believed in these. An indescribable experience which invokes feelings
of worship. These experiences provide a reference point and from then on, believers interpret the world
through the experience and beliefs attached to it. Ultimately, the encounter with God is inexpressible. For
example St Theresa of Avila. Believed that she had reached a ‘spiritual marriage’ with Jesus. She said that…
a) The experience should be within the traditions of the church
b) The experience should be discussed with a spiritual adviser
c) Has to change the life of the person
- She used analogies such as climbing a ladder to explain her religious experience. This is because
otherwise humans would not have understood what she went through.
o she implies that numinous experience is a ‘once and for all’ experience – implies there can
be no further experience
To suggest that all religious experiences are numinous is limiting as other forms
are so well documented
Religious experiences
Can religious experiences be subject to veridicality? Are they real? Is it possible to demonstrate that
these experiences are not simply the result of ones imagination? Due to non-empirical nature this
could be hard.
An experience of the divine
An encounter with God that shapes one’s belief and gives their lives direction
Difficult to define
Religious experiences branch out into mystical, conversion, and corporate.
45% of adults have had a religious experience- suggests that God is trying to reveal himself.
EXAMPLE- St Bernadette. Had visions of the Virgin Mary over several months. At first the figure she
saw did not even speak to her, but later Bernadette was given instructions by the Virgin Mary.
These were that the spring water at Lourdes had healing powers and that a chapel was to be built
on the site. She could say what Mary was wearing and what she said- suggests that she was a
physical presence and not just imagination.
Conversion experience- experience converts someone to a different faith. They are usually dissatisfied
with their current ‘system of ideas’. example- Saul changing to Paul. Was a Jew and used to persecute
Christians, and then became a Christian. God turned him blind for 3 days and then restored his sight to make
him believe in god.
Also Ian McCormack. Got stung by 5 box jellyfish and was dead for 20 minutes and then claims he had a
conversation with God. Converted to a Christian.
A very different explanation was offered by D. Landsborough in ‘Journal’ (1987) in which he
argued Paul’s experience was an ‘attack of temporal lobe epilepsy, perhaps ending in a convulsion’.
Landsborough puts forward a biological explanation, a natural explanation for what was
interpreted as supernatural.
Corporate religious experience- happen to a group of people. Example- Toronto Blessings in 1994 in a
pentecoastal church. People spoke in tongues (glossolalia) and began laughing hysterically and barking like
dogs.
Corporate experiences are more numerically valid
They often show shared feelings and responses, which are more valid than individual experiences
Suggests that experiences come from God, not individual imaginations
Why would God show himself by making people laugh hysterically and bark like dogs?!
Hank Hanegraaff argues that such phenomena are the result of mass hypnosis and hysteria
William Sergeant argued that mass religious conversions are down to conditioning
Christian psychiatrist John White refers to corporate experiences as:"learned patterns of behaviour"
Numinous experience- Rudolph Otto believed in these. An indescribable experience which invokes feelings
of worship. These experiences provide a reference point and from then on, believers interpret the world
through the experience and beliefs attached to it. Ultimately, the encounter with God is inexpressible. For
example St Theresa of Avila. Believed that she had reached a ‘spiritual marriage’ with Jesus. She said that…
a) The experience should be within the traditions of the church
b) The experience should be discussed with a spiritual adviser
c) Has to change the life of the person
- She used analogies such as climbing a ladder to explain her religious experience. This is because
otherwise humans would not have understood what she went through.
o she implies that numinous experience is a ‘once and for all’ experience – implies there can
be no further experience
To suggest that all religious experiences are numinous is limiting as other forms
are so well documented
Religious experiences
Can religious experiences be subject to veridicality? Are they real? Is it possible to demonstrate that
these experiences are not simply the result of ones imagination? Due to non-empirical nature this
could be hard.
An experience of the divine
An encounter with God that shapes one’s belief and gives their lives direction
Difficult to define
Religious experiences branch out into mystical, conversion, and corporate.
45% of adults have had a religious experience- suggests that God is trying to reveal himself.
EXAMPLE- St Bernadette. Had visions of the Virgin Mary over several months. At first the figure she
saw did not even speak to her, but later Bernadette was given instructions by the Virgin Mary.
These were that the spring water at Lourdes had healing powers and that a chapel was to be built
on the site. She could say what Mary was wearing and what she said- suggests that she was a
physical presence and not just imagination.
