The Nature of Religious Experience
Religious Experience = an experience of God or another religious gure
3 Types of Visions
Corporeal - empirical experience of God (through the senses), God is seen by means of the object
- e.g. Bernade e at Lourdes 10th Century - 18 visions in total of the Virgin Mary involving the spring of
water -> 69 documented healing miracles due to the water at Lourdes
Imagina ve - a vision imagined with the eye of the mind which is beyond the individual’s control
- not seen by the normal process of sight - common form is in dreams
- e.g. Joseph’s dream in Ma hew 1:20 in which he was told Mary was pregnant through the Holy Spirit and
he should marry her, and his later dream warning him to ee Bethlehem (Ma hew 2:13)
Intellectual - no visual image, but a spiritual illumina on and awareness of the presence of God is felt
- cannot be described with ordinary language -> di cult to understand and challenges credulity
- E.g. St Theresa of Avila - ‘I had a most dis nct feeling…of his near presence’
The Numinous - Rudolph O o
Numinous = experiences of awe and wonder in the presence of an almighty and transcendent God
- An awareness of human nothingness in comparison to the holy, powerful being of God
Idea of the holy - all REs are encounters with the holy in terms of transcendence (awe and wonder)
e.g. Moses and the burning bush ‘Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look at God’ Exodus 3
Wholly Other - God’s revela on is felt on an emo onal level unlike anything we have ever experienced
- ‘an experience of being acted upon by something outside ourselves, a “wholly other”’
- Our feelings about the numinous are Sui generis (of their own kind)
- Unlike anything we have ever experienced -> not just a more intense version of normal feelings
Numinous feelings are non-ra onal - cannot be explained, completely outside of normal experience
The ‘Mysterium tremendum et fascinans’
- Mysterium - experience cannot be described (ine able) or fully understood
- Tremendum - aw-inspiring terror in the presence of God, creates sense of human nothingness
- Fascinans - we are fascinated by the experience, creates a desire for a closer rela onship with God
God is so far removed from humanity that we have no choice but to approach God with numinous awe,
dread, fear and terror
E.g. a er a storm - eerie silence feeling of awe at the power of nature
Extra scholar: Friedrich Schleiermacher - REs are primarily emo onal. Religious experiences are, at their
core, feeling of absolute dependence on the divine (he inspired O o)
Cri cisms of O o’s Numinous
- David Hay: the term ‘numinous’ describes a more speci c experience of God, not just anything which is
‘mysterious, tremendous et fascinans’
- The numinous implies there can be no further experience
- Doesn’t explains REs in which God is immanent e.g. Bernade e’s visions
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, Mys cal Experiences - William James - psychologist and philosopher
Criteria for mys cal experiences
1. Ine able - beyond proper descrip on (cannot be ar culated in words)
2. Noe c - experience a direct knowledge of God (deep insight into spiritual truths)
3. Transient - mescale of experience is unclear but it is temporary yet has lifelong e ects
4. Passive - experience acts upon the mys c (not self-induced, not in control)
Example of St Teresa of Avila
1. Ine able - uncertain descrip on of what happened
2. Noe c - felt God’s presence at her side
3. Transient - lasted a short period of me
4. Passive - felt an element of fear -> no control over what happened
Outcome / e ect of the experience is more important than the cause -> pragma c approach
- Experiences caused by drugs, alcohol, yoga etc are valid as they allow the experiencer to access di erent
levels of consciousness like all the mys cal experiences
- REs have profound, las ng e ects on lives whatever the cause
- e.g. Night of Power led Muhammad to becoming the seal of the prophets in Islam
Experience is True Religion - REs are Primary
- Religion is the result of religious experiences, religion’s prac ces and teachings are secondary
- ‘God is real since he produces real e ects’ - interac on with God leads to conversion (religion = e ect)
- e.g. Stephen Bradley - because uncertain about his faith, but had experience where he felt presence of
angels and a erwards his faith had an unshakeable quality which it previously lacked
Private and personal nature of REs - believers from di erent faiths can interpret the same experience in
di erent ways (supports pluralism) - mys c is presented experience within their frame of reference to
access it
Evalua ng William James’ Approach
Strengths Weaknesses
Does not argue for/require faith in the existence of Mackie - REs have no authority if they can be
God - showers the power of REs / gives credit to the explained psychologically
experiencers
Links REs to psychological make-up -> some are Russell - just because something has a posi ve
more predisposed to have REs which explains why e ect upon someone, it does not mean it is true -
not everyone has them ‘the fact that a belief has a good moral e ect upon
a man is no evidence whatever in favour of its truth’
First had tes monies provide evidence suppor ng Doesn’t focus on whether the RE relates to God’s
James’ theory - e.g. Stephen Bradley existence in the world -> subject understanding of
RE, focus on truth for the individual
Logical posi vists -> REs are meaningless - ‘I saw a
vision of Christ’ - the statement cannot be
empirically tested
Counter to psychology - our mind may be If REs are caused by psychology, they are caused by
completely separate from our bodies -> experiences the person within -> not passive - James criteria is
caused psychologically are not necessary caused by contradictory
the person - psychology may not be part of us?
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Religious Experience = an experience of God or another religious gure
3 Types of Visions
Corporeal - empirical experience of God (through the senses), God is seen by means of the object
- e.g. Bernade e at Lourdes 10th Century - 18 visions in total of the Virgin Mary involving the spring of
water -> 69 documented healing miracles due to the water at Lourdes
Imagina ve - a vision imagined with the eye of the mind which is beyond the individual’s control
- not seen by the normal process of sight - common form is in dreams
- e.g. Joseph’s dream in Ma hew 1:20 in which he was told Mary was pregnant through the Holy Spirit and
he should marry her, and his later dream warning him to ee Bethlehem (Ma hew 2:13)
Intellectual - no visual image, but a spiritual illumina on and awareness of the presence of God is felt
- cannot be described with ordinary language -> di cult to understand and challenges credulity
- E.g. St Theresa of Avila - ‘I had a most dis nct feeling…of his near presence’
The Numinous - Rudolph O o
Numinous = experiences of awe and wonder in the presence of an almighty and transcendent God
- An awareness of human nothingness in comparison to the holy, powerful being of God
Idea of the holy - all REs are encounters with the holy in terms of transcendence (awe and wonder)
e.g. Moses and the burning bush ‘Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look at God’ Exodus 3
Wholly Other - God’s revela on is felt on an emo onal level unlike anything we have ever experienced
- ‘an experience of being acted upon by something outside ourselves, a “wholly other”’
- Our feelings about the numinous are Sui generis (of their own kind)
- Unlike anything we have ever experienced -> not just a more intense version of normal feelings
Numinous feelings are non-ra onal - cannot be explained, completely outside of normal experience
The ‘Mysterium tremendum et fascinans’
- Mysterium - experience cannot be described (ine able) or fully understood
- Tremendum - aw-inspiring terror in the presence of God, creates sense of human nothingness
- Fascinans - we are fascinated by the experience, creates a desire for a closer rela onship with God
God is so far removed from humanity that we have no choice but to approach God with numinous awe,
dread, fear and terror
E.g. a er a storm - eerie silence feeling of awe at the power of nature
Extra scholar: Friedrich Schleiermacher - REs are primarily emo onal. Religious experiences are, at their
core, feeling of absolute dependence on the divine (he inspired O o)
Cri cisms of O o’s Numinous
- David Hay: the term ‘numinous’ describes a more speci c experience of God, not just anything which is
‘mysterious, tremendous et fascinans’
- The numinous implies there can be no further experience
- Doesn’t explains REs in which God is immanent e.g. Bernade e’s visions
ti ft ti tt tt tt ti titt ti tiffi
ff ti fi fl tt ti fitt tt ti
, Mys cal Experiences - William James - psychologist and philosopher
Criteria for mys cal experiences
1. Ine able - beyond proper descrip on (cannot be ar culated in words)
2. Noe c - experience a direct knowledge of God (deep insight into spiritual truths)
3. Transient - mescale of experience is unclear but it is temporary yet has lifelong e ects
4. Passive - experience acts upon the mys c (not self-induced, not in control)
Example of St Teresa of Avila
1. Ine able - uncertain descrip on of what happened
2. Noe c - felt God’s presence at her side
3. Transient - lasted a short period of me
4. Passive - felt an element of fear -> no control over what happened
Outcome / e ect of the experience is more important than the cause -> pragma c approach
- Experiences caused by drugs, alcohol, yoga etc are valid as they allow the experiencer to access di erent
levels of consciousness like all the mys cal experiences
- REs have profound, las ng e ects on lives whatever the cause
- e.g. Night of Power led Muhammad to becoming the seal of the prophets in Islam
Experience is True Religion - REs are Primary
- Religion is the result of religious experiences, religion’s prac ces and teachings are secondary
- ‘God is real since he produces real e ects’ - interac on with God leads to conversion (religion = e ect)
- e.g. Stephen Bradley - because uncertain about his faith, but had experience where he felt presence of
angels and a erwards his faith had an unshakeable quality which it previously lacked
Private and personal nature of REs - believers from di erent faiths can interpret the same experience in
di erent ways (supports pluralism) - mys c is presented experience within their frame of reference to
access it
Evalua ng William James’ Approach
Strengths Weaknesses
Does not argue for/require faith in the existence of Mackie - REs have no authority if they can be
God - showers the power of REs / gives credit to the explained psychologically
experiencers
Links REs to psychological make-up -> some are Russell - just because something has a posi ve
more predisposed to have REs which explains why e ect upon someone, it does not mean it is true -
not everyone has them ‘the fact that a belief has a good moral e ect upon
a man is no evidence whatever in favour of its truth’
First had tes monies provide evidence suppor ng Doesn’t focus on whether the RE relates to God’s
James’ theory - e.g. Stephen Bradley existence in the world -> subject understanding of
RE, focus on truth for the individual
Logical posi vists -> REs are meaningless - ‘I saw a
vision of Christ’ - the statement cannot be
empirically tested
Counter to psychology - our mind may be If REs are caused by psychology, they are caused by
completely separate from our bodies -> experiences the person within -> not passive - James criteria is
caused psychologically are not necessary caused by contradictory
the person - psychology may not be part of us?
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ti tiff ti tiff titi tiff ti ti titi ff ti tiff ffff
