Religious Experiences Summary

• What are the three types of visions? 


  Corporeal

  Imaginative

  Intellectual
• What are corporeal visions? 


  Empirical; involving sense experience. The eye sees the supernatural and the experiencer can interact with what is seen and heard
• What is an example of a corporeal vision?

  the vision of Bernadette Soubirous of the ’Immaculate Conception’ at Lourdes, 18 visions in total. Her visions led to a chapel which was eventually built on the site of Lourdes which became pilgrimage for thousands of people to visit yearly to seek healing and a renewal of faith
• What are imaginative visions?


  They are seen by the eye of the mind instead of direct sight, usually in dreams, and are beyond the control of the experiencer
• What is an example of an imaginative vision? 


  Pharaoh’s dream in Genesis 41 or John’s Revelation in the final book of the Bible. John bore witness to great events that are yet to come, where he saw Satan and all his angels defeated by God
• What is an intellectual vision?


  Have no image. Gains knowledge through the experience
• What is an example of an intellectual vision?


  Julian of Norwich claimed to see Jesus as he really was, not as an image but as a presence. Through this experience Julian believed she was given knowledge of God; creation is represented by a hazelnut and God created it, loves and sustains it
• What are 4 key points for Otto?

  1. Mysterium tremendum et fascinans
  2. The numinous
  3. Numinous feelings are non-rational
  4. Why is it considered a religious experience?
• Otto’s mysterium tremendum et fascinans 


  Otto’s mysterium tremendum et fascinans focuses on God as transcendent; the idea that he is above and beyond space and time. God is so far removed from humanity that we have no choice but to approach God with awe, dread and fear. When the first disciples encountered Jesus, they perceived this power in Jesus. Using the example of the Rat in the Wind in the Willows when he tells mole that he is afraid, he experiences something indescribable. Thus Otto’s mysterium tremendum et fascinans demonstrates the qualities of a religious experience
• Otto - the numinous 


  Religious experience is about an experience of the holy. Because holy has so many associations, Otto used the word ‘numen’, meaning wholly other and beyond human apprehension and comprehension. The feeling of ‘numinous’ is a of total awe and wonder. An individual gains a deeper understanding of reality and feels that they have touched a different dimension. Therefore, Otto defines religious experiences through the idea of ‘numinosity’
• Numinous feelings are non-rational 


  According to Otto, numinous feelings are non-rational. He explains that we cannot reason our way to understanding numinous feelings because they cannot be explained. The same is true with all of our feelings but even more so with God due to his transcendent nature. John Macquarie explains that Otto holds the idea that although it is inconceivable, it is within our grasp. This explains how we struggle to comprehend numinous feelings, yet we can somehow categorise them to an extent - as aweful, overpowering experiences.
• Why is Otto’s numinous considered a religious experience?


  Otto argues that these experiences are made religious by three main qualities. The first quality is mystery - the recognition that God is incomprehensible; he can be met and his work can be seen but he can never be fully captured. The second follows on to say that God is recognised of being of ultimate importance and the third explains that God possesses qualities which are both attractive and dangerous. Ordinary language could not possibly do justice to these experiences so Otto defines them as their own language
• What are 4 key points for William James?

  1. What is mysticism?
  2. God meets us no matter what science claims
  3. Ineffability and Noetic Quality
  4. Transiency and Passivity
• What is mysticism according to James?


  A mystical experience is a direct and intimate experience of God. Mysticism involves the spiritual recognition of truths beyond normal understanding and it is the closest that a human can ever come to actually meeting God. In this experience, there are several features of truths beyond normal understanding such as the sense of freedom, ‘oneness’ with the divine and a sense of bliss. Moreover, knowledge of the ultimate reality is gained - knowledge that is typically hidden from human intellect
• God meets us no matter what science claims 


  According to William James, reality for us is on the level of the personal and private, and not on the level of the cosmic and the general. God is not found in one particular religion: each individual perceives God and receives from God uniquely. Different individuals have different needs, for example, the sick souls will require a religion of deliverance whereas the healthy minded would not. Through mystical experiences, believers are able to connect with God and grow and develop as individuals.
• What is ineffability and noetic quality?


  James gave four characteristics to help us identify mystical experiences; the first two being ineffability and noetic quality. James stated that ineffability meant that the experience could not possibly be communicated. With a religious experience there is an awareness that there is something to be described but no way of doing so. For example, St Teresa of Avila stated that she was unable to describe what she had learned. Linking to the idea of knowledge, noetic quality described the realisation of unobtainable truths - despite being ineffable.
• What is transiency and passivity?


  Transiency is the idea that most religious experiences only last a limited amount of time - between a few minutes and two hours - so they may be difficult to remember. Moreover, while undergoing a religious experience it is believed that one loses control to a more powerful being, becoming overwhelmed. Ultimately, James’ four characteristics help identify between a normal experience and a religious experience.
• What are 4 key points for Walter Stace?


  1. Stace’s definition of mysticism
  2. Visions and voices are not mystical
  3. Extrovertive and introvertive way
  4. Halfway house experience
• Stace’s definition of mysticism 


  Stace defines mysticism as ‘non-sensuous and non-intellectual‘ union with the divine. In its highest form, the senses cease to work, and the rational intellect - the conscious I - ceases to work as well, being replaced by ‘pure consciousness’. Thus, Stace defines a mystic as someone who has had a mystical experience.
• Visions and voices are not mystical experiences


  According to Stace, a genuine mystical experience is non-sensuous, having no form, shape, colour, smell or sound.
• Introvertive and extrovertive way 


  Stace splits his argument into the introvertive and extrovertive way. The introvertive way is a total suppression of our consciousness; the ordinary consciousness is replaced with a mystical one. It is non-sensuous and non-intellectual. There is a loss of I as we are totally overwhelmed by external force. Whereas the extrovertive way looks outward and through the physical senses into the external world; the physical senses continue to perceive the same world but sees objects transfigured.
• Challenges to religious experience


  • mainly experienced by the unsupported evidence of individuals
  • They are subjective and private
  • They are ineffable, so cannot be understood
  • They can be accounted for by natural explanations
  • Some are contradictory
  • Bultmann’s Demythologisation of biblical experiences eg Paul was battle weary and dehydrated so therefore he was hallucinating
• Challenges to religious experiences from science

  • Freud’s argument from wish fulfilment. Visions and words of knowledge are projections of our ultimate fears. Religious life and experiences are an example of collective neurosis