Religious Experience

• direct

  god reveals himself directly to someone who has not chosen to have it
• indirect

  thoughts/readings about god on everyday
• mystical

  • personal experience
  • reveals as transcendent
  • life-changing to those involved
• corporate

  • happens to a number of people at the same time
  • the work of demons ?
  • pre-disposed to the experience
  • don’t behave in a group the same, mass hysteria
  • is it god?
• the problem of the other minds

  • don’t know what’s in other people‘s experience
  • i may doubt your experience without doubting your honesty
• Swinburne

  • principle of credulity - accept unless reason not to
  • principle of testimony - believe what people say
  • it is up to the one that doubts to prove it’s not true
  • talking about God is not the same as anything else
• Russell

  ‘if you eat too little, you see visions, if you drink too much, you see snakes’
• Hume

  humans are drawn to the unusual or bizarre, they may not interpret their experience correctly
• Criticisms

  • change is supportive but not proof
  • change = not thought it was God
  • Mackie = just their makeup
  • Biomedical basis (lack of sleep)
  • only induced
  • they have authority for individual but not others
  • could be deceiving themselves
• Rudolph Otto

  3 requirements -

  1. numinous
  2. fascination + overcome fear
  3. apprehension of ‘wholly other’

  • influenced by Kant, we cannot know God unless he chooses to reveal himself and his revelation is felt on an emotional level
• Edward Starbuck

  • parallels between conversion and normal process of finding identity during adolescence
  • most occur between 16-24, most easily brainwashed, eg. Medjugorie
• Davey Falcus

  • in prison for drugs/alcohol abuse
  • involved in gang violence
  • he saw Jesus and instantly overcame his addictions
  • potential hallucinations, alcoholics have a vitamin B12 deficiency which leads to delirium tremens (hallucinations)
• Freud

  • often gave difficult upbringings, looking for attachment
  • all hallucinations, eg. Toronto Blessings
  • dreams caused by deep desires were unaware of, product of our subconscious
• John Cottingham

  • numinous may not be God
  • people have these experiences all the time - music & art, but don‘t put it down to God
• Corporate Religious Experience

  Medjugorie & Toronto Blessings
• Mystical Religious Experience

  St. Teresa of Avila
• Conversion Experience

  St. Paul
• James

  • genuine religious experiences must contain certain characteristics, eg. transient = temporary with life-changing effects (eg. Davey Falcus)
  • people experience things differently
• Williams

  • false interpretations with God, eg. Terrorism
  • potential evil, not encouraged by God
  • ‘the touch of God can be dangerous’
• Medjugorie

  • in daily contact with Mary
  • potential hoax
  • in Bosnia
• Toronto Blessing

  • soaking (rest in God’s love)
  • potential hypnosis/psychological techniques
  • why would God want us to bark like a dog?
• psychological effects

  potential illusions due to alcohol, drugs, fatigue, and depression
• Teresa of Avila

  blamed on sexual frustration, she said she would feel disgusted because her experience was peaceful
• St. Ignatious Loyoa

  • conversion took a long period of time
  • he converted after an injury from war