Religious experience

• Religious experience: an encounter with the divine (referring to God or the ‘greater being’) 

  • It is a non-empirical (something that cannot be proved) occurrence that brings with it an awareness of something beyond ourselves. 
  • They are revelations  
  • They are ineffable: experiences beyond human comprehension and hard to describe. 
  • For believers, a religious experience is the most convincing proof of the existence of God.  
• Types of religious experience: VISIONS AND VOICES

  What is it? Visions and voices are hearing voices and seeing visions  

  Example: St Paul (formerly Saul on the Damascus Road); Mary Bernadettes (Lourdes) 

  It is convincing: Convincing to the person experiencing it  

  It is not convincing: Often no witnesses; could be other explanations  
• Types of religious experience: CORPORATE

  What is it? A corporate experience is 2 or more people experience a similar religious event. 

  Example: 1994 Toronto Blessing 

  It is convincing: Happens to a lot of people so there are more witnesses  

  It is not convincing: Conformity (mob mentality); Mass hysteria  
• Types of religious experience: CONVERSION

  What is it? Someone has an experience which leads them to convert to a religion. James says conversion happens when the group of religious ideas comes central. This can be triggered by an explosive emotion. 

  Example: St Paul (formerly Saul on the road to Damascus), John Wesley (helped a prisoner converted)

  It is convincing: Drastic change (sudden/ gradual) - indicates a higher power and influence; Consistency across cultures; Lasting effects.  

  It is not convincing: Psychological explanations; Conversion may be influenced by other factors. 
• Types of religious experience: MYSTICAL

  What is it? A personal experience where somebody feels they have been spiritually touched by a God 

  Example: St Teresa of Avila (severely ill but had divine visions); near death experience

  It is convincing: Convincing to the person experiencing it 

  It is not convincing: Personal experience
• Case Study: Davey Falcus

  • Wrote a book, Gangland to God. 
  • Following a series of family deaths, Falcus began his life of crime (stealing and drugs) and after spending time in prison, he became part of the main criminal firm and was introduced to professional violence. 
  • After many friend’s deaths, he had had enough of that life and began to look to religion for answers. He was desperate and suicidal when he called to Jesus who appeared to him. 
• Case study: Davey Falcus

  • "It was like the missing piece I had been searching for all my life was suddenly filled.” 
  • After his experience, Falcus started going to church, helping there and in 1999 became a minister as well as being a part of a drug rehab centre and travelling the world as an evangelist.  
  • An example of conversion and voices and visions 
• Case Study: Mother Julian of Norwich - ‘Revelations of the divine’ 

  • Wrote a book, The Revelations of Divine Love 
  • On what she thought was her deathbed, she had 16 visions of Jesus bleeding in front of her. From this, she gained insights into his suffering and love for us. Over the next few days, she recovered from her illness.  
  • An example of visions and voices 
• Case Study: St Bernadettes – Lourdes  

  • Aged 14, she had a series of visions of the Virgin Mary who instructed her, among other things, to build a chapel there. 
  • The Chapel remains to be a site of pilgrimage for Christians and where multiple miracles have occurred such as the recovering from illnesses. 
  • An example of visions and voices 
• Case Study: St Paul in the Bible – Acts 9:1 – 19

  • Saul was persecuting the followers of Jesus and whilst on the road of Damascus, Jesus appeared to him and blinded him. 
  • Jesus then appeared to a man called Ananias and instructed him to go visit Saul, put his hands on his eyes and restore his sight. 
  • Ananias follows Jesus’ instructions and Saul is healed. Immediately after, Saul gets baptized and becomes a follower of Jesus. 
  • An example of visions and voices as well as conversion. 

   
• Case Study: Nicky Cruz

  • Following an abusive childhood, Cruz became an infamous gang leader involved in violence and drugs. 
  • A local preacher called David Wilkerson showed him the love of God despite Cruz beating him up and threatening his life.  
  • One night, Jesus appeared to Cruz and kissed his heart, transforming it. Since, Cruz converted to Christianity; started his own ministry; started an outreach program to help young people who are in his situation; and travelled the world as an evangelist. 
  • An example of mystical and conversion. 
• Case Study: Toronto Blessing

  • Starting in 1994 at the Toronto airport Vineyard church, hundreds of people experienced a physical phenomenon where the Holy Spirit took over their bodies.  
  • It involved bodily weakness, shaking, uncontrollable laughing, drunkenness, animal sounds, wailing (etc.) 
  • An example of corporate. 
• Flew criticizes corporate religious experiences by saying collecting a series of weak arguments does not create a strong one. 
• William James (1842 – 1910) 

  • Wrote a book called the ‘Varieties of Religious Experience’ 
  • Philosopher and psychologist 
  • Collected many testimonies of people claiming to have had a religious experience  
  • Scientific approach – interested in the effect of them NOT the authenticity or if God exists (fruits not roots) 
• From his research, he offered four characteristics which would enable a clear identification of a religious experience... (PINT) 
• Passivity – an experience that you cannot control 

  • While undergoing the experience, one loses control to a more powerful being, namely God, and is overwhelmed 
  • The effects of this loss of control include individuals assuming entirely different personalities, writing or drawing certain prophetic visions or messages with the opposite hand to normal, or speaking in a completely different voice or language 
  • It is beyond human control 
• Ineffability – an inability to describe what has happened  

  • The most easily recognizable characteristic of a religious experience 
  • Religious experiences are private events; the recipient goes through certain sensations that are beyond verbal description.  
  • There is an awareness that there is something to be described but no way of doing so 
  • Sometimes descriptions are offered but these tend to be meaningless to the listener who has no experience of such occurrences 
• Noetic Quality – provides knowledge of the divine 

  • Recipients of a religious experience are quick to point-out that the religious experience encountered provides insight into unobtainable truths about God 
  • The knowledge is grasped not through intellect through intuition and perception (not a conventional manner) – it is a revelation 
• Transiency – a short lived experience but with long lasting effects  

  • Most religious experiences last between a few minutes and about two hours but the significance and effects of the experience are out of proportion to the physical duration 
  • Think of dreams 
  • However, unlike dreams, those who have undergone such experiences claim that the experience is well remembered 
• James' key findings: 

  For the people that have had a religious experience... 

  • They need no external proof as they are ‘self-authenticating’ 
  • They are key to religious belief 
  • They are positive and life changing 
  • They are often led to a “healthy minded soul” one that is open minded and optimistic (as opposed to a ‘sick soul’ that is cynical and skeptical) 
• Case Study: St Teresa of Avila

  • Born in 1515 in Spain and became a nun. 
  • A key example of mystical religious experience.  
  • She was severely ill with Malaria, had intense pain and during this time she began to experience visions and a sense of inner peace. 
  • Her stages of a religious experience led her to say she was one with God – married. Some say she meant sexually and have criticized her for this. They say she is using this as a substitute for something she can’t have as she is a nun. 
  • She set up a monastery and taught others the art of quiet prayer. 
• W.T. Stace differentiates between two types of mystical experience: extrovertive or introvertive
• Extrovertive: An extrovertive religious experience is where an individual or a group becomes aware of a transcendent reality beyond ordinary empirical explanation. It often involves a sense of unity, deepened knowledge, and may be characterized by feelings of bliss and love. It’s typically experienced within a religious context or gathering 
• Introvertive: An introvertive religious experience refers to a type of mystical experience that involves an inward journey of the self, leading to a sense of unity or oneness with the divine or ultimate reality. It is characterized by a deep sense of inner peace, transcendence of the self, and often a feeling of being outside of time and space. 
• Pahnke

  Good Friday Experiment: Gave people either a placebo or a drug and 1 person given the placebo had a religious experience whereas 9 people given the drug had a religious experience. This proved that religious experiences can be induced. 
• Rudolf Otto (1869 – 1937) 

  • German Philosopher and Theologian 
  • In his book ‘The idea of the Holy’ (1936) 
  • Otto believed religious experiences were central to religion. 

  “Mysertium, Tremendum et Fascinas” - Religious experiences are an awe-inspiring, fascinating mystery that can’t be explained. This aspect made the experience different from any ‘other’ worldly experience. 
• Otto was trying to understand what happened during a religious experience. He wasn’t trying to see if he could prove they were real or not (similar to James).

  He claimed the divine had 3 main qualities... 

  • God can be met but never fully understood 
  • God has ultimate importance  
  • Gives a sense of privilege to have had the experience 
• In the ‘Problems of Pain’, C.S. Lewis cites Rudolf Otto and describes the numinous experience as follows: 

  Numinous: Used to describe a religious experience and the divine that is involved in it. Awe-inspiring yet mysterious and important yet indescribable. People can only describe the effect of religious experiences rather than what happened in the actual experience. 
• Martin Buber (1813 – 1855) 

  • A Jewish religious philosopher.  
  • Humans cannot truly understand God through intellect and abstract terms but rather by having a relationship with Him. 
  • Describes religious experiences as ‘I-Thou’ relationship and an immediate encounter between persons where one can attain a unity with the divine.  
• Swinburne (1934 - ) 

  Swinburne argues that on the whole, we can trust our senses, he acknowledges that sometimes they can be tricked but the MAJORITY of time we can trust them. Otherwise, we would live a life of constant uncertainty and paranoia. 
• This is known as the Principle of Credulity... 

  • Also supported by Alston 
  • We can usually trust our senses 
  • We don’t tend to second guess our experiences so why are we second guessing religious ones? 
  • Religious experience can be trusted just the same as any other experience. If you think you are experiencing God, then you are. 
  • This theory is more about yourself. You can trust yourself. 
  • People do question their senses if something unusual happens  
• He also thought of the Principle of Testimony... 

  • Balance of probability suggests people are telling the truth. 
  • If you trust them about other experiences, they tell you about then you should trust them if they tell you, they have had a religious experience. 
  • This goes for mankind... usually people tell the truth – you shouldn’t mistrust people when they tell you about a religious experience. 
  • People DO lie. 
  • J.L. Mackie says that people sometimes unintentionally mislead or exaggerate accounts. 
• Swinburne saw there were 5 types of religious experience or personal testimonies: 

  • Public ordinary - sunset, stars 
  • Public extraordinary – going against laws of science 
  • Private describable – just you but can describe 
  • Private indescribably – no words just metaphors 
  • Nonspecific experience – feeling God around you
• God Helmet by Dr. Michael Persinger 

  • A device used by Dr. Michael Persinger to understand how the brain can stimulate a religious experience. 
  • His research on more than 900 people has led him to state in general terms that God is a product of the brain. 
  • His results were approximately 8 in 10 volunteers reported feeling quasi-religious feelings when wearing the helmet. 

  “Feeling something beyond yourself, bigger in space and time, can be stimulated” - Persinger 
• Andrew Newburg 

  • Scanned the brain during meditation 
  • The results showed that not only was the temporal lobe involved, but the parietal lobes almost shut down. 
  • These are responsible for our sense of time and place; we may lose our sense of self. 
  • This research suggests religious experiences are the workings of the brain 
• Marx:

  Religious experiences are delusional and hypocritical. Therefore, the religious experience is not real and is simply a drug that stops people seeing the reality of the situation. Religious experiences are simply a way to oppress people into doing what society wants. 
• Freud:

  Religion is a neurotic illness that is a result of emotional shocks in childhood. Explained by the Oedipus complex. Dreams are codes. 
• Feuerbach:

  Religious experiences are another projection of human nature and desire. 
• Are religious experiences just a ‘physiological’ effect? 

  Drink, drugs, tiredness, illness, depression, fasting, dehydration all change the way we think and experience the world. One mental state may deeply affect a physical state. E.g. lack of sleep causes hallucinations. 

  William of Ockham 

  • Simplest solution that covers all the facts is usually the best 
  • Known as Ockham’s Razor 

  “If you eat too little, you see visions and if you drink too much, you see snakes” - Bertrand Russel 
• Poor diet: 

  Delirium tremens is caused by vitamin B deficiency. This causes hallucinations, paranoia, voices and visions.  

  This can be related to specific religious experiences. For example, St Teresa of Avila was suffering from Malaria and so the simplest solution to her vision is the disease.