a-level philosophy: religious experience

what are direct religious experiences?

Refer to events where God reveals himself directly to the person having the experience

what are indirect religious experiences?

Experiences, thoughts or feelings about God that are prompted by events in daily life

what are some examples of religious experiences?

Visions, Healings, Speaking in tongues, Hearing the voice of God and God’s presence – numinous

who made the 4 common categories for religious experience?

William James

what are the 4 categories?

• Passive

• Ineffable

• Noetic

• Transient

what does passive mean?

the experience happens to a person; the person doesn’t make the experience happen.

what does ineffable mean?

the experience is beyond language and cannot be put into words to accurately described.

what does noetic mean?

some sort of knowledge or insight is gained

what does transient mean?

the experience is temporary

what are James’s conclusions?

• RE have absolute authenticity for the recipient and have more importance than religious authorities

• RE are possible; they are ‘psychological phenomena’- because we are psychological beings, we are able of experiencing RE in our psyche

• RE have a common core

• RE are plausible; it is reasonable to see them as genuine because they have positive long-term effects on mental health and a person’s wellbeing; enable them to live fulfilled lives contributing positively to society.

• One can open oneself to RE by doing yoga; drugs and alcohol can induce a similar experience.

how did Otto support James’s conclusions?

mystical experiences is an experience of the Wholly Other or an encounter with the numinous = a general sense of awe and wonder; fearful and fascinated; powerful personal feeling of being overwhelmed and inspired.

Religious language cannot adequately describe such an experience (ineffable).

how did Schleiermacher support James’s conclusions?

we all have a consciousness for the divine, but we block it off (RE are psychological phenomena).

how do Newberg and Waldman support James’s conclusions?

Christian nuns praying and Buddhists meditating have the same decrease in activity in parietal lobes of the brain and resulting feeling of being one with reality.    (RE have a common core in terms of the same brain activity)

what are some problems with James’s conclusions?

• Not all RE are transient and passive (e.g.: conversions are often gradual; involve active searching for answers and study course).

• Not all RE have a positive long-term effect; e.g.: conversions to radical terrorist forms of religion.

• May not be experience of an external divine reality (- c.f. alternative explanations

why does Katz not agree with James’s conclusions?

does not accept common core idea- we cannot know if people experience the same ineffable reality (that the ineffable Brahman is the same as the ineffable Allah or Buddhist nirvana).

what did Hick say about religious experiences?

Hick explained that the differences in the ways that people experience 'the Real' are accounted for by the fact that people exist in different cultures.

We all have an ‘interpretive framework’ and this shapes our interpretation of the experience and the labels/words we apply.

‘constitute different "lenses" through which the divine Reality is differently perceived.’

what happened in the Teresa of Avila experience?

P: When she was praying Christ made himself known to her.

I: She used creative language to compensate for the vagueness of the experience.

N: She realised Jesus witnesses everything.

T: “I never prayed to the Virgin in vain”.

what happened in the Moses experience?

P: God appears through the burning bush.

I: We can’t explain the burning bush; it’s beyond us to explain.

N: Exodus 3:13 “I AM that I AM”; he has authority to send Moses to Pharaoh.

T: Moses goes to Pharaoh to free the Israelites.

what are the conversion experience case studies?

Nicky Cruz and St Paul

what happened in the Nicky Cruz conversion experience?

• notorious leader of 1950s New York gang

• Cruz met David Wilkerson, a Christian preacher who was convinced that God wanted him to preach to homeless teenagers and drug addicts on the streets of New York

• Cruz responded by slapping him and threatening to kill him

• two weeks later Cruz was planning to start a fight at Wilkerson’s rally but when he god there felt guilt and prayed for God’s forgiveness

• took his gang to the police station and they handed over their weapons

what happened in the St Paul conversion experience?

P: The light flashes to him on the road to Damascus.

I: Divine is touching human life in the light, the throwing from the horse.

N: He realised Jesus was Christ and did what Christ told him - Christ asked Saul why he persecutes him

T: he stopped persecuting the Christians and became a missionary.

what is Swinburne’s principle of credulity?

• The way things seem to us is a good guide to the way things actually are.

• If someone has what they believe to be a religious experience, we should accept that this probably what it is.

• we usually use our senses on a daily basis to understand the world and do not question them - should assume our senses are accurate

• Check there are no ‘special considerations’: no drugs, starving, blow to the head, history of mental disorder.

what is Swinburne’s principle of testimony?

•This relies on the inherent trustworthiness of people – we should believe the testimony of others...

•unless there is a good reason not to trust them, e.g. 'special considerations' if they are a compulsive liar, drug user, could gain from fooling us.

• unless we have substantial reason to question another persons testimony we should take them as reliable

what are some of the problems with Swinburne?

• Problem of Other Minds: It is impossible to experience the mind of another. Therefore it is impossible to authenticate their experience of anything. If I cannot share your experience, in what sense can it be evidence for me?

• M.Martin (Negative Credulity): atheists experience ‘no God’ so principle of credulity can lead to the conclusion that God probably doesn't exist! The negative experience of atheism cancels out the positive experience of religious believers.

  BUT: Swinburne would argue that this response doesn’t work as the PoC only applies to positive experiences: if you experience something, it probably exists; it does not follow if you do not experience something

• Hume - be sceptical about testimony unless there are special reasons to trust it. Because the event is so unlikely to have occurred, it goes against all empirical evidence, we need specially credible witnesses. Carl Sagan: ‘extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.’ Hume argues people with RE tend to be ‘ignorant’, ‘barbarous’, lacking education, seeking to enhance their reputation.

what is Swinburne’s cumulative case for God?

• Religious experiences can be seen to point towards God’s existence, even if they cannot prove God’s existence

• Religious experiences add strength and credibility to already existing arguments (such as the cosmological, design and ontological arguments)

why does Anthony Flew disagree with Swinburne’s cumulative case for God?

leaky bucket argument- ‘if one leaky bucket will not hold water, that is no reason to think that ten can.’

One flawed argument considered alongside another flawed argument makes no more than a flawed case for God.

what are conversion religious experiences?

experience which causes a person to change their set of beliefs and lifestyle due to a personal, inner encounter with God.

what are corporate religious experiences?

are when multiple people all have same religious experience together.

what happened in the Pentecost religious experience?

P: They were all filled with the holy spirit and spoke in tounges

I: They all asked each other what does this mean, however other people assumed this was because they had drunken wine.

N: The spirits each spoke the native language of people there and told them about God's work  They can speak another language

T: Peter spoke a sermon about how God will save people if they pray in believe in him. They left the house and started preaching.   The disciples after Jesus death

what happened during the Toronto blessing religious experience?

Randy Clark spoke at the church and gave his testimony of how he would get drunk in the spirit and laugh uncontrollably

congregation erupted with people laughing, shaking, barking like dogs and being stuck in positions of analysis - experiences attributed to the Holy Spirit entering people’s bodies

John Arnott referred to it as a Holy Spirit party

claims of God putting gold fillings in people’s teeth during the service

what happened during the Medjugorje religious experience?

6 Catholic children aged 10-16 experienced visions of the virgin Mary

they all experienced a vision and claimed they had daily visions since

in 2017 Pope Francis declared that original visions reported are worth studying in more depth but the subsequent continued visions are of dubious value

why are conversion religious experiences convincing?

• W. James- very plausible because lead to integration and wholeness after crisis.

• Not convenient - lead to profound change of lifestyle; loss of friends; goes against everything one knows  - why make them up? Fulfil Swinburne’s  P of C and P of T

why are conversion religious experiences not convincing?

• often result of active search for meaning - not passive; involve long period of studying new religion- not transient.

• Result of social and psychological factors (not of divine activity) - often linked to guilt; dissatisfaction with and crisis point in life. Starbuck research: average age 15.6 years – resolves adolescent identity crisis.

• Does it matter that people convert to religions they know about and have experienced in their cultural framework?

what is Cottingham’s philosophical argument against religious experience?

 

• John Cottingham argued that it's easy to assume for that an experience to be experienced as 'numinous' in order for it to be religiously experienced. However, this is not necessarily true. People can have experiences of art and nature which go beyond the everyday and which can be called spiritual, but they are not understood as coming from God.  

what is Satre’s + Marx’s philosophical argument against religious experience?

Satre argues that disputed events are 'a matter of interpretation'. In the case of religious experience the interpretation of the experience by the experiencer can be what convinces people of its realism. 'One could have drawn quite different conclusions from a set of reverses'.

Marx views religious experiences as forms of wish-fulfilment and as examples of religion more generally as the opium of the people.  

what is Kant’s philosophical argument against religious experience?

 Kant denied that religious experiences were possible as God does exist but is not a being who can be experienced through the senses. God is not material in the way that other beings and objects are.

Therefore there is the problem of how we could recognise a non-physical, infinite God with our finite minds.  

what are the responses to philosophical criticisms?

• Some precondition is needed such as faith or openness. Perhaps God does reveal himself to all of us but we don't see it (Schleiermacher god-consciousness) 

• Hick refers to the necessity of the 'epistemic distance' (so we are not overwhelmed; belief needs free will and choice).  

 

what is Francis of Assai’s physiological criticism of religious experience?

• Francis of Assisi had religious experiences after severe illness so he could have been hallucinating

• aesthetic diet was deficient in vitamin B, therefore his visions may have been caused my his diet rather than God. 

• However, many people may argue that there is no reason why God should not appear to people after they have taken drugs, or have been fasting or grieving. If God is loving he may just want to make himself known to people in times when they are vulnerable.  

 

what is Russel (substances) physiological criticism of religious experience?

• Some substances can alter the mind. Alcoholics have a deficiency of vitamin B in their blood while drinking which can then cause delirium tremens – a condition that leads to hallucinations. St Francis Xaviers  

• Moses – halogenic plant (ayahuasca), the burning bush. The bush was growing over a volcanic event which made it catch fire. The voice of God heard was due to the hallucinogenic plant.  

what is Ramachandran’s physiological criticism of religious experience?

– temporal lobe epilepsy – measurable, when part of the brain was stimulated people had religious experiences – can lead to a physical reaction to religious imagery.  

what are the responses to the physiological criticisms of religious experience?

• This does not render religious experience inauthentic – not conclusive if temporal lobe activity produces or receives the experiences 

• Most religious experiences are not linked to any drug use 

what is Katz’s psychological criticism of religious experience?

• Katz argues that we cannot know whether someone is experiencing the same ineffable reality. So Brahman (Hinduism) may be experienced as Allah (Islam) or Nirvana (Buddhism).  

• Different faiths see their religious experiences in a way that confirms their previous beliefs I.e. while a Catholic may see the Virgin Mary, whereas a Hindu may see Lord Shiva. Some people argue that this undermines religious experience by demonstrating that they are simply peoples wish-fulfilment. However, it could be argued that if God wants his followers to see/experience him then he will reveal himself in a form that they will understand.  

what is Freud’s psychological criticism of religious experience?

• Freud argues that religion is an ‘obsessional neurosis’ and said it came from the desire to be a child.

• Freud argued that the reason Christians call God ‘father’ is because they have a desire to be a child forever. The desire for eternal innocence in order to prevent having to face of the reality of the world. Freud thought these psychological forces were so strong that they resulted in delusions which could explain religious experience. 

what is Sacks psychological criticism of religious experience?

Oliver Sacks has suggested another possibility that the religious visions of mystics might be explained as symptoms of a condition called scintillating scotoma - a particular type of migrainous episode in which patients experience either an expanding luminosity, brilliant stars, sparks, swarms and ripples of light

what are the responses to psychological criticisms?

Religious response: Freud’s analysis fails to explain mystical religious experience Freud’s theory might work well against mere visions, which we know can be created by the brain due to desperate wish-fulfilment. Mystical experiences are ecstatic, immersive, and totally unlike any ordinary sensory experience, however, making them harder to dismiss as hallucinations caused by delusory wishful thinking

how does Feuerbach criticise religious experiences?

Religious experience & beliefs originate from the mind. People who think they are worshipping God are in fact worshipping their own human nature. People create a ‘god’ to meet their needs.

why does Flew criticise religious experience?

Statements that cannot be empirically verified are meaningless. He rejects the idea of testing the results through the lasting effect on the individual

what were some of William James aims?

• to use real life testimony and examples to support his ideas

• not rule in or rule out existence of God but remain objective

what were some of James overall general conclusions?

• experience will be empirical and based on personal experience - subject of experience will argue something has happened to them → suggests their could be a higher reality existing outside of the human mind

• pluralism - religious experiences follow the same pattern even though people respond differently

• pragmatic as they change the life of the person they happen to - the person has been so transformed that the experience must be rooted in something significant

what are the two ways in which a conversion experience can occur?

1. conversion and voluntary experience: gradual conversion, or the volitional type

2. involuntary and unconscious: a sudden conversion which are dramatic experiences as they are drastic and promote great change

what pattern do all conversion experiences follow?

• dissatisfied with current system of ideas

• individual searching both intellectually and emotionally

• point of crisis when God is perceived

• following the crisis there is peace and joy + desire to share the news

• convert experiences new sense of purpose

what are some problems with the principle of testimony?

Mackie argues people who are trustworthy can be seen to deceive us even if we don’t have evidence

Gale - how are RE’s the same type of experience as normal experiences which should be trusted

Russel - many people have claimed that they have heard Satan talk to them so why do we reject these