Religious Experience

What are the 4 different explanations for religious experience?

• Conversion experiences

• NDE’s

• Visions

• Voices

What are the 2 different explanations for religious experiences?

• An encounter with something existing in reality, beyond the subjective

• Result of an overactive imagination or hallucinations

What are the 4 different definitions for religious experiences?

• Corporate experience

• Personal experience

• A specific life changing event

• Any activity in a religious setting - Church service

What is a corporate experience?

Group experience

What happened at the Transfiguration?

• Jesus took Peter, James and John up to the mountain to pray

• Jesus was shining and a voice said Jesus was his son

• Disciples were scared

• Jesus told them to keep his secret until after he was resurrected

How did the Transfiguration influence the beliefs of Peter, James and John?

Shows them how important and special Jesus is

What is religious experience the centre of?

Many religious traditions

What type of religious experience are the charismatic churches style based on?

Corporate religious experience of the first Christians at Pentecost

Which religious figure’s religious experiences led to the formation of Sikhism?

Guru Nanak

What is another name for the monks established by Francis of Assisi?

The Franciscans

Who’s personal religious experiences led to the establishment of an order of monks?

Francis of Assisi

When was Friedrich Schleiermacher alive?

1768-1834

What did Friedrich Schleiermacher believe about religious experience?

It should be the heart of faith

How did Friedrich Schleiermacher believe religious experiences were tested to be true?

They were Self Authenticating so don’t need to be tested to be true

What did Friedrich Schleiermacher believe about the awareness of consciousness?

All people have consciousness of the divine but only religious people are aware of this and try to develop it

What did Friedrich Schleiermacher believe religion was? (Quotation)

“A sense and taste for the infinite”

What 2 things did Friedrich Schleiermacher believe were the most important parts of religion?

• Feeling

• Experience

Why did Friedrich Schleiermacher believe Christianity was the highest of religions?

Jesus was the only example of someone with complete God consciousness

When was William James alive?

1842-1910

When did William James write his book and what was it called?

The Varieties of Religious Experience - 1902

What did William James conclude after studying religious experience?

Their validity can be tested by their long lasting effects

When was Rudolf Otto alive?

1869-1937

When did Rudolf Otto write his book and what was it called?

The Idea of the Holy - 1917

What was Rudolf Otto’s book about?

What makes a religious experience more than just an experience

What did Rudolf Otto believe about religious experience?

Individuals should have a sense or personal encounter with natural forces, brining a sense of awe and mystery, a feeling of strangeness

What did Rudolf Otto believe were the 3 main qualities of the divine?

• Mystery

• God is of ultimate importance

• Cannot be controlled by individuals feel privilege during an RE

What did Rudolf Otto mean by mystery being a quality of the divine?

God is incomprehensible, he can be met and his work can be seen but he cannot be fully understood or described

What was the word Numinous used to describe according to Rudolf Otto?

The feeling of awe inspiring holiness

What is William James’ definition of a conversion experience?

Process where someone is divided and conscious of being wrong and unhappy, becomes more confident about what is right and happier s a consequence of a firmer hold on religious realities

Why was “The Varieties of Religious Experience immediately popular?

Not only because of it’s anecdotes of RE but because of the sympathy and intelligence insights were discussed

According to William James what were the 4 qualities of Religious experience?

• Ineffability

• Noetic quality

• Transience

• Passivity

What does Ineffability mean according to William James?

The experience is impossible to express adequately in normal language

What does Noetic quality mean according to William James?

An experience that gives the persona an understanding of important truths which may not have been reached through the use of reason alone

What does Transience mean according to William James?

An experience which is over quite soon, lasting no more than a few hours, even though the effect of the experience could last a lifetime

What does passivity mean according to William James?

The person having the experience feels as if the experience is being controlled from the outside. They are recipients of the experience rather than instigators of it