PoR (Religious Experience): Visions, Conversions, Mystical Experiences and Prayer + Assorted AO2

What is the common definition given to a religious experience?

An event that people interpret as direct contact or encounter with God, the Divine and/or ultimate truth

What example from Buddhism may we give as a Religious Experience?

The Enlightenment

Which French Catholic saint is often given as a key example of VISION?

St Bernadette

What does Ninian Smart define as a RE?

"A religious experience involves some kind of perception of the invisible world"

What does Alisdair Hardy recognise at the EFFECT of RE?

"alters behaviour... changes attitudes... life enhancing"

What is a RELIGIOUS VISION?

Where something is seen beyond ordinary sight and insight is conveyed

What are the three types of Religious VISION? SID

Sensory, Intellectual, Dreams

What is a sensory vision?

One that is experienced through all the senses

What is an intellectual vision?

One that conveys intellectual significance and meaning

What happened to St Bernadette in 1858?

- Reports several visions of the Madonna
- Was told to drink water from a stream and later to build a chapel.
- SENSORY VISION

What was the impact of Bernadette's visions?

- Lourdes became a pilgrimage site for healing.
- Receives some 5 Million visitors a year.
- Miracles have been reported by many people (60+ to date)

Who is an example of Intellectual Visions?

St Teresa of Avila

What did St Teresa of Avila believe about INTELLECTUAL visions?

The recipient gained a deep understanding of God within the soul - an insight into those things that cannot be explained by reason.

In the Gospel of Matthew, an example of Dream Vision is given; what is this?

Joseph is told by the angel Gabriel that he should not be concerned about marrying Mary despite having a child that is not his.

What is the Religious definition of a Conversion?

The change from one religious attitude to another

What are the possible variations of Conversion?

- One faith to another
- No faith to faith
- From faith (believing) to trusting in your beliefs and strengthening. Often called a conversion from Mind to Heart.

What are some of the features of Religious Conversion?

- Gradual or Sudden = changes in religious ways of life and adoption of faith.
- Passive or Active = the conversion comes upon unexpectedly or can come on through active engagement with a particular religion.
- Usually personal experiences but can be communal

What is the most notable conversion story in Christianity?

The conversion of Saul
- Saul was actively engaged in the persecution of early Christian communities.
- On the journey to Damascus he saw a blinding light and heard the voice of God.
- He converted and is now known as ST PAUL.

What is prayer?

conversation with God

What are some different types of Prayer?

- Repentance = confessing sins and asking for forgiveness
- Worshipping and praising God
- Petition = asking for help and healing

Beyond being a nun, what type of thinker was St Teresa?

A mystic

After becoming disillusioned with Religion after a short period of paralysis; what vision did St Teresa have that proved to re-inspire?

A vision of the wounded Christ

What did St Teresa believe was necessary in order to achieve a unified connection with God?

Rigorous prayer that moved through stages as one resigned themselves to God.

Which two analogies did Teresa give to describe Prayer?

The Garden and The Interior Castle

What is the GARDEN in the Analogy of the Garden?

The spiritual self

What is the first stage of the Garden Analogy?

A person sets about gardening, but the garden is incumbent with weeds - this is like the person who sets about a life of prayer but is defeated by distractions.

What is the second stage of the Garden Analogy?

Some distractions are overcome with practice but distractions linger such as the imagination.

What is the third stage of the Garden Analogy?

God becomes the gardener of the soul as most distractions are removed - however the union is still incomplete

What is the fourth stage of the Garden Analogy?

A trance - person now has full union with God. This is the equivalent of the garden being watered heavily with rain.

What is a definition for Mystical Experience?

a direct and intimate experience of God. often the recipient will feel a sense of the divine.

Which American Pragmatist and psychologist wrote the "Varieties of Religious Experience" (1902)

William James

What 4 marks did James propose characterise Mystical Experiences? (PINT)

- Passivity
- Ineffable
- Noetic
- Transiency

What did James mean by PASSIVITY?

The experience is beyond the experiencer's control and once it is initiated, it takes them over.

What did James mean by INEFFABLE?

Cannot be described in words - it must be directly experienced

What did James mean by NOETIC?

Knowledge relating to the divine is gained through the experience

What did James mean by TRANSIENCY?

The experience cannot last for a great deal of time - experiencers become lost in time.

What Mystical Experiences can be given as an example of James' four marks?

St Teresa of Avila's Visions - "I cannot give a description"

What aspect of Teresa's experiences relates to Passivity?

The spear being plunged into her heart by the angel

What is a definite strength of James' marks of experience?

Universality - they have persisted throughout time and apply to most faith traditions

How did Franks-Davis criticise the idea of "INEFFABILITY"?

Its extremely broad and many things are ineffable until we have experienced them - Franks-Davis gives the example of describing an orange for example

What is Ed Miller's definition of a mystical experience?

"the pursuit of a transcendent, unitive experience with the absolute reality"

What 5 marks did Ed Miller give for Mystical Experiences? (UNITE)

- Unitive
- Noetic
- Ineffable
- Transcendent
- Ecstatic

Which thinker, from the spec, is a key thinker in terms of Religious Experience?

Rudolf Otto

What word did Rudolf Otto use to describe the experience of the divine?

Numinous

What did Otto believe about the sense of the divine?

That it acknowledged the otherworldliness of the divine experience - "an apprehension of the wholly other"

Like James, what did Otto also believe about Religious Experience?

That they were ultimately ineffable

Which three Latin phrases did Otto use to describe Religious Experience?

- Mysterium
- Tremendum
- Fascinans

What did Otto mean by MYSTERIUM?

The strangeness and otherness of God

What did Otto mean by TREMENDUM?

The sense of being overwhelmed by a presence greater than oneself.

What did Otto mean by FASCINANS?

The mixture of awe, dread and fascination felt by the recipient of the experience.

What might be some criticisms of Otto's definition?

- Far too vague
- Only describes some religious experiences as there are other other well-documented types compared to numinous experience.
- Otto's understanding of the numinous is that the recipient has a very individual and personal experience of the other. But how do we know this is God?