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Title and Publication

  • Book Title: Philosophy of Religion: Toward a Global Perspective

  • Author: Gary E. Kessler

  • Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1999

  • Editors and Contributors:

    • Philosophy Editor: Peter Adams

    • Assistant Editor: Kerri Abdinoor

    • Editorial Assistant: Mindy Newfarmer

    • Print Buyer: Stacey Weinberger

    • Permissions Editor: Robert Kauser

    • Production: Matrix Productions

    • Copy Editor: Connie Day

    • Cover Designer: Liurie Anderson

    • Cover Imagery: Mandala of Avalokiteshvara, 19th century, Tibet

    • Compositor: Circle Graphics

    • Printer: Webcom

  • ISBN: 0-534-50549-X

Chapter Overview: Religious Experience

Introduction to Religious Experiences

  • Definition: A religious experience is an occurrence that is central to the understanding of religion, often characterized by distinct feelings and perceptions.

  • Types of Experiences: Examples include visions of religious figures (Virgin Mary, Krishna, Buddha), auditory experiences (hearing angelic voices), possession, and conversionism.

  • Variety vs. Commonality: Challenges in defining and categorizing the numerous forms of religious experience; searching for a common thread.

Philosophical Considerations

  • Naturalistic Explanations: Consideration of whether religious experiences can be deemed purely psychological or friends of actual divine encounters.

  • Freudian Perspective: Freud’s theory posits that God is a projection of human psychological needs—an adult's need for security akin to childhood dependency.

  • Issue of Veridicality: Are these experiences genuine cognitions revealing truths about reality, or are they mere illusions?

Cross-Cultural Perspectives

  • Common Features in Different Religions: The potential for universal experiences of the divine despite cultural interpretations (e.g., how different cultures perceive divine entities).

  • Friedrich Schleiermacher's Contributions: Shifts focus from dogma to the experience of religion as internal feelings of utter dependence.

  • Rudolf Otto’s Additions: Introduces the concept of the "numinous" to highlight important elements in religious experiences that defy rational explanation.

Complexity of Religious Experience

  • Diverse Interpretations and Experiences: Distinguished between experiences that are cultural and those that might have an inherent numinous quality.

  • The case for Ninian Smart: Explicates various dimensions of religious experiences to gain greater accuracy in understanding human encounters with the divine.

The Experiential Dimension

  • Reading Questions: Key considerations regarding the nature of religious experiences, their psychological explanations, and cultural interpretations.

  • Ninian Smart's Stance: Classifying experiences into categories based on emotional and existential content, exploring differing perceptions based on individual worldviews.

  • Numinous vs. Mystical Experiences: Otto's premise that numinous experiences provoke worship while mystical experiences often involve a sense of unity and dissolution of the self.

Key Models of Religious Experience

  • Shamanism: Discusses the role of shamans in contacting spirits and their symbolic interpretations in various cultures.

  • Comparison of Right and Left Wing Shamanism: Right focuses on external divine interactions while left emphasizes inner, mystical experiences.

  • Divergence in Views regarding God: Examining the contrast between personal interpretations of God across different religions and mystical traditions.

Conclusions across Tradition

  • Religious experiences can reflect broader human dreams and aspirations rather than solely doctrinal teachings.

  • The study of religious experience is vital for appreciating the ongoing dialogues about the nature of existence, consciousness, and spirituality within varied religious contexts.