Religious experience
William James:
- Defined religion as a personal experience ‘the feelings, acts and experiences of
individual men’
James’ overview of religious experience led him to suggest mystical experiences have a
common core:
1. Passive – people feeling they weren’t not in control of the experience and as if
another power was acting on them
2. Ineffable – the experience was difficult to out into words
3. Noetic – the experience provided insight or knowledge grasped through intuition,
they can be called ‘revelation’
4. Transient – the experience lasted a short time but had a much more significant effort
on the person, often life-long.
Mystical experiences are reliable Mystical experiences are not reliable
James argued that mystical experiences are Could be all in the mind – the common
reliable as they have similar features to the features are evident because they originate
4 core that James identified in the human mind which reacts the same
way each time.
Since many are passive and not expected, it Passivity could be the unconscious mind
suggests that there is something external deluding the conscious self. Participants in
that acts on and encounters someone in a pinkers God helmet experiment had feeling
personal way. of something beyond themselves but this
was the products of the helmet not God.
The noetic effect on mystical experiences Psychologist continue to study the mind
could indicate the presence of the divine and have made progress on how the brain
because it is difficult to explain gaining new works.
knowledge or insight.
Since they are ineffable, shows that they Ineffability shows how unreliable they are
are unlike any other normal experience as they are difficult to describe. This could
be lack of suitable language to describe
them rather than an indication of similarity.
Transiency shows the reliability of mystical A change in perspective and character
experiences because they inly last a short could be due to several factors or non-
time but have a large impact. To have such religious influencers. I.e. it is possible for
an impact shows the importance of the film to have a similar impact.
experience. I.e. the person could be more
charitable
Schleiermacher argues that there is more Unconscious, irrational, and subjective
to out existence then the physical and if we experiences cannot be empirically tested or
stop to reflect, we encounter something fully understood by another person.
other.
,Conversions:
- James argued that conversions is perhaps the strongest evidence for the divine
because of their observable effects as they are often life changing.
Pragmatism – the practical outcomes seen through how someone acted now and in the
future
Empiricism – observing evidence from experience
James described several ‘fruits’ of a conversion experience that showed its impact and
longevity, including:
- A convocation of something beyond the material world
- A immense feeling of elation and freedom
- A feeling of having met a friendly power and responding in self surrender
- A change in the emphasis of life – more spiritual, charitable, morally aware and with
sense of awe and wonder at the universe.
Conversions are the most convincing Conversions are NOT the most religious
religious experience experience
James uses pragmatism to say that Starbuck – the phycological effects of
conversion via insight into private conversion experiences are a normal
experiences. adolescent phenomenon since most
conversions happen at the same stay of life.
James used Teresa of Avila’s criteria to Freud disagrees with James use of Teresa of
determine a genuine conversion – it should Avila’s criteria as he argued that the church
fit in with the teaching and traditions of the was the cause of most phycological and
church and should lead to positive changes subconscious guilt, repressed in the super-
in a persons character ego, which resurfaced in repetitive rituals,
such as prayer.
James acknowledged that a conversion Lasting impacts on a person’s character are
experience gave the most significant not unique go religious experience. Such
observe evidence in terms of what he change could also be attributed to the
called ‘fruits’. This included a change in the influence of a specific person.
emphasis of life for example coverts to a
region often shows changes in morality or
become more charitable.
James would disagree with Kant to an Kant argues that it is logically impossible to
extent. While it may eb true that we can experience God or a noumenal reality since
never be certain of the metaphysical, it is we are rooted in the phenomenal world of
possible to observe effects, both the senses.
psychological and in change of habits or
lifestyle, that may include there is
something more.
, Is religious experience evidence of union with a higher power?
- James claimed that religious experiences occur in different religions and have similar
features, but all point to the idea of a higher power. Because religious experiences
are subjective, it is the teachings developed
- James argues that there is nothing in religious experience that unequivocally
supports belief in God or an infinite divine reality.
- However, he concludes that the divine could not be ruled out, there must exist a
higher power that is beyond our conscious self.
- James’ argues that Religious Experience points towards the possibility of union with
this higher being that allows us to find supreme comfort and being.
Case study:
To further explain his point James used a case study of and Alcoholic who was unable to give
up alcohol but then had a religious experience, after which he was able to give up alcohol.
They were unbale to give up alcohol before the experience, implying the lack of power and
after the experience, they had gained that power they lacked before. Where did it come
from? James would argue that this is evidence for the validity of the experience, meaning it
was probably ‘true’. Though again, James would only think this was evidence for the validity
of ‘the spiritual’, not necessarily whichever God that alcoholic happened to believe in.
Otto
- Otto defined religious experiences as ‘numinous’, feeling of awe and wonder in the
presence of all-powerful being. Otto described the numinous experienced as follows:
- Its is an experiences of something ‘wholly other’ – complete different to anything
human.
- The revelation of God is felt emotionally, not rationally.
- For Otto, it is fundamental to true religion that individuals should have a sense of a
personal encounter with the divine, meaning that numinous (suggesting the
presence of the divine) religious experiences are the core of religion, and the
teachings / holy books are not the core of religion.
- Otto tried to identify what made an experience religious rather than just an
experience and believed that religious experience was a direct link to God.
Persinger
created a machine dubbed the ’God helmet’, which psychologically manipulated
peoples brain waves and often caused them to have religious experience where they felt the
presence of unseen beings. In this case, arguably religious experiences originate from the
brain, not God. Religious experiences are just an unusual state of the brain due to the fact
its uncomprehensive.
HOWEVER: maybe the brain manipulation is simply the mechanism by which God creates
religious experience. We also know that hallucinations can be cause by manipulating the
brain with drugs such as LSD. This shouldn’t necessarily count against the validity of religious
