Essay Plan: 'Conversion experiences are the most convincing form of religious experience.' Discuss
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G571 - AS Philosophy of Religion
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OCR
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Oxford A Level Religious Studies for OCR
Essay plan comparing the different types of religious experiences. I used this plan when writing an essay in class, for which I got 21/30 marks (A grade)
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Philosophy and Ethics: Chapter x: Exam question plan
‘Conversion experience is the most convincing form of religious experience’ (30 marks)
AGREE DISAGREE
William James ‘The Varieties of Religious Experience’ Corporate: Pentecost. Toronto Blessing, Children of
(1902). Took an objective stance. Says REs outside of Medjugorje. More witnesses, more convincing
Christianity can be authentic. Found 4 qualities of evidence, eg COM all gave same report of the Virgin
religious experiences: Ineffability (beyond Mary, children less likely to lie, less calculative.
explanation), Noetic quality (knowledge outside of (Catholic Church haven’t recognised it official,
human experience, important truths), Transience similar reports could be due to same education of
(short, under a few hours, but long-lasting effects), what Mary looks like)
Passivity (no control, recipient rather than (Could be mass hysteria)
instigator) Davy Falcus meets these criteria (incl.
long-term change)
Richard Swinburne ‘Is there a God?’ – Principle of Plato, Descartes would say that senses cannot be
Credulity (senses are usually reliable, unless drugs, trusted. People can lie if it helps them – fame,
alcohol, fasting, sleep deprivation), Principle of money, admiration, religious propaganda. Lorna
Testimony (people usually tell the truth, unless Byrne (eg, ‘Angels in my Hair’) claims she sees
pathological liar) Saul didn’t appear to be on angels, and has written books about it, but could
drugs/intoxicated and also had no reason to lie, he just be doing it for money or fame (6 figure sum)
was safe as a non-Christian but now he is at risk of Saul may have had epilepsy, Davy Falcus on drugs?
persecution
Friedrich Schleiermacher ‘On Religion: Speeches to All religious experiences can be explained by the
its Cultured Despisers’ (1768-1834) theologian. Says workings of the mind, not God. Ludwig Feuerbach
religious experiences are self-authenticating, so ‘The Essence of Christianity’ – religion is wish-
don’t need other testing to see if it’s true, and fulfilment, god is a projection of the strongest
shouldn’t be compared to existing doctrines of the desires of humanity and fear of death, its all in the
Church. Religion is ‘a sense and taste for the mind. Sigmund Freud agrees, people create an
infinite’, and religious experiences are at the heart imaginary parent figure, personal encounters with
of faith. This makes all experiences convincing. God are just ‘infantile neurosis’ and are not
authentic (his research was deemed unscientific
tho). Michael Persinger – the ‘God Helmet’,
stimulated people’s temporal lobes with weak
magnetic field, artificially produce ‘an ethereal
presence in the room’.
Examples of conversion experiences:
Saul/St Paul: was a persecutor of Christians, on the road to Damascus heard a voice and light from
Jesus saying ‘Saul, Saul why do you persecute me?’, he was blinded for 3 days, disciple Ananias had a
vision in which he was told to find Saul, he was filled with the HS and un-blinded Saul, he devoted his
life to God afterwards. He became kind – Holy Spirit filled him – Galatians 5:22 ‘But the fruit of the
Spirit is love, jot, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness’
Davy Falcus – living a crime-filled life, drugs, alcohol, robberies, fights and he felt unhappy, asked
God for help, light streams in, ‘feeling of wellbeing… peace’, Jesus standing in front of him and said
your sins are forgiven. 15 year drug addiction broken instantly, 20 years of alcohol. ‘Absolute joy,
cannot describe it, like nothing else’ His vocation in life is now to lead people to Jesus
Bertrand Russel – ‘some people drink too much and see snakes, some people fast too much and see
God’ Atheist, says religious experiences are hallucinations, not authentic and not evidence for God
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