Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Religious Experiences (James (He came up with four criteria that were…
Religious Experiences
James
He defined religious experiences as events which were 'solitary' and in which an individual experiences the divine or God- the religion they belong to is not important.
He noted that whether sudden or gradual, conversion experiences are characterised by religious beliefs becoming central to a person's life, and this affects their behaviour.
-
Religious experiences alone do not prove God's existence but they do however prove 'something bigger' worth investigating.
-
Types of RE
-
-
Numinous
Indicating or suggesting the presence of divinity, came from the Latin word 'nu-men'
-
-
Swinburne
-
An account of a direct religious experience should be taken for what it is unless there is a reason otherwise.
-
Freud
Reaction to the hostile world- feel helpless and want a farther figure can lead us to project and image of a God in order for us to provide security.
Linked religious experiences with neurosis as he noticed that many of the patients at a mental hospital who suffered from a mental illness displayed obsessive behaviour. He observed that the patterns of behaviour that had been followed were similar to some religious practices such as, worship and prayer.
-
Marx
He defined religion as the 'opiate of the masses'- form of social control that dulls the pain of depression for the proletariat whilst preventing them from seeing what needs to be done to stop their exploitation.
'People can't really be happy until the abolition of the illusion of religion.' He concluded mystical experiences= outwards manifestation of this drug induced state.
Alienation- Religion is about a myth that distracts people from their own reality in the physical world.
Examples
The Toronto Blessing
People got affected by the holy spirit; holy laughing, people acting like animals.
medjugorje
6 people had visions of Mary, one sees her even now, Mary gives her messages. Message for the whole world on the 28th of each month.
Definition
A person's experience of something or a presence beyond themselves
An experience with religious significance e.g. the act of worship in religious setting