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Religious Experience - Coggle Diagram
Religious Experience
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Swinburne
Principle of credulity: if someone believes they have experienced something, it is likely that they have
Principle of testimony: people usually tell the truth and therefore we should believe others as truthful in their testimonies
the issue here is that a religious experience is not like an ordinary testimony and should not be treated as such
If we saw a plane in the sky and told someone, they would believe us because it is a logical thing to happen. a religious experiences not the same.
Main objections:
- we simply cannot know what other people have experienced
- sincerity is about honestly but not necessarily the truth
- David Hume: when you re-tell a story you edit and emphasis parts, thus changing the story
- just because someone believes they have had a religious experience does not mean that they actually have
Types of experinces
cooperate experinece
- an experience shared by a group. however truly experienced by the individual
- example: Toronto blessing. church goers started laughing and crying weirdly
- those who attend religious worship are predisposed to having such experiences
Mystical experince
- an experience that is transcendent or beyond normal
- reveals something important about the divine
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- numinous, there are no other words to describe it
- one of the biggest indicators of if the person is truthful is if they change their life afterwards
conversion experience
- a religious experience that results in ones life being changed
- not just a change in religious views but a change in their life completely
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- usually regarded as more substantial than other experiences as it effects non believers enough to believe
explinations
psychological effects
- a religious experience can be classed as a psychological illusion
- some people who are psychologically disturbed hear voices which could be misinterpreted as a religious experience
perhaps those who believe in God want to have an experience so badly that they imagine it (like a hysterical pregnancy)
physiological effect
- 'drink too much you see snakes, eat to little you see visions'
- historical figures that have had mystical visions may have had undependable mental states
- some have undergone periods of fasting or malnutrtion
- this is seen as an argument against as it is highly likely most historical accounts have been changed and the people were mentally or physically ill
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