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verifying religious experience - Coggle Diagram
verifying religious experience
CHALLENGES FROM PHILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGY + RESPONSES
we have only the word of the exerient that the experience took place
some have group experiences = evidence wider
James' pragmatic approach claimed that the transforming effect of such experiences on peoples lives was testimony to their genuine
experience are highly subjective and personal = not objectively real - simply an interpretation - Wittgenstein and Hick
people who have religious experiences are likely to claim they are objectively real
inability to describe mystical experiences = not real - James claimed there is a fine line between insanity and mysticism
ineffability is a key characteristic of ME in all religions = difficult to investigate them but doesnt mean they're false
likewise, the possibility that some mystics were unbalanced does not mean they all were/are
religious experience is so alien to the experience of most people that it cannot be believed
many people in all walks of life have reported having some kinds of RE
elitist = only few have initiate connection with god
according to Vatican II, mysticism is a gift that is open to all but few are prepared to engage in the discipline and effort required
CHALLENGES FROM PSYCHOLOGY AND MEDICAL SCIENCE + RESPONSES
Freud wish fufillment = illusions created by subconscious fears and desires - at best signs of immaturity and at worst symptoms of mental health
Jung - argued visions of sane people were not necessarily delusions - often beneficial results for the experiment
neurotheology uses neuroscience to show that RE can be stimulated through devices such as the God helmet = its stimulation of the temporal lobes leads to experiences akin to those of religion = suggests that the latter are due to simply to particular states of the brain - taking ethogens (hallucination drugs) produces similar result to those induced by God's helmet
however god chooses to communicate with someone it has to be processed by the brain so the evidence of neurotheology and hallucinate drugs does not mean that religious experiences are no more than states of the brain
the mind can generate such experience - spiritual discipline such as those set out by Teresa of Avilia's writings train the brain to focus exclsuively on God = ME where God interact with individual
temporal epilepsy = prone to RV and ME = nothing more than abnormal states of the brain + self generated
God works through peoples conditions eg thorn in the flesh that Paul experienced explained in other ways = no way of knowing for sure the cause of act 9's experience
SWINBURNES PRINCIPLES OF CREDULITY AND TESTIMONY
rejects attempts to prove gods existence through logic but based argument on probability of God's existence
TWO PRINCIPLES UNLESS SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS
CREDULITY
how things seem to a person is how they actually are
about the belivity of the individuals own personal and private experiences
TESTIMONY
we should people what people tell us
reliability of what others claim about their personal experiences
SPECIAL CONSDIERATIONS
if people who claim experiences have a lying past
having lied in the past doesnt mean the person is lying now
AFFECTS: testimony
if the claims seems beyond the realms of possibility
just because on claim is false doesnt mean all are
AFFECTS: credulity
it is very difficult to show that god is present
if god is everywhere, the burden of proof is with the doubter not experiment
AFFECTS: credulity and testimony
there are other ways for accounting experiences
as god underpins all processes, there is no reason why he should not work through the intense electrical companonets of the brain
AFFECTS: credulity and testimony
POSITIVES: transformation in lifestyle serious point, argument for the existence of god from religious experience both strengthens and is strengthened by the inductive arguments
NEGATIVES: huge leap to go from normal sense experience is reliable and then claim RE is the same , RE are private and nonscientific so cannot be confirmed
INFLUENCE AND VALUE FOR FAITH
some RE founded religions which have their basis in faith eg Abraham 'believe the lord'
Re often inspirational leading other to faith in and about God eg Abraham loyal to god through thick and thin always trusting and obeying even when he didnt undertsand
life changing eg fruits of RE; sympathy, empathy, endurance
places associated with his religious experiences have become suits of pilgrimage eg Lourdes
confirm faith - conforms a feeling that is already there - James = RE comes in a wealth of many forms