Religious Experience
William James
PINT
P- Passive. I- Ineffable. N- Noetic. T- Transient
Case Studies
Saul= Bad Man to Paul= Good Man in the Bible after RE-Was going to kills some Christian people- Stopped because he saw a big light he thought = angels. People think Epilepsy was the cause now.
Medjugorje- 6 kids saw Virgin Mary in sky- controversial as Catholic Church hasn't classified it as a RE
4 Kinds of RE
Corporate- Multiple People. Toronto blessing- laughing, growling, dancing, shaking and barking
Mysticism
Conversion
Numinous- new understanding of reality
Schleiermacher
Principle of Testimony: Self- Authenticating= People usually tell the truth. Believe unless there is reason to suggest lies
Otto
Ways to identify RE- God is incomprehensible. God recognised as a being of ultimate importance. God has a quality that is both attractive and dangerous
Happold- Features- Comes from divine ground, know divine ground through intuition. 2 distinct natures- ego and eternal self (divinity). purpose of human is to discover eternal self
Mystical- Greater knowledge of divine- Mysticism- overwhelming sense of being in the presence of God
Numinous- feeling the presence of something greater than yourself
Passive- An experience where the person is not in control of what happens to them. Instead the experience just happens and is from God
Ineffable- An experience that someone cannot describe adequately in words
Noetic- An experience when someone receives new knowledge or information from God
Transient- An experience that only lasts for a short amount of time. Although, the effects of the experience may be permanent
Principle of Credulity
Changing moral/social/intellectual
Saul to Paul/ Nicky Cruz
Volitional- Conscious & Voluntary/ Self-Surrender- Unconscious & Involuntary
Freud
Wish Fulfilment- God and Religious Experiences are both fake and are simply a product of wish fulfilment/ human desire