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Numinous experiences essay plan

Numinous experiences essay plan

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Numinous Experiences essay plan

Intro

• The argument from religious experience is the argument of experiences of God to prove his

existence

• Religious experience demonstrates God’s existence

• If people are able to experience God, there must a God

• The argument only constitutes evidence for God’s existence which is defended by Richard

Swinburne with an appeal to the principle of credulity

• William James noted that religious experiences have great authority over the individual

• Miracles

• Religious experiences can be seen as a type of perceptual experience; the experience

perceives something external to them

• Some may argue that some experiences are a result of imagination rather than perception

• Freud would argue that the object of the experience may not exist objectively but perhaps

something subjectively in the mind, thus fabricating the idea of God

Paragraph 1: William James’ criteria of r.e. explains how God reveals himself via experience

• James noted that there are four characteristics of religious experience

• Passive experience refers to the recipient (mystic) who is not in control of the experience, it

happens to them – Teresa of Avila when she visits a religious festival and experiences God

• Ineffable experience goes beyond human powers to describe fully for instance being in awe,

or the experience was too great for words

• Noetic is when the individual receives knowledge or instruction such as Isiah’s experience in

the temple of Jerusalem

• Transient experiences refers to the long lasting effect of the experience, changing the

recipient such as St Paul who converted to Christianity

Paragraph 2: R.E/N.E is the best way because it has great authority over the individual’s life

• This is a sudden change, or a series of stages which leads to religious belief

• For example Saul on the road to Damascus was on his way to persecute Christians, however

he had a revelation and God said “Saul, why do you persecute me,” and from then he

became a Christian

• This is a conversion experience aswell as a spiritual reality from God’s presence

• The realisation that is is different to us, evokes a sense of God’s greatness and power

• Some have experienced this by going to the house of Lordes

• Other exaples of religious experiences as an inspiration of faith is other Julian of Norwhich’s

mystical experience inspired her to live faithfully by God

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• Mohammed on the mountain was inspired into faith by religious experience, thus devoting

his life to Islam

• R.E can be trusted as inspiration of faith and practice

• The centre of the individual’s life would be their belief, and they would have a source of

spiritual insight – they will act accordingly to their belief

• However, it cannot be subjective open to error, not properly understood or made up

• Evaluation: Its clearly revealed to the individual but not necessarily to us

Paragraph 3: Tillich and miracles – opposing side

• Tillich describes miracles as a revelation of God’s work

• He believes that a miracle is a sign event

• It is an act with religious significance that tells us about God

• Miracles in bible are overemphasised, the signs should be focused on

• The miracles can happen by definition “without contradicting the rational structure of

reality”

• For example, a person has been brought back to life that has been dead for three day - even

if it could be proved that the person had only been in a state of coma, this might still be seen

as a miracle by the observer owing to the impression it makes on him or her

• Miracles are subjective, they can be seen as coincidences, or can be seen as things that

happen every day, there is no direct proof it is from God

Paragraph 4: Freud

• He ridicules the idea of r.e because he sees religion as a wish-fulfilment

• Religion is a way to keep society in order

• He says that it is merely a product of the mind, an illusion

• He adds that because that religion/r.e is a response to feelings of helplessness and guilt

therefore we feel a need for security and forgiveness

• We postulate the existence of God so that the Superego acts like a father figure

• Religious experiences are hallucinations, or dreams caused by deep desires

• R.E are caused by the desire for security and meaning, we “call for consolation”

• R.E is merely wishful thinking

Paragraph 5: Principle of credulity

• Swinburne uses the principle of credulity to support the r.e. argument

• It is reasonable to believe the world is how we experience it to be

• However we do have to accept that r.e. is evidence of God, unless we have a reason to

question it

• Atheist Michael Martin criticised Swinburne’s use of the principle of credulity

• Experiences are generally to be treated as veridical, as in accurately representing the world

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Numinous Experiences essay plan Intro • The argument from religious experience is the argument of experiences of God to prove his existence • Religious experience demonstrates God’s existence • If people are able to experience God, there must a God • The argument only constitutes evidence for God’s existence which is defended by Richard Swinburne with an appeal to the principle of credulity • William James noted that religious experiences have great authority over the individual • Miracles • Religious experiences can be seen as a type of perceptual experience; the experience perceives something external to them • Some may argue that some experiences are a result of imagination rather than perception • Freud would argue that the object of the experience may not exist objectively but perhaps something subjectively in the mind, thus fabricating the ide ...
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