Religious Argument

Many arguments to prove the existence of God involve philosophical, logical, arguments. However, not all arguments to prove the existence of God relate to such abstract arguments, and one such argument involves religious experiences which many people around the world experience. This paper will critically evaluate the philosophical understanding of the essence and variations of religious experiences and its consequences for the argument from religious experience for the existence of God. The first part of the essay examines the definitions, characteristics and types of religious experience, provides a critical evaluation of these characteristics and types of religious experience, and explores two alternative explanations for such experiences.

One can argue that this is problematic from a philosophical point of view, because to be able to argue about something one needs to have a clear definition; a point already highlighted by Socrates. According to Davis (1999) the three general features of religious experiences are universality (it happens across all cultures, including secular ones), diversity (unique to the subject experiencing it, however, similarities a found between those with a similar religious background), and importance (often leading to the re-evaluation of one’s life or world view). However, one can also look at the qualities of such

The experience is religious due to the explicit religious content of the experience during which the experient feels as if knowledge pours over, or into, the experient. The experience is often ineffable and the obtained knowledge differs from conventional knowledge. However, the most frequent experience amongst ordinary people is the regenerative experience in which one renews one’s faith through this type of religious experience. Both the regenerative and the revelatory experience are types of conversion experiences. One can consider the revelatory experience religious, because it often occurs during prayer. Sometimes it involves a sense of a presence, or it can involve healing which the subject describes as brought about by