Religious Experiences are in the Mind of the Believer
“A religious experience is a spontaneous or induced mental event over
which the
recipient has relatively little control. It is often accompanied with
the gaining of
certain knowledge and the experience is always unique.”[1] Elton
Trueblood’s
definition of a religious experience is very broad, including any
experience of feelings
of ‘love, power, glory or strength from God.’ This differs from a
simple experience
which can be defined as “an event or series of events participated in
or lived through,
especially one that makes a powerful impression on the mind and
sense.”[2]
It is obvious that religious experiences are all in the mind of a
believer because a non-
believer is capable of arguing against their existence and what people
perceive to be a
religious experience is just simply an experience or merely a
‘coincidence’ as Holland
would state. This view is supported by Freud who takes a psychological
approach and
perceives religious experiences to be “a reaction to a hostile world.”[3]
Furthermore
Freud believes we feel helpless and seek a father figure, thus we
create God, who
satisfies our needs. Personally, I perceive God to be transcendent;
“having existence
outside the universe,”[4] which supports my view that religious
experiences do not
exist, because God cannot intervene with our world.
Religious experiences can be interpersonal, for example a numinous
experience
involving a sense of an awesome power which you are separate from.
Alternatively
they can be personal, like a mystical experience...
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[4] Peter Cole, Philosophy of Religion 2nd Edition, 2004, pg 7
[5] Christopher Hamilton, Understanding Philosophy for AS Level, 2003,
pg 255
[6] Luke 24:36-49
[7] Matthew 1:20-1
[8] Anne Jordan, Neil Lockery, Edwin Tate, Philosophy of Religion for
A Level, 1999, pg 25
[9] Ibid, pg 272
[10] Richard Swinburne, The Existence of God, OUP, 1979 pg 270
[11] Anne Jordan, Neil Lockery, Edwin Tate, Philosophy of Religion for
A Level, 1999, pg 36
[12] Anne Jordan, Neil Lockery, Edwin Tate, Philosophy of Religion for
A Level, 1999, pg 37
[13] Peter Cole, Philosophy of Religion 2nd Edition, 2004, pg 49
[14] Anne Jordan, Neil Lockery, Edwin Tate, Philosophy of Religion for
A Level, 1999, pg 40
[15] Anne Jordan, Neil Lockery, Edwin Tate, Philosophy of Religion for
A Level, 1999, pg 7
After reading a few of the chapters in "Psychology Through the Eyes of Faith", I feel as if I have learned more in one sitting than many in years of my life. The chapters were not life altering, but simply stated things that I have overlooked. The topics that affected me most were on living with the mysteries of faith, benefits of true rest, and the emotion of happiness. Yes, they are really in no way related, but each of these topics impacted me in a different way, and made me think about what was being presented.
Researchers interested in the connection of the brain and religion have examined the experiences of people suffering from Temporal Lobe Epilepsy. Apparently the increased electrical activity in the brain resulting from seizure activity (abnormal electrical activity within localized portions of the brain), makes sufferers more susceptible to having religious experiences including visions of supernatural beings and near death experiences (NDEs) (9). Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE) sufferers also may become increasingly obsessed with religion, the study and practice of it (1). Why is it that this form of epilepsy results in religious experiences among the other supernatural experiences possible? Can people who have never studied or practiced religion be susceptible to these same religious experiences? Why do some interested researchers claim that such notable figures as Paul on the road to Damascus, Joan of Arc, Ellen White of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and other persons suffered from TLE because of their range of reported experiences with God, angels, and demons (1,3)? In my first paper, I highlighted the connection scientists have made between religious experience and the brain. In this paper, I intend to focus on Temporal Lobe Epilepsy, as one of those connections, specifically the symptom of hyperreligiousity.
For Carl Jung, his view on religious experience was based on all experiences being a psychological phenomenon. He differed from James in his view that a personal or individual experience with a God was indistinguishable from a communication with one’s unconscious mind. He ...
Religion is not just a collaboration of spiritual ideas and writings from ancient books. Religion has become more than just that within our modern society. Some have went as far as to say that religion is the ultimate drive; that guides our human emotions, our actions, and even to some our very own existence. Though religion can be considered a broad topic, there are rooted ideas and concepts that almost all spiritual beliefs entail. Any person with some religious drive will ultimately face their own inner resistance at one point or another, and will be forced to overcome the profane world in which they live to understand the more spiritual and sacred life they choose to lead. These revelations within ones spiritual journey allow personal transformations to occur; resulting in greater religious understandings within their own lives.
Halligan, Fredrica R. Jungian theory and religious experience. In RW Hood, Jr. (Ed) Handbook of religious experience. Birmingham: Religious Education Press, Inc.
One argues that today we have a crisis of belief, not a crisis of faith. To explain this crisis, I will briefly examine the relationship between faith and belief, explain why cultural shift is important to note when trying to understand religious issues, go into detail on the three hallmarks of each of the two cultures by showing how they compare to each other, show how Tillich’s notion of correlation deals with this idea of culture and a crisis of belief, and explain how Marsh’s notion of a “theology of negotiation” (33) fits with Lonergan’s definition and allows him to argue that film can help us raise theological questions.
Evans, C. Stephen. Critical Dialog in Philosophy of Religion. 1985. Downers Grove, IL. InterVarsity Press. Taken from Philosophy of Religion - Selected Readings, Fourth Edition. 2010. Oxford University Press, NY.
Jesus. Buddha. Anubis. This has always been one of the most controversial topics throughout history. There have been many civilizations and many wars waged due to religious beliefs. Regardless of who is who and what one believes, all beings believe that what their God, gods, or deities spoke is the truth, the way, and the key to having an everlasting life. The Hebrew seem to now have a religious monopoly with the modern day Christianity, the ideas of the Buddhist reconcile with many of the beliefs of the Hindu, the Egyptians believed in their many gods along with their god –king, and in the midst of all the ancient religions still lies the oldest religions Judaism and Hinduism which are alike in many ways yet completely different. However, the real question is who was right and who was wrong?
Smith, Huston. World’s Religions: A Guide to our Wisdom Traditions. San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1994.
Faith is something a person must have inside them to be able to succeed. Success and failure are two completely different things, but faith is what separates the two. In the short story “A Fable with Slips of White Paper Spilling from the Pockets” by Kevin Brockmeier, the author illustrates the struggles a man must overcome in society and the obstacles he must overcome when his faith is tested to the limit. In the fable, the author uses symbols of faith, magical elements, and realistic struggles to divulge the morals and struggles of life.
Oxtoby, Willard G., and Alan F. Segal. A Concise Introduction to World Religions. Oxford, Canada: Oxford University Press, 2007.
The subject of intersection between psychology and faith seems to have a special significance for those seeking to revise the integrity of learning in their own lives. We have two highly conflicting ways of learning: the first is religion and the second is science. These two are constantly in conflict: the average scientist lives in a world that is nominally religious while the average Christian lives in a world that is nominally administered by science.
Holy Bible: Contemporary English Version. New York: American Bible Society, 1995. Print. (BS195 .C66 1995)
I am Wiccan, which is a religion of present day witchcraft. My mother’s family is shaman; my father’s side of the family is Roman Catholic. Wicca has many divisions and subdivisions from Quaker Wicca to Hoodoo Wicca and from Shaman Wicca to Pagan Wicca. It’s as though Wicca absorbed, immersed, other religions and cultural traits. But, looking at Christianity, it seems like that religion absorbed other religions and cultural traits as well.
In many aspects of our lives, the use of faith as a basis for knowledge can be found. Whether it is faith in the advice of your teacher, faith in a God or faith in a scientific theory, it is present. But what is faith? A definition of faith in a theory of knowledge context is the confident belief or trust in a knowledge claim by a knower, without the knower having conclusive evidence. This is because if a knowledge claim is backed up by evidence, then we would use reason rather than faith as a basis for knowledge . If we define knowledge as ‘justified true belief’, it can be seen that faith, being without justification, can never fulfill this definition, and so cannot be used as a reliable basis for knowledge. However, the question arises, what if a certain knowledge claim lies outside of the realm of reason? What if a knowledge claim cannot be justified by empirical evidence and reasoning alone, such as a religious knowledge claim? It is then that faith allows the knower to decide what is knowledge and what is not, when something cannot be definitively proved through the use of evidence. When assessing faith as a basis for knowledge in the natural sciences, the fact arises that without faith in the research done before us, it is impossible to develop further knowledge on top of it. Yet at the same time, if we have unwavering faith in existing theories, they would never be challenged, and so our progress of knowledge in the natural sciences would come to a standstill. Although I intend to approach this essay in a balanced manner, this essay may be subject to a small degree of bias, due to my own non-religious viewpoint.